Tale of Tales (Matteo Garone, 2015): Italy | France | UK

Reviewed by Claire Bachmann. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2015.

This is a film directed by Matteo Garronte and produced by Archimede Film, Le Pact, and Recorded Picture Company. Starring Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, John C. Reilly, Stacy Martin, and Bebe Cave, this movie was filmed on location in Italy, France, and the United Kingdom. Receiving many good reviews, this film was entered into Cannes Film Festival where it won three of the four awards it had been nominated for, and at the Ghent International Film Festival where it won one of the two awards it had been nominated for.

This is a movie about three old Italian bed time stories wrapped into one movie. The first story is one about a mother who is unable to conceive a child and is willing to do anything to change that. The second story is about a man who one day finds a flea that he decides to feed and feed until it reaches the size of a large dog, he is then confronted by his daughter that wants nothing more than the prince of her dreams. And the third story is about two sisters who have the desire be young once again, doing anything they can to achieve their desired goals. The way this was filmed – cinematography, location, costumes – made it into a more saturated and exaggerated version of real life. The costumes used for this movie were over the top ostentatious with huge ball gowns and jewelry decorating the characters. This exaggeration of the characters and the feel of the movie made it so there was a comedic aspect to the film, instead of it being a melancholy movie about these three families that went through horrible things.

Overall this is a film that I would recommend to people to see, the characters and their stories are relatable in a more realistic manner, and the dialogue between all the characters had me entertained and laughing for most of the movie.