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

Reviewed by Kendall Crumley. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2015.

In this film multiple Tales are told, One of a mother that will stop at nothing to receive a child, One of a man who finds a flea that magically grows and has a daughter who thinks of nothing but finding her true love, and the last of two old ladies who only desire to be young.

The first tale of of the mother had me on edge, she didn’t have any emotions unless it was for her son that she did treacherous things to receive. The son discovered he had a twin that he bonded with over time, his mother didn’t particularly like that and ran the twin out of town. The son couldn’t imagine not having the twin around. His mothers character was very well done, during the film I grew to hate her and her personality.

The second film a man finds a flea. But not just any flea, this flea was special, magical. It began to grow, until one day it was about as large as a bear. The man comes to love this magical creature and basically raises it until death. This mans daughters interrupts his wallowing about the tragic death of his flea to request to find herself true love. That ends up badly and she ends up in a terrifying situation. I find this tale to be hilarious and unique.

The third tale about the two old ladies is unsettling to me, the prince falls in love with an illusion of a young girl that turns out to be one of the old woman in a small shack. He rejects the old woman right before she is transformed magically into a young gorgeous woman. He then falls in love with her and she becomes the princess. The sister seeks the princess (her sister) and her sister banishes her from the castle. The sister becomes jealous and searches for a way to become young like her sister which ends up in a terrible situation.

By the end all the tales come together into one which is very interesting to me. I enjoyed this film very much and I recommend others to experience watching it as well.