I strongly advise anyone with even the whisper of an intention to see this film, not to read any reviews beforehand. If you do so it may prevent you from entering a world of enchantment with the necessary condition of unpreparedness.
I will reveal nothing of the story except to say that whatever you remember from childhood of ogres, princesses, castles, monsters and monstrous mothers you will find here in their most lush form, without vulgarity. The castles are most precipitous, the ogres most ghoulish, the monsters most terrifying, the philanderer king most predatory. A process of enchantment takes hold however, for often the most strenuous action happens in almost complete darkness, thus recreating that space for the imagination which reading allows, and all the while the bell-like intonations of the score remind one that it is a place of magic one is inhabiting, at times as observer, at times moving though identifications with the various participants.
With equal sensitivity to the oral and written tradition of fairy tale telling experience you are enticed in at the start by following a figure whose back alone is visible, through a scene of activity, but with no sound of speech. It creates a sense of suppressed reality, then jestors and ‘rude mechanicals’ put a seal on your temporary contract with the imaginary.
The narrative has several threads and carries echoes of those themes of metamorphosis, betrayals, rites of passage. which are the subject of fairy tales. It is as if a broken mirror has been held up to all those so familiar motifs and they are reflected back to us in shards of light and shadow. The thread being that of equilibrium in the universe needing to be maintained as desires are played out, indulged, and the inevitable consequences unravel.
The stories have been based loosely upon the ‘Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones’ (! ) written by Giambattista Basile, born in Naples 1575, and published posthumously in 1634 by his sister. The two volumes contain the earliest written versions of many stories, Rapunzel and Cinderella among them. He was courtier to Don Marino II Caracciolo, prince of Avellino. The books were published under a pseudonym, ‘Gian Alesio Abbatutis’, and are set in the landscape surrounding the town of Acerenza, in the region of Basilicata.
The very names of the people who created this film would lead one to expect a magical experience: the production companies were ‘Archimede and Le Pacte’, the director of photography was Peter Suschitzky, costumes were by Massimo Cantini Parrini, the score was by Alexandre Desplat and the best job of all, location manager, went to Gennaro Aquino. What locations! The most geologically compressed rocky terrains, the most unassailable castles, the deepest chasms, the most mossy and watery caverns. This is an utterly beautiful film, exquisitely conceived and produced and having just finished it I want to watch it all over again.
Showing at Kino Teatr Saturday 13th August.
ulyssesdove 