Matteo Garrone, the Italian filmmaker behind such efforts as Reality, is poised to make his English-language debut with Tale of Tales, the fantasy horror flick set for release in the States in little over a month’s time.
Emerging from last year’s Cannes Film Festival, the movie was entered into the running for the coveted Palme d’Or award. Rooted in the mythology of 17th century fairytales – fairytales that would go on to inspire Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault among others – Salma Hayek headlines the feature as a barren Queen of Longtrellis. It’s got quite the ensemble cast in tow, too, including the likes of Vincent Cassel, John C. Reilly, Toby Jones, and Stacy Martin.
Tale of Tales opens via limited release on April 24. For now, you can check out our brief verdict of Garrone’s English-language debut via our capsule review.
In one yarn, the Queen of Longtrellis (a ferociously committed Salma Hayek) desperately yearns for a child, which she and her husband the King (John C. Reilly) are willing to go to dark extremes to conceive and protect. Meanwhile, the King of Highhills (Toby Jones) is so obsessed with raising a giant flea that he barely notices his own daughter (Bebe Cave), whom he mistakenly marries off to a brutish monster. And in Strongcliff, two impoverished old sisters mistakenly attract the attention of the womanizing king (Vincent Casell) who is drawn to their song but has not yet seen their faces. Flipping between these stories with nimble dexterity, Garrone weaves the beautiful with the grotesque, creating a stunning and unique work of gothic imagination.
