9) Tale Of Tales – The King Of Longtrellis Fights The Sea Monster
There’s much to be admired about Matteo Garrone’s baroque fantasy Tale of Tales. For one, there are the inspired, blackly comic performances from a cast that includes Salma Hayek, Toby Jones and John C. Reilly. There’s also the design work and use of real locations, all of which are otherworldly and bizarre – like sets made for some movie set on an alien world.
Tale of Tales‘ single greatest sequence highlights the film’s key strengths: As Reilly’s King of Longtrellis, decked out in some Jules Verne-esque scuba gear, descends into waters containing an ancient sea monster, we see that there is still very much a place in cinema for practical effects. Most of this battle scene is FX-free, with outstanding design work and Alexandre Desplat’s eerie score doing all the heavy lifting.