Pinocchio (2002 film)
Pinocchio is a 2002 Italian fantasy comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. It is based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, with Benigni portraying Pinocchio. Filming took place in Italy and Kalkara, Malta. It was dedicated to costume and production designer Danilo Donati, who died on 1 December 2001.
The film was released in Italy on 11 October 2002 by Medusa Distribuzione, which was met with mixed reviews. It received an English-language dub in the United States in December 2002, released by Miramax; this version was critically panned. Pinocchio was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 75th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Plot
A magical log falls off a wagon and rolls through an Italian town causing considerable damage and some injuries. It comes to rest in front of the house of Geppetto, a poor wood carver who carves a puppet named Pinocchio from it. To Geppetto's surprise, the puppet comes to life and becomes very mischievous. Pinocchio runs away from home and runs on the street, turning the town upside down. The old carpenter is blamed for the damage, who is taken to prison by the carabinieri, while Pinocchio runs away.Back home, the puppet finds a talking cricketwho reproaches him for the treachery committed, warning him several times to behave well, but the puppet, considering him annoying, throws a hammer to shut him up. Tired and hungry, Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on the brazier. Shortly after, he returns home to Geppetto, who saves him from the flames with a bucket of water. Pinocchio, understanding his mistakes, decides to be forgiven and promises his father to go to school and study: due to his economic conditions, Geppetto sells his only coat to provide schoolbooks for Pinocchio. However, the rambunctious puppet goes on several adventures, dreading school.
He joins a puppet theater and is almost eaten by the gigantic puppet master Mangiafuoco. Pinocchio lies to get out of the situation, and the puppet master gives him five gold coins. He then meets The Fox and the Cat, two crooks who trick him out of his money, telling him to plant the coins in the ground to grow a "money tree" in the Meadow of Miracles outside of Grabadimwit. The watchful Blue Fairy, who encourages him to give up his obnoxious ways, saves him from a hanging by the disguised crooks with the help of her servant Medoro. She gives Pinocchio medicine and when he refuses it, coffin-bearing rabbits dressed as Undertakers appear. Pinocchio immediately consumes the medicine, lying that he wanted to drink it in the first place but that the Fairy would not let him.
When the Blue Fairy asks Pinocchio about the gold coins he had, Pinocchio lies to her and says he lost them, causing his nose to grow. The Blue Fairy, knowing of his constant fibbing, tells him that there are two types of lies: those with short legs and those with long noses. Pinocchio promises the Fairy that from there on he will try his best to be good.
Pinocchio encounters the Fox and the Cat again who remind him of digging his coins in the Meadow of Miracles outside of Grabadimwit. While Pinocchio is away waiting for the tree to grow, the Fox and the Cat dig up the coins and run off. Pinocchio finds that the coins have been dug up as the Talking Cricket is told about it. Pinocchio brings up the Fox and the Cat's crimes to a gorilla judge and his fellow judges and is sentenced to five years in jail for crimes of foolishness. While in jail, he meets Lucignolo, another truant thief who is let out soon after Pinocchio is admitted in. Geppetto continues his search for Pinocchio. Four months later as part of a celebration for the birth of a King's son, he is set free with the other inmates when he convinces the warden that he is a crook. He stumbles across the grave of the Blue Fairy, who supposedly died of grief because of his antics. A Dove tells Pinocchio that she has seen his father heading out to sea to look for him. Pinocchio arrives at the shores where he finds Geppetto on his ship.
After nearly drowning in an attempt to save his father, he washes up on the shore of a city where he helps a lady carry her pitchers. Upon arriving at her house, Pinocchio discovers that she is actually the Blue Fairy in disguise. She states that she faked her death in order to forgive Pinocchio. Once again starting anew, he is on his way to school when he gets into a fight with his schoolmates. One of them tries to throw a book at him, but when he ducks the book hits his classmate Eugenio instead, who is knocked unconscious. Thinking that he is dead, the others run away leaving Pinocchio at the scene. The carabineer arrive where they have Eugenio taken to the hospital while Pinocchio is arrested. Upon nearing the Blue Fairy's house, Pinocchio escapes from the carabineer. Pinocchio ends up in a trap that is placed by a grape farmer to take the place of his late guard dog Melampo in order to guard his crops. He is later freed by Lucignolo and Pinocchio returns to the Blue Fairy's house where he ends up having to admit that he didn't arrive at the local school. The Blue Fairy forgives Pinocchio for what happened. The next day, the people at the school arrive at the Blue Fairy's party where the schoolmaster presides over this. Pinocchio leaves to look for Lucignolo.
Pinocchio is told by Lucignolo where he is on a trip to "Fun Forever Land", where all is play and no work or school after Lucignolo explained to Pinocchio about it. Later that night, Pinocchio and Lucignolo board a stagecoach bound for Fun Forever Land. When at Fun Forever Land, Pinocchio has some fun while the Talking Cricket is trying to find Pinocchio. When the Talking Cricket finds Pinocchio, he tries to warn every boy present that they will turn into donkeys if they do not leave Fun Forever Land. The next day, Pinocchio awakens to find that he has sprouted donkey ears and goes to find Lucignolo. The Talking Cricket arrives and tells Pinocchio that boys turn into donkeys who are sold for hard labor as the Talking Cricket explains this to Pinocchio. Pinocchio is soon changed into a donkey and is sold to a circus under its ringmaster. During his performance, Pinocchio injures himself and is thrown into the sea by the Ringmaster's clowns. When the Blue Fairy appears on the shore upon Pinocchio emerging from the water in his normal form, he vows to make up for his misdeeds to the Blue Fairy who starts to warn Pinocchio that a giant shark is pursuing him. Pinocchio starts to swim, but is swallowed by the shark. Upon being reunited with Geppetto with Pinocchio apologizing to him, they work together to escape from its belly.
Pinocchio walks Geppetto to a farm owned by Farmer George in order to help Geppetto recuperate. While working on a farm owned by Farmer George, Pinocchio finds Lucignolo's donkey form dying in a stable on the farm. As Pinocchio is mourning his death, the farmer asks Pinocchio on how he knows the donkey.
While weaving the baskets outside that night, Pinocchio is visited by the Blue Fairy, Medoro, and the Talking Cricket who are just passing by. As a reward for his efforts to strive for moral prudence, the Blue Fairy finally reforms Pinocchio and he becomes a real boy. The film ends with Pinocchio going to school at last, while his shadow, in the shape of a puppet, chases a butterfly into the countryside.
Cast
| Character | Original Italian actor | English dubbing actor |
| Pinocchio | Roberto Benigni | Breckin Meyer |
| Blue Fairy | Nicoletta Braschi | Glenn Close |
| Medoro | Mino Bellei | Eric Idle |
| Geppetto | Carlo Giuffrè | David Suchet |
| Talking Cricket | Peppe Barra | John Cleese |
| Mangiafuoco | Franco Javarone | Kevin James |
| The Cat | Max Cavallari | Eddie Griffin |
| The Fox | Bruno Arena | Cheech Marin |
| Gorilla Judge | Corrado Pani | David Suchet |
| Lucignolo / Leonardo | Kim Rossi Stuart | Topher Grace |
| Dove | N/A | Queen Latifah |
| Coachman | Luis Molteni | Erik Bergmann |
| Ringmaster | Alessandro Bergonzoni | Regis Philbin |
| Farmer George | Andrea Nardi | Jim Belushi |
| Carabiniere #1 | Alfredo Cavazzoni | David Coburn |
| Carabiniere #2 | Vincenzo Bonanno | Rufus Collins |
| Carabiniere #3 | Marco Tullio Cao | David Coburn |
| Carabiniere #4 | Michele Mazzanti | Rufus Collins |
| Green Grocer | Claudio Bellante | N/A |
| Vintner | Massimo Bianchi | N/A |
| Furcoat Man | Giuliano Ghiselli | Ray Iannicelli |
| Street Vendor | Fausto Marchini | N/A |
| Student | Valerio Ceccarelli | Matthew Labyorteaux |
| Pulcinella | Tommaso Bianco | Tom Amundson |
| Mrs. Rosaura | Silvia Floridi | N/A |
| Pantalone | Franco Mescolini | Bob Papenbrook |
| Harlequin | Stefano Onofri | Tony Abatemarco |
| Innkeeper of the Gambero Rosso | Giorgio Ariani | Harry Murphy |
| First Doctor | Donato Castellaneta | Steve Bulen |
| Second Doctor | Lamberto Consani | Nicholas Guest |
| Undertaker Rabbit | N/A | David Coburn |
| Judge #2 | Giovanni Febraro | N/A |
| Jailer | Camillo Grassi | David Coburn |
| Fisherman | Luigi Delli | Stephen Mellor |
| Lady with Pitchers | Paola Braschi de Giovanni | Nicole Orth-Pallavicini |
| Eugenio | Riccardo Bizzarri | Stephen Apostolina |
| Appuntato | Giacomo Gonnella | N/A |
| Gendarme #1 | Totò Onnis | N/A |
| Gendarme #2 | Danilo Nigrelli | N/A |
| Brigadier | Dario Magi | N/A |
| Melampo's Owner | Sandro Dori | Peter Gerety |
| Schoolmaster | Remo Masini | N/A |
| Boy #1 | Giorgio Noè | N/A |
| Boy #2 | Mario Orfei | N/A |
| Boy #3 | Dodo Otrecolli | N/A |
| Boy #4 | Francesco Guzzo | N/A |
| Boy #5 | Max Galligani | N/A |
| Boy #6 | Stefano Scandaletti | N/A |
| Man with the Mustache | Vincenzo Cerami | Peter Gerety |
| Man with Fur | Franco Casaglieri | N/A |
| Boy | Giorgio Fabbio | N/A |
| Boy | Michele Manuzzi | N/A |
Differences from the novel
In making the film, Benigni tried to be as faithful as possible to Collodi's work, and in fact there are few differences between them.- Geppetto finds the piece of wood on the street, while in the book he is given by Master Ciliegia. Furthermore, in the film, it is specified that the piece of wood is pine. In the book, it is not specified which tree it comes from.
- In the film Mangiafuoco, angry with Pinocchio for spoiling his puppet show, he shows his intention to eat it for lunch. In the book, he would like to use it as firewood to cook a mutton roast.
- In the book, the Fox pretends to be lame and the Cat pretends to be blind while. In the film, they don't have their disabilities.
- In the book Pinocchio had to defend himself from the killers who try to open his mouth to take the gold sequins. He tears the hand of one of the two with his teeth and, spitting it on the ground, he realizes that it is actually a cat's paw. In the film, this detail is omitted.
- In the film, Pinocchio met Lucignolo for the first time in prison when he was arrested by the Carabinieri of Acchiappacitrulli accusing the Cat and the Fox for the theft of gold coins. In the book he met him at school, when he moved to the Country of the Industrious Bees.
- The King of Acchiappacitrulli decides to free the prisoners from prisons to celebrate the birth of his son, not for a military victory as in the book.
- When Pinocchio is arrested by the Carabinieri who believe that he has hit Eugenio, he, seeing the Blue Fairy, escapes from the Carabinieri and then ends up in the field of the farmer who hires him as a guard dog. He also escapes from the farmer thanks to Lucignolo. In the book, he regains his freedom by completing the aforementioned task. Furthermore in the film, the kidnapping by the master of Melampo replaces that by the Green Fisherman. In the book, the first occurs after his ordeal in Acchiappacitrulli and before Pinocchio finds the alleged tomb of the Blue Fairy.
- In the film, after the misfortune with the farmer who forces him to watch over him, Pinocchio returns home still chained and full of shame and, when the Blue Fairy asks him how the day went, the puppet's nose returns to lengthen for the lies he tells them. In the book, however, after running away from the Green Fisherman Pinocchio obtains a dress from a bag for the lupins and, returned home, is left out in the cold all night because the snail to whom he asks to open it takes nine hours to reach the door.
- When Pinocchio and Lucignolo realize that they are turning into donkeys in the Land of Toys, the Talking Cricket speaks to Pinocchio of his ignorance, while in the book, the puppet is warned by his roommate the dormouse. In addition, the Talking Cricket also replaces the Parrot who warns Pinocchio of the theft of the coins by the Cat and the Fox.
- When Pinocchio is transformed into a donkey, he is led to a circus and injures himself by jumping a circle of fire, and the circus director, when he realizes that the donkey has broken his leg, sends his clowns to drown him in the sea. In the book however, he decides to sell it to a drum seller, and he drowns it, not the clowns.
- When Pinocchio returns to being a puppet, the Fairy, aware of the giant shark that was chasing him in the film maintains its human aspect, instead of becoming a goat as it happens in the book.
- When Pinocchio meets Geppetto in the shark's mouth, the puppet brings his father to safety by irritating him by taking his wig. In the book, they flee on the back of a tuna, already met by Pinocchio as soon as he is swallowed while the shark sleeps. In the film, however, when Pinocchio meets Geppetto he pretends to be a tuna but after a while he reveals his true identity to the father because the father is initially angry with him.
Release
In the United States and Canada, Miramax released the film on Christmas Day with no advance screening. Miramax said that this is because they needed to do post-production looping to insert the English dub for its English-speaking release. Edward Guthmann, a film reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, thought that this was because Miramax knew the film would not be well-received, and sought to have it released before critics placed their opinions on the film. After the English dubbed version was poorly received, Miramax reissued the film in Italian with English subtitles.
Reception
Box-office
In Italy and Europe, the film grossed over $7 million within the first three days of its release. Pinocchio grossed $3.67 million in the United States, and $37.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $41.3 million, against a production budget of $40 million.Critical reception
Original version
The original release received mixed reviews. Some have praised the sets, costumes, photography and soundtrack, but criticized its characters and humor. David Rooney of Variety wrote: "In Roberto Benigni's take on Carlo Collodi's classic fairy tale, Pinocchio, the spirit of the late Federico Fellini - with whom Benigni talked of doing the project together - surfaces repeatedly. But that spirit fails to enliven a film substantially lacking in personality, energy, magic and humor... The union between the Tuscan fairy tale and the region’s most talented contemporary offspring would seem like the perfect marriage. In fact, it comes off as artificially exuberant and a little precious."The film went on to receive six nominations at the David di Donatello Awards, winning two in the process: Best Sets and Decorations and Best Costumes, both to Danilo Donati. It was also nominated for at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.
English-dubbed version
The English dub was met with critical panning in the United States. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the English-language version of the film, with 54 reviews, has a rare approval rating of 0%meaning no favorable reviews whatsoeverreceiving an average rating of 2.36/10. The site's consensus states: "Roberto Benigni misfires wildly with this adaptation of Pinocchio, and the result is an unfunny, poorly-made, creepy vanity project." Metacritic gave the film an 11/100 based on 15 critics, which suggests “overwhelming dislike”.Critics found that, amongst other issues, Meyer being chosen as Benigni's voice was considered too young. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times called the film "an oddity that will be avoided by millions of people", joking that "Osama bin Laden could attend a showing in Times Square and be confident of remaining hidden." Mitchell also criticized Benigni's decision to play the titular character, opining that his role as Pinocchio is "as believable as Diana Ross playing Dorothy in The Wiz".
The dub was nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards and won one: