"Pinocchio", Amazon Prime consolidates its place as rival to Netflix

Text by: Sophie Torlotin Follow

In France, all cinemas have been closed to the public since March 17, and no one knows when they will reopen. Under these conditions, some producers and distributors decide to show their films on streaming platforms and therefore give up a theatrical release. “Pinocchio”, the new film by Italian director Matteo Garrone, a regular at the Cannes Film Festival, is therefore now available on Amazon Prime.

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It is with his portraits of small Neapolitan mafia, as in Gomorra or Dogman that Matteo Garrone became known. The Italian filmmaker, several times awarded at Cannes, however, with Pinocchio , abandons the chronicle of contemporary violence. But he transforms the moral fable of Carlo Collodi into a black tale, located in a miserable Italy of the end of the 19th century.

The director follows the text to the letter, and rediscovers its substance. The story of the paternal love of a carpenter, Geppetto, for a wooden puppet, which he considers his son.

Bring a log to life

Visually, the special effects are impressive and at times all the more magical because they are not based on any digital device. Matteo Garrone succeeds in giving life to a moving log of wood, to that nose that gets longer when Pinocchio is caught in the act of lying.

The filmmaker respects the spirit of the tale, while remaining faithful to his universe, his taste for grotesque and baroque figures, like these two rascal accomplices, fox and cat, half-man, half-animals.

The surprise of Amazon Prime

His Pinocchio , presented at the Berlin festival, met with success in cinemas in Italy ... But that was before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic. By obtaining the exclusive broadcasting rights, Amazon Prime creates the surprise and consolidates its place as a rival to Netflix.

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