Paris (AFP)
Initially expected on French screens on March 18, the film "Pinocchio" by Matteo Garrone, with Roberto Benigni in the role of Gepetto, will be broadcast on Amazon Prime from May 4, the streaming platform said on Wednesday.
This is the second time that Amazon has obtained the exclusive distribution of a film which was due to be released in cinemas and whose career was killed in the bud by the global crisis linked to the coronavirus.
In early April, Amazon announced the online release of the French comedy "Forte" by Katia Lewcowicz, noticed at the Alpe d'Huez festival, with Melha Bedia and Valérie Lemercier.
By offering its French subscribers the exclusive distribution of "Pinocchio" by Matteo Garrone, the platform enriches its content with a film by an author recognized in the cinema world and presented in February at the Berlinale (out of competition).
Already released in Italy, where it met with great success, this "Pinocchio" is distributed in France by Le Pacte.
A new adaptation of the classic by Carlo Collodi, "Pinocchio" aims to "enchant" children, according to its director.
"+ Pinocchio + is a fable that talks about the human being, his conflicts, his temptations," said Matteo Garrone at the Berlinale. The director of "Gomorra", twice Grand Prix at Cannes, has made the classic children's literature a dark tale, visually impressive, with plays of light and shadow, and a palette depicting a poor Italy.
In the role of Gepetto, the father of the "wooden puppet" who dreams of being a real little boy, Garrone enlisted Roberto Benigni, who had also brought this story to the screen in 2002 and had on that occasion embodied the puppet.
Far from the world of mafia who made his fame, Matteo Garrone preferred to focus on "the great love story between a father and a son".
"I won't necessarily be the last to adapt this timeless story," he said in February, while Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is preparing an animated version for Netflix and Disney is working on a new "Pinocchio", after that of 1940. .
© 2020 AFP