At the moment, Guillermo del Toro is in full promotion of Nightmare Alley, which has already been released in the US, being harshly overshadowed by Spider-Man: No Way Home in the box office, although the new film from The Shape of Water Oscar winner has already entered the awards race.
But that isn’t the only project that has kept fans of the filmmaker on their toes; for a couple of years, it’s been confirmed that Del Toro would start working on a new adaptation of the classic tale The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, which has already gone through various animated and live-action versions, from Hollywood to Italian productions, two of them starring Roberto Benigni. However, despite being a story already told, the director will give it that fantastic and somewhat sinister touch that has already become so common in his film fables.
This production has been lengthened in its making since it’s stop-motion, but it seems that Guillermo del Toro still intends to offer a story beyond the one that most audiences know. Something that identifies most of his films, regardless of what they are about, is that he brings a significant political context to the table; for example, both Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone are directly related to the Spanish Civil War, although at different times during it, while Hellboy makes direct reference to Nazism with its villains.
Pinocchio won’t be the exception with this type of setting, as it’s the director himself who confirmed that this film takes place in the middle of fascist Italy, turning the experiences of its wooden protagonist into a metaphor for what society lived through at such important time of history. These were his remarks during and interview for Rotten Tomatoes:
Pinocchio is about what makes a human a human and what makes a human a puppet. Or a puppet a human because it’s set during the rise of Mussolini in Fascist Italy. So, it’s a really interesting thematic exercise, that one.
Del Toro also spoke about the way in which Nightmare Alley and Pinocchio could be related, assuring that “they do have parallels. Obviously, Pinocchio has big sections at a carnival, so there are straight little echoes between the two [films].” Except that Pinocchio deals with a different theme. Of course, this story will continue to respect its original essence as a fairy tale, but the director, together with Mark Gustafson (co-director), will look for that political theme between the lines.
The film’s release date hasn’t been confirmed yet, although it was originally planned to be released this year. Meanwhile, voice acting will be provided by Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Ron Perlman (a Del Toro regular), Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Finn Wolfhard, Burn Gorman and John Turturro.
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