Pinocchio

Those who have seen Roberto Benigni's performance in La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful) who reach the end and sit in wonder at his amazing ability to find the fun and bring a childlike wonderment to the screen are going to love the film I discovered on DVD today. Pinocchio.

At first glance you may wonder how a 50 year old eccentric man could pull off performing the character of a wooden puppet boy. But Benigni tackles this the only way he knows how, put everything he has into it. It possibly would have been better to actually have a 'real' boy play Pinocchio allowing the story to be truly universal but it obviously wasn't part of Benigni's concept.

If you find Benigni's acting over the top or annoying, first of all, slap yourself because you need to find your inner child again, then watch this film anyway. The beauty of this film is remarkable. I could easily watch it with the sound off just to admire the images that linger in my mind once the film has finished. Seeing Pinocchio strung up from the tree is heartbreaking.

Actually, I would prefer to watch it with the sound off because of the American dubbing. I really wish distributors would realise that most people prefer to see and hear films in their original language and have to read subtitles. Amelie is a perfect example, imagine how that would be ruined by having some overpaid American B-grade actress voicing Amelie.

I am sad that I wasn't able to see this on the big screen, but the techno wonders of DVD are the next best thing.