It may be inspired by 17th-century Italian fairytales,but Matteo Garrone’s dreamlike circus of sex, violence and magic is definitely not one for the childrenThis lustily fantastical English-language feature from the Italian writer-director Matteo Garrone is described on screen as being loosely based on The Tale of Tales by Giambattista Basile”, and the Neapolitan writer whose 17th-century fairytales inspired Charles Perrault,the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and more. The subtitle for Basile’s most celebrated work was Entertainment for Little Ones, and although the BBFC’s description of Garrone’s 15-rated film (“strong sex,violence and gory images”) makes it clear that this is definitely not for minors. Bawdy romping, meaty heart-munching and toothy creature-feature fare are all on the menu in this sprawling collage of fables that owes as much to David Cronenberg’s adaptation of bare Lunch as to Neil Jordans The Company of Wolves.
There are traces of both William Burroughs’s surreal hallucinations and Angela Carter’s psychoanalytic feminismContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com