Tale of Tales

Let us introduce you to Giambattista Basile, a 17th-century Neapolitan folklore collector.

Basile's «The Tale of Tales» is the first major collection of fairy tales in European literature. Some of the plots were later adapted by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault – for example, «Sleeping Beauty», «Cinderella», «Little Red Riding Hood»... However, in the 17th century, these tales were quite different, and you may be in for a deep disappointment. Cinderella appears as a cunning murderer (and there's no glass slipper—just a cork sole shoe), fairies have lice, the Big Bad Wolf doesn't eat Little Red Riding Hood (we suspected that), and instead of a handsome prince, a lustful married king visits Sleeping Beauty.

However, Matteo Garrone's film does not have all these characters. There is a king who raised a huge flea and gave his daughter to an ogre, twin brothers who defeated a witch queen and a stupid old woman who took off her skin. And this movie is incredibly, delightfully beautiful!

🏆 The film was screened at Cannes, where it didn't win any awards, but in Italy, it received the national film award for best direction, best costume design, best cinematography, best visual effects, best makeup, and best hairstyles.