Roberto Benigni as "Pinnochio" (1 Viewer)

[Keith Paynter]

Curse you, Captain Nitpick!!! (edit, edit, edit) :b

 

[Josh Lowe]

i heard it's the worst thing since ishtar.

no surprise considering what an overrated piece of dung life is beautiful was and the whole sham of benigni being worth a damn as a director/actor that was foisted on us..

 

[Malcolm R]

Peter McM said:

Since what? :wink:

 

[Peter McM]

Quite right, Malcolm--love the movie, spaced the title.:b

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Exactly why I want to see it, the movie is truer to the original book, and not the sanitized Disney crap

 

[Michael Pakula]

A couple of theaters in toronto here are getting the
original print with subtitles. I will have to check it out.
-Mike

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Good to know they're out there

 

[Brenton]

A couple of theaters in toronto here are getting the
original print with subtitles. I will have to check it out.

How do you find out? Do you call the theaters, or is there an easier way?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The ad in the paper today devotes over half its space to who dubbed it *spit*

 

[Michael Pakula]

It's actualy only one theater thats showing it. Sorry for the typo. I found out about it in the toronto star paper. It was under the ad for the film and for Interchange 30 it said Original Italian Version. They usually show Italian films there in general so its no surprise. It's just a little far to get to. The rest were all english dubbed versions. On that note I managed to see this version and I must say it was horribly done. Roberto Benigni's voice over sounds like some teenager who sounds really misplaced. It's weird the person at first I thought did it was Cris Rock. I couldn't figure who the voice over was.


-Mike

 

[Aaron Wisner]

0%. ouch.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Pinocchio-1119026/

 

[RobertR]

Interesting. It's compared to Battlefield Earth in its badness. That about says it all.

 

[Brenton]

That's sad. The book is so good. It needs a better movie.

 

[Aurel Savin]

From the web regarding this weekends piss poor performance:

"We are not happy with the performance theatrically, but from a financial perspective we are fine," Sands said, noting that Miramax spent $21 million on "Pinocchio." "We knew it was a risk dubbing it and taking it to a mass audience."

I have a feeling that since the dubbing did not do the trick with the masses and the kids, we might see the original version of this soon ...

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Oh jeez, I had no idea this movie was gonna be thrashed this badly! Get a load of some of these Rotten Tomatoes blurbs!
"A movie so bad that it quickly enters the pantheon of wreckage that includes Battlefield Earth and Showgirls."
"Lethal for kids and an unspeakable insult to adults, this unreleasable fiasco is a torture for all."
"Utterly lacking in charm, wit and invention, Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio is an astonishingly bad film."
"Absolutely (and unintentionally) terrifying."
"Benigni's folly...In every sense of the word, the picture is just frightful; it will either terrify children or bore them to tears, and adults will be rightly appalled by it."
"The idea of 49-year-old Roberto Benigni playing the wooden boy Pinocchio is scary enough. The reality of the new live-action Pinocchio he directed, cowrote and starred in borders on the grotesque."
Yowch! Now I can't wait to see it!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Destined to become a poster child for the evils of dubbing

I have to wonder if it is indeed the film, given that most of the reviews I've read spend half their time talking about the ineptitude of the dubbing.

It's also obvious to me that initial reports were true that Benigni did indeed DISOWN the dub rather than just firing himself for quality reasons

It's probably a decent film that's been disembowled by Miramax's dubbing crew

 

[RobertR]

You left out this nice blurb, Scott:

"The only way this Pinocchio can have a fairy-tale ending is if you leave in time to get your money back; then you might live happily ever after."

 

[Jason Whyte]

I'm not sure if any of you have actually SEEN this film yet (I didn't see you at my screening of 10 people, two of whom walked out), but I can assure you that this rendition of Pinocchio is a dreadful experience.
It's flat out painful, and not just from the dubbing point of view. Benigni doesn't seem to be clear on how he really wants to tell the story here. It's downright CREEPY at times, watching Benigni prance around like a little boy, lick lollipops with some other creepy guy in his 30's, and crying as if someone stole his Oscar.
There's a sequence in this film that infuriated me, even though some of this is from the original story. After Pinocchio gets gobbled up by the whale near the end, he comes across his father, Gepetto, and then hides in a corner. Gepetto wonders who is making the voice, but Pinocchio somehow convinces him he's just a tuna (he does this by making "Gloop! Gloop!" sounds that are EXCRUTIATING to listen to dubbed). Therefore, Gepetto launches into a big expository dialogue about his son is out and about having a good time, while Pinocchio listens and Gloops. Finally, after Gepetto wishes he WAS there, Pinocchio stands up and yells his presence:
"Father!"
"Pinocchio"
"I am not a tuna!"
The sheer delivery and timing of this dialogue easily ranks that as the best non-intentionally funny line of 2002. I can only imagine how this sounded in Italian.
Some of the photography is clean and focused (Dante Spinotti is the credited DP), but boring. Throw enough money and widescreen cameras and pretty much anyone can frame a shot the way Spinotti and Benigni have.
By the time this miserable film ended, Pinocchio ends up a real boy, one character is still a goat, and Pinocchio's shadow starts chasing a butterfly, but abruptly ends because the wall ends and the butterfly dashes off into a field. Is the shadow still chasing the butterfly? I guess we'll never know.
Jason

 

[Rob Lutter]

I sure as hell hope we see an Italian release... I was actually looking forward to seeing it :frowning:

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Well, if I end up hating the film, I'll end up hating the real film and not an "adaption"