Fairy Tale Cinema

Tale of Tales consists of three well-trodden fairy tales from the works of Giambattista Basile, a writer and poet of the 16th and 17th century also credited with penning the first versions of Cinderella, Rapunzel and several other twice-told yarns. The best features of the film come from the star-studded cast.

One of the stories opens with an odd but workable pairing of Salma Hayek (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn) as the queen and John C Reilly (Boogie Nights, Step Brothers) as the king of Longtrellis. His wife is unable to conceive, so king Reilly follows the instructions of an oracle and sacrifices himself in order for his queen to become instantly pregnant, sans sex. Some years later, the resulting son meets his almost twin, from another mother. The jealous queen attempts to separate the two, who are now like brothers, the futility of her attempts turning to grace when the soothsayer once again intervenes.

Shirley Henderson (she played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter flicks) and Hayley Carmichael (Call the Midwife) are featured in the second story, featuring Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) as a very randy king of yet another land. One day, from a distance, he overhears someone singing and instantly assumes that she is a beautiful young maiden. She is brought to his quarters, whereupon he has his way with the slightly made-up dowdy crone; he awakens to find the truth and immediately has her cast out. Intervention comes from a mysterious woman, who offers the milk of human kindness, turning the old woman into a ravishing redhead whom the king espies, weds and beds.

The third tale features Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger) as another man of royalty, who has more than a passing interest in fleas. He first teaches a "real" flea to pull a tiny circus wagon, and things blossom from there, until his pet becomes the size of a large dog. Upon its death, he offers his daughter's hand (she has been begging for a husband) to the man who can identify the hide of the now-skinned flea.

An ogre is the one who does so, making the king's daughter a captive, in this harsh "Beauty and the Beast"-type story.

There is a lot of dark humor and enough debauchery in this picture to please most fans of phantasmal works. It features good direction and performances, a touch of the grotesque and splendid special effects.

Tale of Tales
The Screen,
NR,
133 min.

Santa Fe Reporter