Based on the celebrated fairytales of Giambattista Basile and directed by Matteo Garrone; Tale Of Tales which stars Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel and  Toby Jones is the story of three neighbouring castles and the troubled rulers within.

Not long after Tale Of Tales began, I found myself wanting some of the players in the movie to meet and be connected somehow. Reason being, in my mind, that’s at least one option that could have increased the chance of an overall more satisfying film experience. I’m still not convinced that Tale Of Tales needed to be more than two hours long. A tighter edit and perhaps two tales instead of three would have allowed for some of the gaps in the story to be filled in a more satisfying way.

Salma Hayek’s performance as the jealous Queen of Longtrellis is the one I enjoyed most.  I also appreciated the cinematography, makeup and of course, the costumes. The most exciting part of the whole movie, for me at least began at the point that the princess found hope when there was none.

By the end of Tale Of Tales, I knew one thing for sure and that is this: I don’t completely get it. The story of the jealous queen I understand, the story of the mad king and his daughter is relatively straight forward enough. But that of the nymphomaniac king and the two wrinkly sisters? I understand the sister dynamic and a lustful king but everything definitely could have been woven together in a more satisfying way.

Watch Tale Of Tales if you must. I was compelled because of the costumes, cinematography and Salma Hayek.

Happy Film Loving

G