''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' is a 1911 Italian live-action

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

directed by

Giulio Antamoro Giulio Antamoro (1 July 1877 – 8 December 1945) was an Italian film director mainly active during the silent era.Nowell-Smith p.127 Selected filmography * ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1911) * ''Miss Dorothy'' (1920) * ''Don Carlos'' (192 ...

and starring Ferdinand Guillaume. It is the first movie based on the 1883 novel ''

The Adventures of Pinocchio ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; it, Le avventure di Pinocchio ; commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'') is a children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pinocc ...

'' by

Carlo Collodi Carlo Lorenzini (24 November 1826 – 26 October 1890), better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi (), was an Italian author, humourist, and journalist, widely known for his fairy tale novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio''. Early life Col ...

, and one of the first Italian feature films.

Plot

Geppetto carves Pinocchio from a large piece of wood. Pinocchio comes to life, causes havoc in the street and his creator Geppetto is arrested while Pinocchio escapes. At home he burns his feet, but is saved by Geppetto, who also gives him new feet. Pinocchio plays with children and helps them steal fruit. The landowner catpures Pinocchio and ties him to a dog house. At night, Pinocchio barks to alert the landowner. Grateful for this deed, the landowner gives Pinocchio his freedom back. The thieves have been waiting nearby, captures Pinocchio and hangs him from a tree. The Turquoise Fairy (La Fata Turchina) saves him from the tree and gives him some money. Pinocchio meets a Fox and a Cat, who take him to a city of

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

animals. In the forest they talk him into plant his money in the soil and water it. Later the Fox and the Cat return to retrieve the money themselves. When Pinocchio returns he discovers that the money is gone, and when he meets the two con artists, a brawl breaks out and Pinocchio is arrested and put in prison. He escapes through the window and by tying sheets into a rope. He swims into the ocean and is swallowed by a large fish. In the creature's stomach he finds Geppetto. They escape with the help of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

s. At the camp, the Indians have hung Geppetto over a fire, but Pinocchio tells them to release him. Pinocchio tells Geppetto to leave. Later he runs away too, to a camp of Canadian soldiers. The soldiers shoot Pinocchio, riding on a

cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

, all the way home to Geppetto. Pinocchio joins a puppet theater, but escapes from that too. When he returns home, Geppetto is angry. Pinocchio tries to be a good boy, but his friend

Lucignolo Lucignolo is a 1999 Italian movie directed by and starring Massimo Ceccherini, with Alessandro Paci and Claudia Gerini. Plot Lucio (Massimo Ceccherini) is an unemployed thirty-year-old red-haired guy who's extremely lazy and doesn't wake up unt ...

talks him into coming along to the

Land of Toys The Land of Toys ( it, Paese dei balocchi) is a fictional location in the Italian novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) that is disguised as a haven of freedom and anarchy for boys and occasionally girls, but is eventually discovered to be f ...

, where one never studies but always play. They are greeted by its waiving inhabitants. After 10 days, they grows donkey ears and eventually turn into donkeys. The Turquoise Fairy changes him back into a puppet. Pinocchio returns home. Geppetto scolds him but forgives him again. During a meal, the Turquoise Fairy appears and the spirit of Pinocchio takes human form, and the now lifeless puppet falls to the ground.

Cast

The cast of the film was: * Ferdinand Guillaume as

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

* Natalino Guillaume as

* Augusto Mastripietri as

Geppetto Geppetto ( , ), also known as Mister Geppetto, is an Italian fictional character in the 1883 novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator (and thus 'father') of Pinocchio ...

* Lea Giunchi as

the Fairy ''The Fairy'' (french: La Fée) is a 2011 French-Belgian comedy film written and directed by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy. It won several prizes at the 2nd Magritte Awards. Cast * Dominique Abel as Dom * Fiona Gordon as Fiona, l ...

Production

It was believed that The adventures of Pinocchio would be spectacular on the big screen. Ferdinand Guillaume, who at the time was one of the most famous faces in comedy cinema, was selected to portray the protagonist

. The film was produced in a few months. When it was released in Italian cinemas it was a great success, and an abridged version was exported to other countries.

Lost and found

The film was once believed to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

, but in 1994 the original negative was found at

Cineteca Italiana Cineteca Italiana is a private film archive located in Milan, Italy, established in 1947, and as a foundation in 1996. History Established in 1947, and as a foundation in 1996, the Cineteca Italiana houses over 20,000 films and more than 100,000 p ...

in Milan. In 2002, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' reported that a 30-minute version had been rediscovered and restored. Cineteca Italiana describes the film as the least faithful to the novel, where only some of Collodi's story appear. They also named it the most unsettling, and credited actor Guillaume for this.

Later screenings

In 2018, a screening at the Zorrilla Theatre in Spain was held in which a 42-minute restored version of the silent film was accompanied by live electronic music by the band Miclono.

Academic interest

In 2021, the film was the subject of a thesis. The thesis examined the film and how it over time underwent modification and adaptation to contemporary aesthetic tastes.

References

Michael Brunton.
A Tale Of Two Pinocchios
(archived), ''

'', 13 October 2002. Marco Castagna
Fabbri, Paolo, Pezzini, Isabella (a cura di), Pinocchio. Nuove avventure tra segni e linguaggi
(archived) (Italian), recensionifilosofiche.info. Chiostro Nina Vinchi.
In quest’ultimo appuntamento...
(Italian), piccoloteatro.org, 3 September 2015. The screening of the 1911 silent film ‘Pinocchio elettronico’ with the accompaniment of electronic music performed live at the Zorrilla Theatre becomes a sensation at FILMETS
, festivalfilmets.cat, 21 October 2018. Pinocchio
(archived) (Italian),

Joel Eisenberg Joel Eisenberg is a writer-producer, whose current eight-book fantasy saga with co-author Steve Hillard, '' The Chronicles of Ara,'' was sold to Ovation TV for an eight-hour miniseries. The deal was unique for a network in that the series was ...

.
Is 'Pinocchio' The Scariest Fiction of Them All?
, medium.com, 1 May 2020. Razmig Bedirian.
Film review: Matteo Garrone's 'Pinocchio' is a dark but tender retelling of the classic
, '' The National'', 14 September 2020. Pinocchio to come back in a new avatar
, ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', 15 January 2021. Samuele Picarelli Perrotta.
Pinocchio by Giulio Antamoro – Philological reconstruction of the first film adaptation of Collodi's novel
(archived) (Italian),

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

, 8 July 2021. Pinocchio, i migliori film dedicati al personaggio creato da Carlo Collodi
(archived) (Italian),

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an agree ...

, 29 July 2022.

External links

* (a 54 minute version) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Pinocchio, The 1911 films Italian silent films Films based on novels Rediscovered Italian films