Tale of Tales
IFC Films | Release Date: April 22, 2016
6.5
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 71 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
43
Mixed:
21
Negative:
7
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8
shiftworkerAug 22, 2016
Neapolitan ice-cream: three flavours of fairy-tales sort of brought together at the end. If the words weird, quirky, eccentric, idiosyncratic, unusual, bizarre, offbeat and different don't put you off, then you'll enjoy this. I told everyoneNeapolitan ice-cream: three flavours of fairy-tales sort of brought together at the end. If the words weird, quirky, eccentric, idiosyncratic, unusual, bizarre, offbeat and different don't put you off, then you'll enjoy this. I told everyone I know well to watch it. Only half of them think I'm mad.… Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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5
MightyPDKApr 24, 2016
It's beautiful, with great costumes and sets. The musical score was good. It's always nice to have a break from pop, and a specially-composed soundtrack is indicative of a work of love. Interesting camera work, too, though pacing suffers in aIt's beautiful, with great costumes and sets. The musical score was good. It's always nice to have a break from pop, and a specially-composed soundtrack is indicative of a work of love. Interesting camera work, too, though pacing suffers in a few spots due to overly ambitious shots (patience being a lost knack, and all). This maybe could have been fiddled with a little more in editing, but nothing worth complaining about. Top points on aesthetics.

The storytelling is a bit of a mess, however. Taken individually, a few of the subplots might have made interesting short films, but shoehorning them all together like this didn't really work for me.

Many of the characters are royalty, and I constantly felt myself asking, "Doesn't he/she have someone else who would be better suited for this task?" I am pretty sure that there are servants/soldiers/anybody else who would be more effective and more appropriately dressed for some of this stuff. That can likely be attributed to the source material, and maybe a little to the fantastic costumes. Ladies, I don't know how you ever got around in those outfits. I think you just earned a physical education credit from wherever you went to school. Call the dean and check. Tell her an anonymous stranger from the Internet sent you. We go way back.

Performances occasionally felt quite wooden. At times, it was like watching a marionette show rather than actual people. Impressive when you can plunge the audience into the uncanny valley with real, live actors. That wasn't constant, though. Characters do bizarre, uncomfortable and impossible things, so it's not as though we're thoroughly committed to reality in the first place.

If you enjoy films for the sake of art, or have an interest in folk legends, go for it. If you're looking for a fantastic popcorn adventure, you should maybe look elsewhere. The role of "protagonist" is spread a bit too thin across so many (effectively) unrelated characters. I didn't really get to know any of them in detail and so didn't get emotionally invested.

Throw some money at the people who made this film. Artistic vision means too little these days, and this movie had it by the bushel. Remaking older movies is lazy, and usually unnecessary. The artists here took something they knew and loved from their own cultural experience, and shared it with us.

My number score is not fully reflective of how I feel about this movie. If we're being honest with ourselves, this number stuff is all nonsense, anyhow. The score isn't indicative of quality until years after the marketing efforts end, and even then, each "critic" has his/her/its own scoring philosophy.

"10" ratings and "0" ratings can be fully disregarded. Those are only worth reading if they are less than a full line long, and only because you read them by accident, anyway, as you scrolled past.

"0" means there was no movie. Some dude just loaded a blank VHS tape in a VCR, hit play in a room full of confused art house movie patrons, and walked off to go have a smoke and a bit of a laugh. (They pretentiously discussed his "art" with him at the wine and cheese thing after.)

"10" means that it was perfect. The universe held still in its course at the moment of the cut on the final take, an in-drawn breath, before drifting regretfully back into unstoppable inertia, forever thereafter. If that movie exists, I haven't seen it yet. Maybe it was Pluto Nash... I guess I'll never know. (It was Pluto Nash, wasn't it?)

My 5 means that the combination of flaws dragged on enjoyment, but didn't stop things dead. I don't regret having spent the time. About half of the movies that I have seen are better, and about half are worse. Fair? (Just kidding. I don't care whether you think so, and you absolutely shouldn't care that I don't care. Go spam a few more 9 and 10 scores from your alt accounts, and it'll be like I never even voted *wink*.)

I would see more. The Internet cries out for more! What shall this crew bring for us next?… Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
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6
kman5473Apr 24, 2018
If you're a real film lover, and you love watching obscure and new tellings of visual art, than you'll enjoy this eclectic trio of fairy tales. Having said that, this feature is definitely not for the "mainstream" pallet by any means. TheIf you're a real film lover, and you love watching obscure and new tellings of visual art, than you'll enjoy this eclectic trio of fairy tales. Having said that, this feature is definitely not for the "mainstream" pallet by any means. The pacing is much slower and meandering compared to what is popular right now, but I enjoyed it. The film had great set design and art pieces, but it's not really like a blatantly fantastical fantasy--it is shot and depicted almost like a historical fiction with some bizarre creatures in it.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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6
TyranianFeb 3, 2020
Somewhat interesting fantasy anthology with excellent visuals though almost uninteligible stories.
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8
LeZeeDec 4, 2016
The flea, the flay and an offspring.

It's shocking to find how much this film was underrated. Certainly it is not a fairytale like from the Disney production. That mean not for the children, but for the adults. Based on the collections ofThe flea, the flay and an offspring.

It's shocking to find how much this film was underrated. Certainly it is not a fairytale like from the Disney production. That mean not for the children, but for the adults. Based on the collections of tales by some 17th century Italian poet. All the tales blended together so well, You won't even feel the familiarity with the original tale, because the modifications were at its best. So I appreciate the writer first, and then the director, followed by the actors.

Since the film has a multiple story narrative layer, like three, the opening and the ending was common to all. But soon after the initiative, the tales go separate ways with its own twists and turns and conclusion, till again falling back in the line to finish it off the film. First a royal couple tend to do anything to have their own child. After many years, having no luck with the pregnancy, they now follow the instruction given by a necromancer. The result is most certain, but not without a negative effect.

The desperate couple sacrifices greater to have a child. The remaining story takes place in the few years later where a royal born child and his mother have differences. A fresh complication arises that puts the mother again in a tight spot. How it is going to be solved narrated in the following parts.

In the second story, the king of a hill castle is obsessed with his new insect pet. That leads him to neglect his own daughter who is dreaming of getting married and have a great life. But the things are not going well between father and daughter with her mother's absence. When the king comes to realise that, he comes with an agenda to achieve two things in one shot. That does not please his daughter, and soon she ends up in the hands of an ogre. The remaining is to tell us what happens to her in a thrilling way.

This is the story of a father's responsibility. If his wife was alive, their daughter would have been taken care at best. Compared to the others, this tale gets more exciting and edgy, even the locations. Of course they have used blue/green screens, but still beautiful like the one from the top of the castle scene. I liked the casting for this, particularly the princess part.

"The equilibrium of the world must be maintained."

The third tale is about a lustful king. One day when he hears a woman singing in a beautiful voice, the next minutes he lands on her home's front door, not knowing the woman is aged and has the wrinkle skin. But she and her sisters play along hiding behind the door and asks for a favour in order to win them back, I mean one of them. So how the rest of the story develops and who gets what, followed by a twist, it comes to an end.

It is a spectacular film. But not visually as the fairy tales told in the present Hollywood films. Particularly, it minimised the computer related special effects. So it was more realistic, yet you will get that fantasy feel with how the tales shape up. It's a black comedy, and that's an absolutely well done part. You know designing the dark humours are not an easy task and this film has three layers, though not all of them has them. The conclusions were so perfect, reminds us the happy and sad are the parts of our life.

Over two hours long film, there's no drag in the narration. The length is because of the three tales and each one was narrated with a pretty good pace. But still it gives the impression the film is slow and that's for being silent like less background score in the most of the parts. From Salma Hayek to Toby Jones, Vincent Cassel, all were so good. The casting was the advantage for the film to shape up well. Since it is an international project, that will help the global audience to their comfort.

The director's first English language film and I think I'm going to keep an eye on his future projects. Certainly I have not seen such film like this, not in the todays cinema. The film was like in the old days. It does not deliver a couple of quick jokes and/or breathtaking visual effects, but the depth of the tale was good. The writers, director did not hesitate to add extra minutes to get what they wanted. I would have liked it if another layer of the tale was included and extended for another 30 or more minutes. For the grown ups, I suggest it not to miss, you won' get a film like this often.

8/10… Expand
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7
BrianMcCriticSep 14, 2016
A well made fantasy adventure film that can be slow but still very entertaining. This is a three story film in which each story has its strong moments. In the end though I preferred two of the three. B+
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8
ComandanteCobraNov 3, 2021
Alternative, baroque fantasy; a twisted and dark fairy tale.
Different short stories with subtle morals that use magic, kings and monsters to talk about obsession, offspring, desire, servitude, madness, beauty...
A film that empatizeAlternative, baroque fantasy; a twisted and dark fairy tale.
Different short stories with subtle morals that use magic, kings and monsters to talk about obsession, offspring, desire, servitude, madness, beauty...
A film that empatize narration over action scenes and big fx.
I liked it, because it stand out in an ocean of "classic fantasy" (elves and dragons make way to different kind of cratures) ...and because is dedicate to an adult audience without relying on nudity or violence to impress viewers.
Try it, it deserve a better recognition… Expand
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10
FrancisDGJun 4, 2019
Terric fantasy, maybe the best of the year, directed really well by Garrone
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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