I didn't know anything about Tale of Tales before it's release and it was only as I heard more and more favourable reviews that I thought I should try and see it. It was Mark Kermode and James King who finally convinced me by both saying it was something that needed to be seen on the big screen. I had a feeling that if I liked the film I would really like it but there was also a chance I wouldn't like it at all.
I'm sure James King said something about seeing it at the cinema because on a smaller screen it might just look cheaper. There are many moments when it looks wonderfully cinematic but it never manages to escape the overall feeling of it being a big europudding television special. I love television (perhaps even more than cinema) and hate using this is a criticism but I could never get over it. It's not just the look of the film but also the structure which felt like it would be better suited to a TV series. The three tales don't really intertwine so you have to wonder why they couldn't just be told separately. None of the stories are really that great and every time they do start to engage (which they all do at least once) the focus switches to another, dragging out the running time to an increasing level of frustration and boredom. Three 30 minute episodes could've been fantastic.
Lovely end credits though, or perhaps I was just glad it was over.
July 10, 2016 at 12:02PM
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