Carsey-Wolf Center at UC Santa Barbara 
Revisiting the Classics: Pinocchio
- Saturday, April 20, 2024 / 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM (PDT)
- Pollock Theater
- Screening Format: 4K digital projection (125 minutes)
- With Anna Brusutti (Film and Media Studies, UCSB)
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Director: Matteo Garrone
Starring: Federico Ielapi, Roberto Benigni, Rocco Papaleo, Massimo Ceccherini, Marine Vacth
Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone’s adaptation of Pinocchio offers a dark and unsettling retelling of the classic tale. Set in poverty-stricken rural Italy during the nineteenth century, the film opens as reclusive toymaker Geppetto crafts the wooden puppet Pinocchio, who magically comes to life. The film follows Pinocchio’s fantastical journey to become a real boy as he traverses a dangerous world full of sinister characters who test his morals and force him to confront the consequences of his actions. Garrone’s visually stunning adaptation returns to the darker roots of author Carlo Collodi’s original story, unfolding as a cautionary tale about human nature that will resonate with mature audiences. Widely praised upon its release, the film received numerous accolades in Italy and abroad, including two Academy Award nominations.
Anna Brusutti (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) introduced the film with a discussion of the history of Pinocchio on screen and its relationship to Carlo Collodi’s classic novel.
This event is free but a reservation is recommended in order to guarantee a seat.
Biographies
Anna Brusutti (Film and Media Studies, UCSB)
After studying psychology, theatre, and film, Anna Brusutti worked at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles and has taught cultural studies and film at various institutions. She curates two annual film events and collaborates with cultural organizations. She has welcomed the opportunity to teach in the Film and Media Studies department and has done so for a number of years, teaching courses in Italian cinema, film noir, and children’s media.
This event is sponsored by the Carsey-Wolf Center.
Revisiting the Classics
What happens when a film becomes a “classic”? The Carsey-Wolf Center’s 2023-24 feature series Revisiting the Classics engages creatively and critically with our filmic past, approaching it with fresh eyes and novel interpretive lenses. Not simply a celebration of the “great works,” Revisiting the Classics will consider how classic texts have shaped the work of contemporary filmmakers, how complicated questions of politics and aesthetics emerge through practices of adaptation and interpretation, and how the changing landscape of film distribution, archiving, preservation, and critique affects the formation of canon and the making of new “classics.”