Francesco Nuti
OcchioPinocchio

"Pinocchio is no more, Pinocchio is no more, Pinocchio is no more, Pinocchio is no more..."

Delving into the analysis of a film of this kind is no easy task. It's essential to discuss its genesis in as much detail as possible. "OcchioPinocchio" is the film that ruined Francesco Nuti, both artistically and personally. What could have happened to lead to such an outcome?

Let's take a step back.

1980s. Nuti, having broken away from the comedic group Giancattivi (comprised, besides him, of Alessandro Benvenuti and Athina Cenci), embarked on a "solo" career acting in three films by Maurizio Ponzi. Immediate success: millions of tickets sold, David di Donatello and Nastro d'Argento awards. Moving to directorial roles, he presented his audience with other widely acclaimed works like "Caruso Paskoski (of Polish father)" and "Women in Skirts". These are romantic comedies that hint at the figure of an actor who is indeed comedic but capable of conveying unusual bitterness and candor (at least in the characters he plays. Judging by certain statements, imagining Nuti-the-person as candid is difficult).

1992. Following his latest box office success, he decided to bring to life a project that, according to him, would allow him to make the so-called "leap in quality". A story that has kept him awake for years, almost a real obsession. The film is called "OcchioPinocchio", a personal reinterpretation of Collodi's fairy tale set in modern times, written together with Ugo Chiti and Giovanni Veronesi. But Nuti was not content with making the film in his usual way. The budget provided by Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori was a whopping 13 billion lire! A significant production effort for an Italian film. In July '93, the crew set out for America (specifically in Texas and Louisiana) to begin filming.

In the intentions, it should have been ready (post-production included) by Christmas of the same year. However, by November, filming had not yet concluded. Mario Cecchi Gori died during that period. His son Vittorio, left alone, meanwhile fell prey to the director-actor's megalomaniac demands. The cost of the film unexpectedly rose from the estimated 13 billion to a final 25-30 billion, and relationships with Berlusconi's Penta Distribuzione became strained. Enraged, he dismantled the sets, sending everyone home. In response, Nuti initiated legal action against the producer to resume production, or else demand damages. The two reached an agreement: the filmed scenes would be edited, and shooting the remaining scenes would resume in spring '94.

Nevertheless, problems persisted, the film was halted two more times, and Nuti threatened to leave cinema. It would be himself who would put two billion lire from his own pocket to ensure filming concluded in October '94, after a year and a half. An initial edit of 180 minutes was canned by the production, reducing its length to 138 minutes (the DVD version I watched is 125 minutes long). It's rumored that the pre-cut included actual musical scenes. This was the tumultuous process.

Here is the film's plot: Brando Della Valle (Joss Ackland) is an elderly Italian-American banker who, after his brother's death, discovers he has an illegitimate son hospitalized in a Tuscan hospice. This man (Francesco Nuti) is a semi-retarded individual nicknamed Pinocchio. He decides to retrieve him to make him his heir, but once in America, Pinocchio (renamed Leonardo in the meantime) escapes and encounters Lucy Light (Chiara Caselli), a dangerous outlaw suspected of murder and pursued by the police.

After an unusual beginning, suspended in a gothic-baroque atmosphere with some Burtonian elements, the feature film transforms into a sort of road movie filled with chases, shootouts, and other typical American cinema tropes, leaving little room for amusing sketches, as one might expect from someone like Nuti who, in this case, depersonalizes his stylistic signature in favor of a bombastic aesthetic. More than the story, what doesn't work is the pompous direction: tracking shots, overused dollies, false subjective views, panoramic shots, morphing, skewed frames, unnecessary long takes. Not to mention the editing, which is truly disjointed at some points (though not a fault attributable to the director).

In my opinion, however, it is an underrated work and excessively unmercifully criticized by both critics and audiences. The scenes between Pinocchio and Lucy express purity; in the finale, one is moved by witnessing the protagonist terribly shaken by a senseless murder, intent on digging a grave and then obsessively repeating "Pinocchio is no more." Pinocchio, symbol of naivety, goodness, and purity, is killed to finally make way for a man (no longer a child) seeking freedom, the freedom he will achieve by crossing the coveted border with a rowing boat. And then walking on the shadow of an extremely long nose. Unfortunately, the film barely managed to gross 4 billion, effectively ending the career of the Tuscan actor, soon destined to sink into oblivion and a self-destructive vortex of depression, drugs, alcohol, and suicide threats. Until the effects of that serious accident in 2006 we all know of later. That "Pinocchio is no more" perhaps ominously read as an "Francesco Nuti is no more" with hindsight. Sadly, he kept his unconscious promise. Thankfully, we can now say only partially.

Imperfect film but worth reconsidering.

Rating: 2.5/5