Codeliusthe2nd

Tale of Tales

Beautifully mixing horror and fantasy, Tale of Tales does something that is rare; creating a drama with both fantasy elements and horror, while still making the film amazing. Although this is an anthology film, it is difficult to talk about each individually, since it's set up similarly to Trick 'r Treat. Each segment was amazing, with The Two Old Women being my favorite, but The Queen was a close second. The film was shot beautifully. The scenery was stunning, the sets elaborate and beautiful, and the acting being just the same. Altogether, this is a fantastic fantasy film, something that is rare for me to like. The tales are fantastic, the sets and direction are equally fantastic, which makes this film work well. Tale of Tales definitely needs to be seen.

pleiades

Tale of Tales

❝Every desire, every action corresponds to another. A violent desire such as yours can only be satisfied with violence. And there will be a cost.❞ 𐄁──── ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.────𐄁 Beautifully haunting and horrific, Tale of Tales is exactly what I want from fairy tale adaptations: a lot of horror mixed with stunning visuals. The three stories chosen for this film are all very engaging on their own, and intertwining them through the characters and themes was done very well, in my opinion, though I will say that I liked 'The Enchanted Doe' and 'The Flayed Old Lady' a bit more than 'The Flea'. To me, the different stories represented various stages in a woman's life; 'The Flea' portrayed Violet's childhood and her marriage before she returned to her father, 'The Enchanted Doe' was a representation of motherhood where the Queen's overprotective and controlling nature concerning her child led to him pulling away even more, and 'The Old Flayed Lady' showed old age, and how women are forced to strive for youth and beauty to be accepted by others. I also felt that there was a strong allegory for plastic surgery, and how people lying about the methods they use to look beautiful can cause disastrous consequences, while also demonstrating that no matter what you do, beauty will always fade. I thought that the entire cast did excellently, though I wasn't prepared for the Vincent Cassel jumpscare and subsequent ickiness whenever he was on-screen. Salma Hayek gave the stand-out performance here, closely followed by Toby Jones and Christian and Jonah Lees. I do think I need to watch Tale of Tales again to be able to fully appreciate the small details, but overall I loved it, and if you're a fan of dark fairy tales I'd definitely recommend giving this a watch, because at the very least I guarantee you'll also adore the visuals, outfits, and cinematography.