Fearsome but kind-hearted puppet master (burattinaio) Mangiafoco gives the boy five gold coins to bring back to his father. Elated about becoming a dad, he pawns his coat during the cold winter to buy his son a spelling book (abbecedario), but the naughty boy skips school and sells the book to buy a ticket to an itinerant marionette show.
Impoverished carpenter (falegname) Geppetto (Roberto Benigni) carves a magical piece of wood into a puppet (burattino) that is able to walk and talk. The familiar story, popularized worldwide by the Disney cartoon of 1940, is retold with renewed accuracy to the original version. Pinocchio, written and directed by Matteo Garrone, is based on the 1883 Italian children classic The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
