With the onset of spring comes one of the biggest events on the film industry calendar – The Cannes Film Festival. The annual event will welcome jetsetters from across the globe this May as filmmakers, producers and actors descend upon the French town to raise the profiles of their current projects. And one distributor is buttering up crowds before the chaos begins, as La Pacte has dropped the first teaser for its bloody fantasy outing, The Tale Of Tales.
Previous Cannes award-winner Matthew Garone is behind the camera on this one, after scoring two Cannes Grand Jury Prizes for his homespun movies Gomorra and Reality. His newest offering, a fantastical weaving of three stories, is adapted from a series of 17th century fairy tales penned by Italian writer Giambattista Basile. And judging by the dark, very-NSFW imagery displayed here in this initial teaser, it’d be a pleasant surprise to see this snag the Palme D’or at this year’s festival.
The classic medieval fantasy is replete with all the trimmings one would expect from an R-rated adaptation; deranged monarchs, blood-hungry monsters and, uh, Salma Hayek eating a dragon-monster thing’s heart? Yes, you read that right. Alongside co-stars Vincent Cassel, John C. Reilly and Toby Jones, there’s a veritable platter of bizarre shenanigans going on in this scant two minute preview. Check it out above and be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
For those planning to attend Cannes, you can catch The Tale Of Tales in its entirety this May. There’s as yet no US release date, but we’ll keep you in the loop as soon as one is announced.