The Tale of King Crab

Last updated
The Tale of King Crab
The Tale of King Crab Poster.jpg
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed byAlessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis
Written byAlessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis
Produced by
  • Tommaso Bertani
  • Ezequiel Borovinsky
  • Ezequiel Capaldo
  • Agustina Costa Varsi
  • Thomas Ordonneau
StarringGabriele Silli
CinematographySimone D'Arcangelo
Edited byAndrés P. Estrada
Music byVittorio Giampietro
Production
companies
Distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories
Release dates
  • 10 July 2021 (2021-07-10)(Cannes)
  • 2 December 2021 (2021-12-02)(Italy)
Running time
105 minutes
CountriesItaly
Argentina
France
LanguagesItalian
Spanish
Box office$34,168 [1]

The Tale of King Crab (Italian : Re Granchio) is a 2021 Italian drama film directed by Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis. The film was shown in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot summary

In late 19th-century Italy, a young drunkard named Luciano is angered after the local prince blocks a gateway commonly used by civilians. Luciano breaks the gate open and is later confronted by soldiers, who beat him.

Luciano finds a golden necklace in a body of water and gifts it to Emma, whom he has begun a romance with, much to the dismay of her father, Severino. Upon learning of an apparent romantic entanglement between Emma and the prince, Luciano confronts Emma in the presence of the prince before angrily storming off.

After failing to dissuade Luciano from pursuing Emma, Severino recruits the two soldiers from earlier to kill Luciano, who survives but falls unconscious in the woods. During a religious procession in town, the two soldiers lead Emma to the gateway from the beginning, claiming the prince requested her presence. Instead, the two of them corner and rape her.

Meanwhile, Luciano awakens and makes his way back to town. In an act of spite against the prince, he sets fire to the gateway, not knowing Emma is inside, accidentally killing her. Luciano is spared prison in favor of exile to Argentina.

Five years later, in Argentina, a group of gold-seekers is in pursuit of a priest and the treasure he is after. They find and capture the priest, who—unbeknownst to the group—is actually Luciano posing as a priest, and he shows them his unusual method of treasure-hunting: placing a crab on the ground and walking whichever direction it leads him.

Luciano is freed by one of the men after agreeing to share the treasure with him, and the two of them secretly split from the group.

After much searching, the two men share a drink, at which point, the gold-seeker correctly deduces that Luciano is not really a priest. Luciano explains that he had come across a dying priest who, in exchange for a proper burial, gave him a journal detailing the legend of the treasure's location and an Indigenous myth about a secluded crab lagoon, which Luciano believes to be connected.

As Luciano finishes his story, one of the treasure-hunters they left behind manages to find them, killing the crab, shooting Luciano, and initiating a standoff. Luciano successfully kills the returning treasure-hunter, but only after his own partner has been killed, leaving Luciano the sole survivor.

With no crab to guide him, Luciano wanders aimlessly, wounded and distraught. Miraculously, he stumbles across the fabled lagoon, filled with crabs and surrounded by mountains on all sides. The film ends with a shot of Luciano and Emma, back in Italy, wading together in a body of water.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in Italy and Argentina. [4] The film's story is based on the legend of a man who lived from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. [5]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90%, based on 42 reviews. [6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [7]

In a positive review for the Los Angeles Times Robert Abele wrote "There are times when The Tale of King Crab seems like it could have been made in the silent era, so dedicated are Rigo de Righi and Zoppis to the simple, dramatic power of what they choose to show us. Their characters search for love, justice and gold while the filmmakers make clear what they treasure: ageless tales like these." [8] The film was a critic's pick in The New York Times. Glenn Kenny wrote "The movie's depictions of landscapes both sere and fertile, and its all-but-palpable portrayals of isolation, have echoes of the best work of Werner Herzog and Lucrecia Martel. But de Righi and Zoppis here show more genuine affinity than affected influence; they're moviemakers worth keeping an eye on." [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>La Reine Margot</i> (1994 film) 1994 film by Patrice Chéreau

La Reine Margot is a 1994 historical romantic drama film directed by Patrice Chéreau, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Danièle Thompson, based on the 1845 historical novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas. The film stars Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez, and Virna Lisi. An abridged version of the film was released as Queen Margot in North America, and in the United Kingdom under its original French title.

<i>Reality</i> (2012 film) 2012 Italian drama film

Reality is a 2012 Italian drama film directed by Matteo Garrone and stars Aniello Arena, Loredana Simioli, and Claudia Gerini. The narrative is set in the world of reality television, and follows a Neapolitan fishmonger who participates in Grande Fratello, the Italian version of Big Brother. The film won the Grand Prix award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Wild Tales</i> (film) 2014 Spanish-Argentinian satirical absurdist dark comedy anthology film

Wild Tales is a 2014 Spanish-language satirical absurdist dark comedy anthology film, written and directed by the Argentine filmmaker Damián Szifron. The film, which is a Spanish-Argentinian co-production, is composed of six standalone shorts with a common theme of catharsis, violence and vengeance. The film has an ensemble cast consisting of Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martínez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, and Darío Grandinetti. Because of Szifron's desire to work with Darín and Martínez, these actors were allowed to choose the role they wanted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Callum Turner</span> English actor (born 1990)

Callum Robilliard Turner is an English actor. After beginning a career as a fashion model, he began working in film and television. Turner has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor and named as a Breakthrough Brit by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

<i>My Golden Days</i> 2015 French film

My Golden Days, also titled My Golden Years, is a 2015 French drama film directed by Arnaud Desplechin. It stars Quentin Dolmaire, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, and Mathieu Amalric. It is a prequel to the 1996 film My Sex Life... or How I Got into an Argument. It was screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the SACD Prize.

<i>Two Lovers and a Bear</i> 2016 Canadian film

Two Lovers and a Bear is a 2016 Canadian drama film written and directed by Kim Nguyen and starring Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. The film was released on 7 October 2016, by Entertainment One. It is Gordon Pinsent's final feature film.

<i>Risk</i> (2016 film) 2016 film

Risk is a 2016 American documentary film written and directed by Laura Poitras about the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and received generally favorable reviews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonas Carpignano</span> American-Italian film director

Jonas Carpignano is an American-Italian filmmaker. He is known for the films Mediterranea, A Ciambra, and A Chiara.

<i>The Happy Prince</i> (2018 film) 2018 film

The Happy Prince is a 2018 biographical drama film about Oscar Wilde, written and directed by Rupert Everett in his directorial debut. The film stars Everett, Colin Firth, Colin Morgan, Emily Watson, Edwin Thomas and Tom Wilkinson. It premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and was shown at the 2018 BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival. At the 9th Magritte Awards, it received a nomination in the category of Best Foreign Film.

<i>Let the Sunshine In</i> (film) 2017 French film

Let the Sunshine In, or Bright Sunshine In, is a 2017 French romantic drama film directed by Claire Denis. The film is an adaptation of Roland Barthes's 1977 text A Lover's Discourse: Fragments. Novelist Christine Angot and frequent Denis collaborator Jean-Pol Fargeau have both been reported as Denis's co-writers on the project. It opened the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it won the SACD Award.

<i>The Florida Project</i> 2017 film by Sean Baker

The Florida Project is a 2017 American drama film directed by Sean Baker and written by Baker and Chris Bergoch. Starring Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, and Willem Dafoe, with Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, and Caleb Landry Jones in supporting roles, it was many of the cast members' first film appearance. The slice of life plot focuses on the summertime adventures of a six-year-old girl who lives with her unemployed single mother in a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida. Their struggle to make ends meet and stave off homelessness takes place in a surreal environment dominated by the nearby Walt Disney World, which was code-named "The Florida Project" during its planning stages. It juxtaposes this with the local residents' less glamorous day-to-day lives and the children's joyful adventures as they explore and make the most of their surroundings while remaining blissfully ignorant of the hardships their adult caretakers face.

<i>Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts</i> 2017 Indonesian film

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts is a 2017 Indonesian thriller film directed by Mouly Surya based on a story conceived by Garin Nugroho and a screenplay co-written by Surya and Rama Adi. The film's Western style, its feminist tone, and rural Indonesian setting led to the term "satay Western" being coined following its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>The Rider</i> (film) 2017 film by Chloé Zhao

The Rider is a 2017 American contemporary western film written, produced and directed by Chloé Zhao. The film stars Brady Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lane Scott, and Cat Clifford and was shot in the Badlands of South Dakota. It premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2017, where it won the Art Cinema Award. It was released in theaters in the United States on April 13, 2018. It grossed $4 million and was critically praised for its story, performances, and the depiction of the people and events that influenced the film.

<i>Zama</i> (film) 2017 film

Zama is a 2017 Argentine period drama film directed by Lucrecia Martel, based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Antonio di Benedetto. It premiered at the 74th Venice International Film Festival. It was also screened in the Masters section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. On 29 September 2017, the Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences chose the film as the national entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards and Best Iberoamerican Film at the 32nd Goya Awards.

<i>Samouni Road</i> 2018 Italian film

Samouni Road is a 2018 Italian documentary film directed by Stefano Savona. The film uses a combination of live action, scratchboard animation and drone footage recreations. It was selected to screen in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and won the Œil d'or prize for best documentary.

The Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF), officially as "Pingyao Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon International Film Festival", is a film festival held in Pingyao, Shanxi, China. It was launched in October 2017 by Jia Zhangke, a Chinese film director, screenwriter and leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema and prestigious festival director Marco Müller. The festival's goal is to bring attention to works done by young, lesser known directors in the Chinese film industry, as well as to encourage communication and cooperation between Chinese and international filmmakers, mainly showing films from Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa.

<i>The Halt</i> 2019 film

The Halt is a 2019 Filipino dystopian drama film edited, written, and directed by Lav Diaz. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>The Souvenir Part II</i> 2021 film

The Souvenir Part II is a 2021 drama film, written and directed by Joanna Hogg. It is a sequel to The Souvenir (2019). It stars Honor Swinton Byrne, Jaygann Ayeh, Richard Ayoade, James Spencer Ashworth, Harris Dickinson, Charlie Heaton, Joe Alwyn, and Tilda Swinton.

<i>Red 11</i> 2019 film by Robert Rodriguez

Red 11 is a 2019 American science fiction horror film produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez co-wrote the film with his son Racer Max, after previously collaborating on The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D in 2005. The film is inspired by Robert Rodriguez's experiences described in his 1995 book Rebel Without a Crew. The film stars Roby Attal, Lauren Hatfield, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Eman Esfandi, Steve Brudniak, Brently Heilbron, Pierce Foster Bailey, Katherine Willis, Ulysses Montoya, and Carlos Gallardo.

"Luciano Serra pilota" is a song by the Italian Italo disco duo Righeira, included on their debut studio album, Righeira (1983). Johnson Righeira, the writer of the song, was inspired to write the song after an Italian war drama film of the same name.

References

  1. ↑ "The Tale of King Crab (2021)". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  2. ↑ Grater, Tom (July 20, 2021). "Oscilloscope Buys Cannes Directors' Fortnight Pic 'The Tale Of King Crab'". Deadline. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  3. ↑ Lattanzio, Ryan (March 24, 2022). "'The Tale of King Crab' Trailer: A Very Wise Crab Is the Star of This '70s Arthouse-Style Fest Favorite". Indiewire. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Off The Map With The Tale Of King Crab". Le Cinéma Club. April 13, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  5. ↑ Ritman, Alex (July 7, 2021). "Cannes Hidden Gem: A Crustacean Redemption in 'The Tale of King Crab'". The Hollywood Reporter. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  6. ↑ "The Tale of King Crab (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Metacritic The Tale of King Crab Reviews". CBS Interactive . Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Abele, Robert (April 29, 2022). "Review: Italian folklore makes for a ripping, artisanal yarn in 'The Tale of King Crab'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ Kenny, Glenn (April 14, 2022). "'The Tale of King Crab' Review: In Exile, Both at Home and Abroad". The New York Times . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.