“Tale of Tales” refers to two connected works that most search results mix up:
- Giambattista Basile’s 1634–1636 book Lo cunto de li cunti (The Tale of Tales), the first literary fairy tale collection in Europe.
- Matteo Garrone’s 2015 fantasy-horror film of the same name, directly adapted from Basile’s book.
Both share the same DNA: adult, violent, sexually charged stories where every wish comes with a brutal price. No happy endings guaranteed.
What Basile’s Book Actually Is (Most People Get This Wrong)
Published after his death in two volumes (1634 and 1636) in Neapolitan dialect, the full title is Lo cunto de li cunti overo lo trattenemiento de peccerille (“The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones”). It contains 50 stories told over 5 days by 10 ugly old women to distract a princess who faked pregnancy. This frame story structure (called pentamerone) directly influenced the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault two centuries later.
Key fact:
- “Cinderella,” “Rapunzel,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Puss in Boots” all appear here first in written form — but much darker.
- Catskin becomes “The She-Bear.”
- Cinderella’s stepsisters cut off heel and toe (already in Basile, not added by Grimm).
The best modern English translation is Nancy Canepa’s 2007/2016 Penguin Classics edition — the only complete and scholarly one available.
The 2015 Film: What Garrone Kept, What He Changed
Matteo Garrone (director of Gomorrah) picked only three stories from the 50 and wove them together:
- The Queen (Salma Hayek) – based on “The Enchanted Doe”
- The Two Old Women (Shirley Henderson & Hayley Carmichael) – based on “The Old Woman Who Was Skinned”
- The King of Highhills and the Flea (Toby Jones) – taken almost word-for-word from Basile’s “The Flea”
Budget: €12 million. Shot in real Italian castles (Castel del Monte, Donnafugata, Grotte di Castellana). No CGI castles — everything is practical.
Current numbers (December 2025):
- Rotten Tomatoes: 83% Tomatometer, 61% Audience Score
- IMDb: 6.4/10 from 34,000 votes
- Letterboxd: 3.5/5 average
Streaming (as of now): Available on Netflix in 47 countries, Prime Video in US/UK, and MUBI in select regions.
The Three Film Stories – No Spoilers, Just Core Warnings
- A queen obsessed with having a child will do anything — including eating a sea monster’s raw heart. Lesson: Maternal desire can turn monstrous when it ignores limits.
- A lustful king falls for a voice he hears through a door, not knowing who is behind it. Lesson: Sexual obsession blinds you to reality (and age).
- A king raises a giant flea as a pet, then forces princesses to marry whoever can guess its skin. Lesson: Parental favoritism toward something unnatural destroys the child you claim to love.
All three stories end on the same night with a circus performer walking through fire — a visual closure Basile never gave.
Why This Matters in 2025
People searching “tale of tales” usually want one of three things:
- Where to watch the movie → Check JustWatch.com for your country (it moves platforms often). Want to read the original book → Get the Penguin Classics version translated by Nancy L. Canepa (ISBN 978-0143129141). Looking for more dark fairy tales → Start with Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber or the Italian collection by Italo Calvino (Fiabe Italiane).
Quick Comparison Table (Basile vs Disney vs Garrone)
| Story Element | Basile (1630s) | Disney Version | Garrone Film (2015) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinderella’s slipper | Filled with pitch, sticks | Glass | Not included |
| Sleeping Beauty | Raped while unconscious, gives birth to twins | Kiss wakes her | Not included |
| Rapunzel | Pregnant by the prince, ogre notices torn dress | Long hair, prince climbs | Not included |
| Heart-eating ritual | Sea monster heart | None | Shown in graphic detail |
Where to Go Next
- Watch the film first (134 minutes) — it’s easier.
- Then read the three source tales (they’re only 15–20 pages each in the Penguin edition).
- If you love it, read the full 50 tales — it takes about 20 hours total.
For deeper reading: Wikipedia page on Pentamerone → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentamerone Official Garrone interview at Cannes 2015 (still the best one): search “Matteo Garrone Cannes 2015 Tale of Tales interview” on YouTube.
That’s it. No fluff, no hype — just everything you actually need to understand both the 400-year-old book and the modern film that brought its darkness back to life.