Actor John Turturro has acquired the rights to create a filmed version of Italo Calvino's Italian Folktales (perhaps my all time favorite fairy tale collection). Last year, Turturro tested the waters so to speak with a new play "Fiable italiano" adapted from Calvino's collection. It was performed before sold out audiences in Turin, Naples and Milan and included layers of languages from English to a variety of Italian dialects. (The play also included one of my favorites stories -- about a donkey that appears to defecate gold and a fool who makes sure it happens). The prospect of a film really, really excites me.
In the meantime, you can read more about the film project here...and watch this short animated film of Calvino's "The False Grandmother" (illustrated by Kevin Ruelle), a really creepy and scary variant of "Little Red Riding Hood" read by Turturro.
And if you are hungry for a little more Calvino, check out this recording of British author Jeanette Winterson reading Calvino's "The Night" online at the Guardian. (Via Open Culture)
