The Tale of King Crab; Grade: B-

The Tale of King Crab tells a story about a drunk named Luciano (Gabriele Silli), whom breaks a law held by the Prince in which the door to enter this particular community is never to be open, as Luciano did so at ease. Luciano is also involved in forbidden love, in which the woman he’s involved with her father forbids Luciano to date her, while also the woman is to be wed with the Prince. So Luciano is in a bit of a pickle as not only his chances of being with this woman are very slim, but also there is trouble at hand with the Prince and her father, whom want Luciano exile from this community.

The Tale of King Crab is a visually stunning film, that felt very reminiscent to the likes of Happy as Lazzaro and Atarrabi and Mikelats. It’s an extremely gorgeous looking film, as it’s just pure candy on the screen, as it shows the pure beauty of Italy and all it’s glory. Lovely nature shots, I loved how the water looks in many sequences, plus the crab in the second chapter was a nice touch as well. The Composed Score at hand when presented was lovely indeed, I loved the songs sang as they were just very enjoyable to listen to. Cast all in all was solid all around, no one skips a beat in their performances whatsoever.

The story at hand where it consists of older gentlemen, telling a couple tales based around a man named Luciano in 19th century Italy t’was intriguing indeed. I like the whole introduction before these tales were being told, as these older gentlemen were appreciating the true art form of story telling before television was a thing, as these stories being told get passed down from generations to generations as their still being told today.

I felt the meaning behind what was the moral purpose of these tales are, is though life can be feel utter meaningless where nothing really matters at all, that at the end of the day love is our moral purpose. You see Luciano was a broken down drunk, whom didn’t find much value in anything, he was even willing to give away a coin since he found it worthless. You can clearly see Luciano just doesn’t care about anything, as it felt like he was a walking corpse. But when it came to this woman at hand… It felt like Luciano saw actual value in which he had never come across once in his life. That’s why in the end where Luciano is in a lagoon where treasure is bound to secured… In placement of the treasure, stands the woman. It’s an intriguing tale in which if we actually gave a great amount of effort towards a more purposeful path, like we do in seeking fortune such as hidden treasure… Surely we will end up more complete and find reasoning behind our existence.

Flaws within this film I have were pacing issues. The film does indeed has a rather tough time in keeping it’s momentum going, as it often slows down a bit to the point where we wish there was more excitement involved with the story. Sometimes I feel the film tends to be a bit confusing much, especially with the second chapter as it felt unclear if this is the same man we’ve been following in the first chapter.

Overall, The Tale of King Crab was a decent film. I recommend checking this one out, especially for the stunning visuals at hand. -Mitch Smietana