The recent release of Del Toro’sPinocchiocomes with awave of appreciation for the stop-animated film, a work of fiction that has been in the making for the last 15 years. The film features a fresh new twist on the old tale, flavoring the story witha wartime historical backdrop, grief, and interestingly enough a whole new message of acceptance against conformity.
While the film is filled with interesting characters and compelling storylines, there is one character that stands out oddly from the crowd, a figure whose story swerves and then ends fairly abruptly, leaving audiences with lingering questions about his fate: none other than Candlewick, played byStranger Things’Finn Wolfhard.
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In Del Toro’s version of the film, Candlewick is the son of fascist officer Podestà and comes from the same small Italian village as Pinocchio. His introductions show him to be much like a small version of his father, ill-intended and with a mean streak about him. He tricks Pinocchio into setting his feet on fire while their fathers were trying to have a serious talk, and showed no remorse for his actions. He acts much like the older sibling, manipulating situations from the sidelines and getting the other into trouble, even if it was entirely his fault to begin with. His presence during this first act portrays him negatively, as a product of his father’s brutality and strictness, and for all intents and purposes, he is set up as one of the film’s various ambiguous antagonists.
This all changes however as the film progresses,one of the best things Del Toro does, and slowly more and more hints of his kind-heartedness and fear of his father creep in. He is shown being bundled up to go to a military training camp, taken away from his mother and the safety of home at his fathers' behest, to be toughened up and trained to fight and to kill. He is visibly unsure and scared, clear that he is only doing this to please his father.
The film expands on this fear of never living up to parental expectations (a recurring theme throughout the film applicable to multiple different characters) after Pinocchio is killed for a second time, coming back to life in the ‘care’ of Podestà in a military vehicle filled with other children being sent off to military training. At the camp, Candlewick and Pinocchio are reunited, and with the purity of heart Pinocchio is so known for in his many appearances over the years, there are no hard feelings between the two, both of them quickly becoming friendly and opening up about one another’s fears and hopes.
It is here Candlewick reveals how he is a constant disappointment to his father, seen as a coward and weak, unable to fulfill Podestà’s grand fascist vision no matter how hard he tries. His all comes to a head after Pinocchio and Candlewick go head-to-head in ahigh stakes game of capture the flag, the two deciding to call it a draw. The message they pioneer here is that war and conflict is not the only way, and that together two opponents can find peace and come to an agreement, trying their flags together. This of course angers Podestá, going against everything he believes in, and goes into a sadistic calm rage, ordering his son to shoot Pinocchio in the head, at point-blank range. He refuses, and stands up to his father, his first act of true bravery throughout the film:
‘But even then, with all the fear I feel, I can say no to you […] I’m not afraid to say no, are you?’
It’s a powerful moment, and at first it seems like there is a glimmer of remorse on his father’s face, but it’s quickly taken away as he calls his son a ‘filthy coward’, and throws him to the ground, disowning him and concreting his fate. While trying to rally Pinocchio to take arms Candlewick shoots his father with a paint gun, forcing him back and tangling him in a net, and it is in this moment that things go sideways.
A bomb is dropped on the facility, directly onto Podestá and throwing Pinocchio far into the air in anexplosion of stop animated wonder. While at first it seems like a fairly satisfying end to the semi-villain of the film, upon closer inspection the reality of the moment is dark, Candlewick pretty much killing his own father. While not intentional, it’s a moment that carries with it great implications, something he will have to live with for the rest of his life, even if it were an accident.
The film however fails to give this even a second glance, Candlewick being shown to have survived the bombing, but that’s about it, nothing more is mentioned about him. His fate is unknown, whether he survived the original attack, or whether he survived the war, or even if he ended up fighting at all. The messagePinocchiowas trying to tell audiences with Candlewick’s story,different from any previous renditions of the tale, was that parental authority is not the be-all and end-all, and that obedience and conformity ultimately lead to a character’s undoing.
Candlewick, in great opposition to Pinocchio, follows his father’s orders and forsakes his true identity to conform, but in a moment of bravery refuses to do so, stands up for himself and does what he believes to be right despite the consequences. The shame however is that his reward is most likely death, but not even an onscreen death but instead a chosen ignorance of his story. He could have joined Pinocchio and his ragtag family, or at least Del Toro could have given audiences a glimpse or even mention of the characters fate, but instead he was cast aside, leaving far too many questions, and leaving his story arc and therefore narrative message somewhat unfinished.
