Florence, 1348. As the plague rages, ten young people from wealthy families flee the city to take refuge in a villa in the countryside. They begin to share stories to pass the time: a married woman is saved by another man, a stone said to be magical, a trick is played by evil spirits, a father is jealous and his daughter seeks revenge, nuns have a hard time keeping secrets and a hawk breaks the heart of a mother.

Picture gallery

First there was Tale of Tales, a poetic and unexpected symphony of fantastic fables about desire and love set in a dreamlike world woven into a nightmare. In the same vein, Wondrous Boccaccio echoes Matteo Garrone’s movie: adapted from Boccaccio's Decameron, this film by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (who have remained relatively quiet since winning the Golden Palm in 1977 for Father and Master and the Grand Prize for the Night of the Shooting Stars in 1982) tells stories about love, desire, sex, jealousy and madness in a fun mix of humor and tragedy. Unfortunately, Wondrous Boccaccio lacks the inanity and courage of its romantic characters, remaining too restrained, especially in its staging, to actually meet its ambitions.