Fantasy films - 2015
| Cinderella | Seventh Son |
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After Disney’s 2014 revision of Sleeping Beauty (Maleficent), I was half expecting this year’s Cinderella to introduce some special twist on the story. After all, Disney’s recent offerings have been very self-conscious about catering to contemporary tastes, with the smash hit Frozen even turning the traditional love story formula on its ear, revealing the prince to be a scheming villain and the real true love to be shared between sisters. However, amidst a number of recent, arguably feminist fairytale reimaginings, Cinderella takes a traditionalist approach that viewers will likely find either refreshing or just a touch retrograde.
All the traditional elements of the classic fairytale are here: the kind, beautiful, and horribly mistreated Cinderella (Downton Abbey’s Lily James); the cruel stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and horrid, tackily dressed stepsisters (Downton Abbey’s Sophie McShera and The Borgias’ Holliday Grainger); the whimsical fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter); and the dashing, dreamy-eyed Prince Charming (Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden). Nods to the 1950 animated classic abound, from Cinderella’s sparkling blue dress and mouse friends to her godmother’s “Bippity Boppity Boo.” In live action, the film is quite beautiful and the effects very well done. Children in particular are likely to appreciate the Godmother’s occasionally clumsy transformation of ordinary household objects and animals into horses, a carriage, footmen, and a driver—and the awkward, harrowing transition back again. If one is willing to suspend the usual contemporary cynicism about fairytales, the effect is quite charming.
However, in the age of Katniss Everdeen, it is difficult to watch a heroine endure so much abuse so passively. As her stepmother and stepsisters subject her to all kinds of cruelty and humiliation, Cinderella lives by her mother’s code, imparted from her deathbed to her daughter: “Have courage and be kind.” While these may be lovely intentions, Cinderella’s courage amounts not to active pursuit of what is right, but passive endurance of the many wrongs done to her. She acquiesces without protest to being relocated to the attic of her own home, reduced to drudgery, and constantly belittled by her stepfamily. And, prior to the ball, the only words of resistance she utters are “How could you?” as her stepmother destroys her mother’s old dress to prevent her from wearing it to the ball. Only at the end of the movie, as Lady Tremaine locks her upstairs to keep her from the prince, does she finally refuse any of her stepmother’s demands or ask why she mistreats her.
In spite of a very traditionally feminine heroine, however, this Cinderella does introduce a few subtle revisions. First, the film adds a bit of depth to the character of Prince Charming. Rather than serving as a distant, handsome, but two-dimensional goal for women to achieve, this prince is a real, flesh-and-blood human being. He falls in love with Cinderella not simply because of her beauty, but because of her philosophy of “courage and kindness”—and not initially at the ball, but at a chance meeting in the woods. It is this meeting that leads him to insist that all women in the kingdom—and not just neighboring princesses—be invited to the ball. Furthermore, the prince’s relationship with his father (Derek Jacobi) helps add some vulnerability to his otherwise dashing, gold epauletted figure. Another addition to the story is the attempt made to explain Lady Tremaine’s cruelty toward her stepdaughter. The film’s narrator tells us that, like Cinderella, “She too had known grief, but she wore it very well” Although we are never given enough information to truly understand her, we are shown her watching Cinderella and her father with jealousy, envying the memory of Cinderella’s mother, and lamenting her situation as a twice widowed woman—once from the father of her daughters, whom she married for love, and once from Cinderella’s father, whom she married for financial security, only to be disappointed by his death. These details—along with a surprising attempt to negotiate with Cinderella when it becomes clear that she has won the prince’s heart—help to add some three-dimensionality to the character, but ultimately fail to explain her actions or to arouse much sympathy.
Those attending the film looking for an innovative twist on a classic story are likely to be disappointed. However, viewers in the market for a beautifully rendered, classic fairytale should be thoroughly satisfied. The actress who played Downton Abbey’s Rose MacClare and the actor who played Game of Thrones’ Robb Star seem like natural choices for Cinderella and Prince Charming. The two hardly have to deviate from their portrayals of the characters for which they are most well-known to fill the mold of classic fairytale prince and princess admirably. James is soft, feminine, spirited, and charming, while Madden is affable, handsome, dashing, and honorable. Cate Blanchett cuts a particularly wicked figure as a wicked stepmother, and the two stepsisters are more than adequate as shallow, bumbling, catty comic relief. For a live-action adaptation of the Disney classic, one could do far worse than this offering from Kenneth Branaugh.
- Kathryn Carty
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Dialogs can acquire a momentum of their own. A few people talk a person or thing down and, given that momentum, a few more pepole do and eventually you have an apparent concensus. In spite of promising-looking trailers, the concensus seemed to be that Seventh Son was no good. And what were the complaints? Some praised the cast and some blamed them. Some said the characters were poorly developed - in a film pitting mystical warriors against witches and monsters. Some complained the story was predictable. But what were they really expecting? The premise of 'experienced hero mentors youth to fight evil and eventually take his place' is practically an archetype. How different was it supposed to be? Some complained that the film strays too far from the book series it is based on. Not having read the books, I can't speak to that, but film adaptations commonly stray from their source material. And most filmgoers probably won't have read the books either.
Seventh Son, was directed by Sergei Bodrov, and adapted from Joseph Delaney's book The Spook's Apprentice by Charles Leavitt and Steven Knight. The film's release was originally planned for February of 2013, but due to issues with producers and distributors it is only seeing release in the USA now. It tells the story of Thomas Ward (Ben Barnes), the seventh son of a seventh son, who is brought into an order of knights of similar birth who are gifted in fighting supernatural evils. His mentor, Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges), is the only surviving member of the order. Gregory takes on Thomas as his apprentice just as a powerful witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), has escaped from a prison Gregory had placed her in. Now, the two must hunt her down and destroy her before she brings destruction down over the land. As Gregory teaches Thomas in the ways of a "spook," they encounter various monsters and mystical entities that Malkin has enlisted in her campaign.
This film features several accomplished actors in roles painted in broad strokes, common in fantasy films, and I felt they carried themselves well. They conveyed with presence what the script may have left out. Jeff Bridges (True Grit) fleshes out his role as the experienced, world-weary knight in a role which another actor could have made dull. Oscar nominee Julianne Moore (Still Alice) plays the role of the main witch with a cool malevolence and charm. Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense) portrays Thomas' mother with a quiet strength and grace. Antje Traue (Man of Steel) and Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy) give good turns as the witch's sister and her chief assassin, respectively. And Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) and Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) play likeable, appealing romantic leads.
So, to the naysayers, if you are seeking depth of characterization or a more complex plot, you are in the wrong place. It's moronic to criticize a film for being true to its genre. Fantasy adventures like this aren't played like Hamlet or The Godfather. My only quibble with the film is that I wish they had spent a bit more time talking about the significance of a seventh son and the history of the order. More of the characters' backstories might have been interesting, but this may have been a directorial choice to streamline the pace of the film. My expectations were to see a fantasy adventure with excitement and elements of humor and heart and I felt it delivered.
- Swift