Snow White - The Fairest of Them All (2002) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have very mixed feelings about this particular Brothers Grimm adaptation. First, I must consider that in the past Fairy Tales have been far from mediocre tales about sanity. Often they are warnings about our most inner desires bringing us certain destruction. This movie deals with jealousy and innocence, kindness and evil.
Caroline Thompson has a great concept at work here, but in places the script falls prey to the cliché. The acting would have been better if the script had been more mature. They seemed to want to make this for children and I could not help hearing the Barney song in the background of my mind when I saw the rainbow and politically correct admonitions. I was disappointed in her naming the dwarfs after the days of the week. I think the names Disney gave the dwarfs were more interesting and would have given them stronger personalities. The acting would have seemed better if all the characters had been given a much stronger script. Yet, this adaptation seems to be reaching further into the past than Disney ever envisioned.
The salvation is in the creativity with which the story is told. It is visually appealing and once you watch the extras on the DVD you will realize this was a low-budget production.
The mirror is fascinating. Not only are there a variety of mirrors, the mirror is broken at one point and contains magical properties. This mirror then becomes a transporter, video camera and weapon. It is no longer just a "mirror, mirror on the wall." The scenes of "raining glass" were wonderfully creative along with the sound effects.
The artificiality of some scenes lend themselves to the "Fairy Tale" appeal. The very fact that the characters are not completely believable at times gives them a certain freedom to be completely evil or completely good.
Snow White (Kristin Kreuk) is incredibly beautiful, but almost solemn in her awakening to the world. She has an almost gothic appeal. As a baby, she is born into a world where apple blossoms fall from the trees into a pond near her home and red rose bushes almost envelope the cottage. Her father John (Tom Irwin) is desperate to save her life after his wife dies after childbirth and tries to make it to a close village. He almost fails and yet his tears awaken a creature frozen beneath the ice. This bewitched creature is able to fulfill wishes like a genie and gives him three wishes. He also unfortunately has a sister who is not quite so kind.
Even as a baby, Snow White was able to sense evil intentions and disliked her new mother-in-law Elspeth (Miranda Richardson) who is part of the wish-fulfillment plot.
In the original story in German, Snow white is born as a princess. In this adaptation, she inherits her royalty through magical means. When the huntsman is told to kill Snow White the new queen asks for her liver and lungs. In this adaptation parents might not appreciate their young children seeing the queen eating "what she thinks" is Snow White's heart.
When the queen finds out Snow White is still alive, she poses as her dead mother instead of a witch. Offering an apple to someone has been known to be a declaration of love or deceit. In this movie, it spells certain death. Snow White is buried in ice instead of a glass coffin.
The queen is not transformed back into her true self until the end of the movie when she is subject to the violence of the "garden gnomes" that come to life to seek revenge. In the real story, she dances to her death in a pair of iron slippers which would not have been enjoyable to watch onscreen. The violence of the gnomes is more "implied."
This is not a calm, happy movie but does have a happy, yet questionable ending. Would any father let such a young daughter ride away with a prince? I think not. In the real story, Snow White grows into an adult while in the coffin. Her hair is still black as ebony, her lips as red as blood and her skin as white as snow.
This movie does contain some violent content I don't think "very young" children should be exposed to although I imagine they might miss some of the implied meanings. This should have been rated PG in some instances in my own mind.
Otherwise, there are elements in this story I really enjoyed, especially the magical elements incorporated into the mirror, castle, roses, forest and the inclusion of various intriguing elements not seen in a Snow White movie to date.
~The Rebecca Review

Click Here to see more reviews about: Snow White - The Fairest of Them All (2002)

Get 73% OFF

Click here for more information about Snow White - The Fairest of Them All (2002)

Humperdinck - Hansel and Gretel (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series) (2008) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm all for a dark take on Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel." This is, after all, a tale with child abuse and cannibalism at its core, topics of which the Brothers Grimm had no difficulty writing, in both figurative and metaphorical terms. In this grotesque production, however, director Richard Jones doesn't simply touch on these themes, he molests them. Among his subtle directorial touches are the following: on hearing about the Witch, Mom vomits large chunks of food in full view of the audience; said Witch force feeds Hansel by sticking a tube and funnel down his throat; after the Witch is pushed into the oven (she's gassed, get it?), Gretel smears some chocolate on Hansel's upper lip, making him appear like Adolf Hitler. Excuse me, this is the Met's annual holiday opera for children? What's next, "Wozzeck" in a new translation by Martin McDonough?
Maybe Jones believes that, with the proliferation and popularity of violent video games, children's tastes have changed, that they crave more graphic and grotesque forms of entertainment. Perhaps. But do we, as adults, have to give it to them? Can we not endeavor to preserve and/or foster a sense of magic and wonderment in our children? Isn't there a balance between exposing them to the "real" world and encouraging imagination and flights of fancy? Jones is all for the former, but is far less successful at (and seems less interested in) the latter. Imagine a version of "The Nutcracker" in which Clara is raped by The Mouse King, or the ethnic dancers are ragged, starving street urchins who knife one another for sugarplums. That's the kind of production this is.
For the most part, the roles are superbly realized and sung. The exceptions are a dull Philip Langridge, whose performance as the Witch is as flabby as his prosthetic arms, and a dour and screechy Rosiland Plowright, decked out, for some reason, as a cross between "AbFab's" Patsy on a bender and Michael Caine in "Dressed to Kill." Thankfully, conductor Vladimir Jurowski has an expert handle on the intricate beauty of the lush, transcendent score, even if his stage director does not.
If you want a story about nasty children with nasty parents who have nasty things happen to them, perhaps this is the "Hansel and Gretel" for you. (Or maybe you should check out Ravel's "L'Enfant et les Sortileges.") But if you're looking for a production that charms, delights and reinforces your faith in humanity and the triumph of good over evil...look elsewhere.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Humperdinck - Hansel and Gretel (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series) (2008)

The Metropolitan Opera's acclaimed Live in High-Definition series, which projects live performances into theaters across the globe, has met with unprecedented critical and commercial success and has made opera convenient and affordable to millions of viewers worldwide. Now, EMI Classics is proud to collaborate with The Met to release 6 new DVDs made from these broadcast performances.A striking new English-language production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, starring Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer, with tenor Philip Langridge in the role of the Witch. Vladimir Jurowski, one of the world's most sought-after conductors, leads a sensitive account of Humperdinck's enchanting score, and Richard Jones and John Macfarlane provide a staging that is "is tough and dark, sparse and savage, an exploration of deprivation, cruelty and gluttony in a contemporary always-always-land."-Financial Times

Get 10% OFF

Click here for more information about Humperdinck - Hansel and Gretel (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series) (2008)