I have always loved fairy tales,
and I always try to look for good retellings and versions in different formats –
books, film, games, etc. This movie is the
nth Hollywood retelling of the classic fairy tale. I got to see it Saturday night with my
family, and each of us gave mixed reactions to it. Spoilers ahead – be warned.
I think it did try to stay true
to the mood and theme of the original – perhaps too much so. It came off as a tad bit too juvenile and
shallow story-wise. I was expecting
something darker, more sinister, and more aggressive. The hype that surrounded it was all about how
this was not another damsel in distress situation, that here was a heroine who
was brave and had some spunk to her. And
while it did try to present Snow White as a girl with some fight, the way the
film unfolded still would have appealed more to a much younger, less critical
audience. And there were just too many
incongruities all over it.
For instance, that scene where
she prays “The Lord’s Prayer” was so out of place. Why would they include something so markedly
Christian (specifically Catholic) in a setting that was supposed to be a fairy-tale
world of pagan magic? And there were no
other signs of any religious persuasion anywhere else save for that one scene,
which made it all the more awkward and questionable. If they really wanted to show the girl as
this virtuous, spiritually pure character, it would have vastly been more
preferable if she instead prayed for courage and strength in her own words
addressed to her late parents.
And then there was the Huntsman
and the relationship between him and SW – how did that happen? Of course I expected some sort of romantic
development to happen there, but it turned out that the people who were making
this film didn’t bother to show just how the development came about. Besides, they portrayed the Huntsman as
someone who was supposedly drunk all the time.
How could any young girl fall for that?
Sure, he gave her the protector/defender figure she sort of needed, but
anything more than that there was nothing.
How did the Huntsman fall for SW?
Only because she was pretty and there was some magic thing going on with
her? That’s all? Wasn’t he portrayed as someone who still
grieved deeply for his lost wife? His
grief was so shallow as to be overcome by just that? The Huntsman was a flat character. It was cool that he remained unnamed, though.
The only saving grace for me was
(of course) Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen.
She played the role to perfection.
She was vicious and pitiful, terrifying and stunningly beautiful all at
once. Awesome. At least they gave her role the attention and
detail it deserved; presenting the rationale for her madness makes you feel sorrow
and pity for her even as you await her inevitable defeat.
The soundtrack was good, the
cinematography very nice indeed (several times I was reminded of LOTR), and the
visual effects were brilliant especially whenever the queen was doing what she
does best. All in all, definitely NOT
the best adaptation of the fairy tale that’s out there. If you want a really good take on the tale, I
recommend “Snow White: A Tale of Terror,” a TV movie that was released in 1997
starring Sigourney Weaver and Sam Neill.
Now THAT’s how you adapt a fairy tale: look at the story from a
different perspective, lend it a different mood, remove what is shallow and
give the audience something dark and mysterious to anticipate. Compared to this current version, the 1997
movie is ten times more impressive and unforgettable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlQ75fhWKE&feature=colike
Other versions of Snow White that
I really like: (1) the original Grimm Brothers tale (of course), (2) Snow by
Tracy Lynn, and (3) Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire. Read them and be awed, and fall in love with
fairy tales all over again.
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