I originally intended to write a post comparing the two Snow White movies this year, but I simply couldn't make myself pay money to see Mirror Mirror. The trailer looked too painfully cheesy. And I barely dragged myself to Snow White and the Huntsman on its third weekend at the box office. So here are my thoughts.
I was never excited about Huntsman because the trailers made it look heavy on fighting scenes and special effects and light on acting and exploring the fairy tale. And my instincts were pretty accurate.
This movie has gotten slammed pretty hard by others already, so instead of adding to the complaints about acting and plot lag, I'll just give you links to some reviews:
1. http://www.knoxweekly.com.au/blogs/trailer-park/review-snow-white-and-the-huntsman/2601792.aspx
2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/31/snow-white-and-huntsman-review
3.http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2012/05/now_white_and_the_huntsmen_starring_kristen_stewart_and_charlize_theron_reviewed_.html
So yes, the movie was mediocre, but-but-but it had brief glimpses of genius that teased me with its potential for greatness. There are so many rich concepts and luscious visual details that never get fully developed.
Here are the top three things that grabbed my interest:
1. Lack of names: Many of the characters are called by their titles instead of their names. I'm 99% sure that the Huntsman doesn't even have a name and you hear the Evil Queen's first name more often than Snow White's (who is almost always referred to as "Princess"). Was this done to mirror the stock characters used in fairy tales?
Here are the top three things that grabbed my interest:
1. Lack of names: Many of the characters are called by their titles instead of their names. I'm 99% sure that the Huntsman doesn't even have a name and you hear the Evil Queen's first name more often than Snow White's (who is almost always referred to as "Princess"). Was this done to mirror the stock characters used in fairy tales?
2. True love's kiss (spoilers): How can Snow be saved by the whole true love's kiss when she and the Huntsman have no chemistry and no indication of romance between them (I mean, they don't even appear to get together in the end).
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It got me wondering if maybe the true love in the story was never supposed to be between Snow and the Huntsman. After all, he monologues about how Snow reminds him of his dead wife before kissing her awake--could it be his true love for the memory of his wife that fuels the life-giving magic? That would certainly be more original and thought provoking, wouldn't it?
3. Only the apple: Also, in the original Snow White tale, there are three attempts on the princess' life--first with a poisoned comb, then with a corset, and finally with an apple. Anyone have theories on why only the apple has survived in modern retellings?
3. Only the apple: Also, in the original Snow White tale, there are three attempts on the princess' life--first with a poisoned comb, then with a corset, and finally with an apple. Anyone have theories on why only the apple has survived in modern retellings?
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| What makes THIS the iconic image of Snow White? |
Even though the movie fell flat, while I watched it, I felt a very strong presence of vision behind it. I am convinced that someone cared a LOT about this movie--so many of the concepts are lovingly rendered in morbid detail. And not just for the eye candy factor either. I could have sworn that many details were meant to have a deeper symbolic meaning and a conversation with the director could have opened up a wealth of interesting details. I don't want to buy this movie on dvd, but at the same time, I'll bet the commentary would be better than the actual movie. If it had just stopped trying to be an action movie, Snow White and the Huntsman could have been the next Ever After.
6 comments:
Regarding the survival of only the apple icon: could it be that the 1937 Disney version started the trend?
I noticed the Huntsman's lack of a name. And I love your theory behind true love's kiss.
As for the apple . . . perhaps for brevity's or poignancy's sake, they remove the other two and leave the one that kills her for good. And then there's Disney, which has ingrained the apple as the only poison from that tale in the collective minds of American society.
Great review. Mirror Mirror was a pretty unsatisfactory version of the tale. Snow White and the Huntsman was certainly visually striking, but the Queen totally out-shone Snow White and I found her story much more compelling than the ostensible protagonist's.
As far as the apple goes, it resonates with the Adam & Eve story, which is pretty familiar to most people. I also expect that for the sake of brevity, a lot of films leave off the Queen's first two attempts to kill Snow White. Corsets are probably not all that familiar anymore, and perhaps a poisoned comb would seem too far-fetched for modern audiences.
Excellent review of the Snow white movie..well I saw in the comment area that many people did try to relate apple mystery to famous stories...to me this is not the right way to do so..the story of the movie has completely different background behind the apple...
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