Re:tro Re:view - Cinderella (2015)!

The Disney live action remakes of their classic cartoons were disappointing.  Even more so was that Cinderella (1950) ranks on the bottom of the Disney films for me.  Cindy is just so passive, let’s things happen to her without taking any action, and she is secondary to the mice!  Still, the trailer gave so much promise that all of the cartoon’s weakness would be well handled in the hands of director Kenneth Branagh.  To be honest, I’ve been following Branagh since Henry V (1989) and of course he hit mainstream popularity with Thor (2011).  It really seems like the 19th century setting that Branagh worked in on his Hamlet (1996) with touches of magic and contemporary action in Thor.  The screenplay by Chris Weitz, the writer of Star Wars: Rogue One (2016), brings more of the fairy tale in the vein of Charles Perrault and the contemporary sensibility to the story.  The movie is held together on the strength of its princess,  Lily James, who is well known as Lady Rose on Downton Abbey and now singing in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.  Lily James sings “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” on the soundtrack which would have made the film special even with two songs.  She brings the heart of the story, the innocence of Ella, through her smiles and the strength after the loss of her family.  This becomes critical to sympathize with her character even when Ella goes through the motions of a familiar tale.  

The narration is by Helena Bonham-Carter, who is brilliant as the Fairy Godmother, but her part is very brief.  A very fun and magical part and she has the “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)” on the soundtrack.  Bonham-Carter was also in Alice in Wonderland (2010).  The Disney castle logo pans up to follow two blue birds.  The beginning has baby Ella special because of her imagination, forming shapes from clouds.  In fact, side note: this is a film that I think would do really well in 3D.  There are many shots that would look great in 3D, but I saw this in 2D.  As a young girl, she plays with mice and other animals (though these don’t actually talk like the cartoon) which is encouraged by her mother played by Hayley Atwell.  Yup, Captain America’s dance partner and the wife of Christopher Robin is Cinderella’s mother.  She says that people watch over animals and tells her that fairy godmothers watch over people.  Ben Chaplin who plays her father, a merchant who has a fine estate, and his infrequent visits home has him bringing back presents like a crafted butterfly.  Ella’s mother becomes sick, seems fairly sudden, but she cheers her daughter up with the words, “Have courage and be kind” before she passes.  Ella grows up and her father tells her that he wants another chance at happiness.  

She supports him and finds out that he has married a widower Lady Tremaine played by Cate Blanchett.  Blanchett was of course Hela in Thor: Ragnarok (2017).  Of course, there are two wicked step-sisters; the doopy Drisella (Sophie McShera) and bossy Anastasia (Holliday Grainger).  Their performance is less villains, twisted faces, more spoiled.  They enter the house with the well dressed in green shimmering dress Cate Blanchett finally turning to be seen.  The costumes are a reason to see this film alone.  They are created by Sandy Powell who worked on Hugo (2011) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).  Her masterpieces are Ella’s simple blue country dress and of course the ballroom gown that gets a few magical turns and the incredible design of the glass slippers.  The color scheme hints at the cartoon version, but the dress from the ballroom is much more elaborate.  There is a scene with a swing that reminds me of Fragonard’s The Swing (a slipper flies off, but her dress is pink) probably intentional, but the magic of this scene is carried off to others 

The Stepmother enters with a cat, Lucifer (no subtly here, also carried over the cartoon), who chases after Ella’s friends, the mice (she names one Gus from the cartoon).  The other running gag in the film is the goose.  It may be a partial CG creation that wanders into scenes and is nearly run over for his curiosity.  At a dinner party, Ella talks with her father who is already leaving on a business trip.  She wants as a present only the first branch he touches so it can remind him of his daughter.  Lady Tremaine overhears this and feels rejected at the bond between Ella and her family.  The stepsisters argue over their room so Lady Tremaine has Ella sent to the attic.  She likes the dusty, drafty space since it is where the mice take refuge.  One day, Ella receives word that her father passed and a messenger gives her the branch.  This is all detail that is basically summarized by the cartoon.  Ella doesn’t mind the work when all of the other workers are sent away, but it is the treatment that wears down Ella (I thought the Tremaines would sell off paintings and knickknacks that were important to Ella’s family, but no, the house is the same).  

Cinderella's Slipper at the El Capitan, 2015, photo by the author.

They tease her for the accidental soot on her face from sleeping next to the fireplace and dub her Cinder-ella.  She takes off on horseback through a forest, encounters a giant elk, and also the prince.  He of course is played by Richard Madden who played Robb Stark on the Game of Thrones.  His prince is less boring Charming and more a young man who wants to please his father.  His father is played by Derek Jacobi who brings class to any film he is in.  Jacobi was also in Branagh’s Henry V, Professor Yana in Doctor Who, and in The King’s Speech (2010).  The prince introduces himself as Kit (a nod to Jon Snow actor Kit Harrington?), an apprentice who works at the palace.  He doesn’t want this young girl to know his identity.  The prince especially doesn’t want his trusted captain, Nonso Anozie, to tell.  Anozie was Xaro Xhoan Daxos in Game of Thrones, but I recognize him from Batiatus in The Last Legion (2007).  The other advisor to the prince is the Grand Duke played by Stellan Skarsgard, whom you may know as Erik Selvig from the Thor films, but also Bootstrap Bill in the Pirates films.  I recognize him as the brutal Cerdic in King Arthur (2004).  I found the moments that I’m familiar with in the cartoon just as exciting in the film.  The race to escape during midnight with some excellent effects transforming the animals to carriage drivers.  The audience clapped four times before the conclusion of the film which was surprising to me.  This is a great improvement over the depressing Into the Woods (2014) that had Anna Kendrick as Cinderella and Chris Pine as the Prince.  There is a song by Lily James at the end of the film, but this movie is not filled with forgettable songs like the cartoon.  It is a very magical film.   

Four Glass Slippers out of Five! 

#Cinderella, #KennethBranagh, #LilyJames, #RichardMadden