Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella

[MEB]

Originally Posted by spiderfan1985

Cinderella

[Show spoiler]Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenwriter: Chris Weitz
Cinematographer: Haris Zambarloukos
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
Music by: Patrick Doyle
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, and Helena Bonham Carter
Supporting Cast: Derek Jacobi, Nonso Anozie, Haley Atwell, Ben Chaplin, Stellan Skarsgard, Holliday Grainger, and Sophie McShera



Fair Ladies and distinguished Gentleman. It has happened. The code for fairy tale greatness, of the Disney variety, has indeed been cracked. Kenneth Branagh's sumptuous and emotional retelling of a Disney animated staple is a soaring triumph of magical proportions. The story, I am quite certain, you already know. A young girl named Ella lived a happy life in a pleasant country hamlet of a tiny kingdom with her exceptionally loving and devoted mother and father. When her mother dies of an unspecified illness her father later remarries a widower by the name of Lady Tremaine, who comes with two daughters of her own as well as a devious house cat named Lucifer. After her father dies on a business trip Ella is left under the auspices of a stepmother who will stop at nothing to break Ella's kind and gently courageous spirit by driving her into the ground with hard labor and a steady diet of cruel emotional and psychological abuse. Ella meets a Prince one day in the woods and is unaware of his royal heritage. From there you definitely know how the tale plays out, but under the shrewd guidance of screenwriter Chris Weitz, yes he of The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Golden Compass fame (or infamy if you so choose), and Kenneth Branagh, Marvel's Thor and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, this well worn fairy story soars to heights of emotional catharsis never before known.

You go into Cinderella already knowing the ending, but in the eyes of Branagh and Weitz it's the journey to that ending that really counts. And what a ravishingly sumptuous journey it is. Cinderella is gorgeous. A visual feast for the eyes' delight courtesy of Branagh's keen eye as a director, Haris Zambarloukos' exquisite cinematography, Sandy Powell's magnificent costume design, Dante Ferretti's opulently royal production design, and Patrick Doyle's airy and non-intrusive score, that also packs an emotional wallop thanks to finely tuned character work from a top flight cast that is headlined by Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, and Helena Bonham Carter in an indeed very small but crucial role.

Cate Blanchett's Lady Tremaine is every bit as frighteningly malicious, if not more so, than the Frank Thomas animated version voiced by Eleanor Audley. Actually, this version is scarier and even more malicious in her endeavors to beat the living spirit out of Ella. She's given a backstory that explains some things, but it is never used as an excuse (thank you Chris and Kenneth) to let her off the hook for her hideous treatment of the girl she is supposed to be a mother figure for. Lily James is simply radiant as Ella. In a move taken straight from the original source the name Cinderella has been restored to its original status, not as a lovely name for a beautiful young woman, but instead a mean spirited put down of a nickname stuck to Ella by her obnoxiously spoiled and dumb stepsisters that Lady Tremaine takes and turns into a psycho-emotional cannonball fired straight at Ella's sense of worth as a human being. The cruelty Ella faces in this movie is not tiptoed around. Branagh lets his camera stare it right in the face, forcing his now captive audience to suffer along with the determined heroine. Lily James' Ella is such a warm and loving presence that it is truly difficult to watch her slowly be stripped of nearly everything that makes her so, to the point that when Helena Bonham Carter's lovably dotty Fairy Godmother does show up, she is at the edge of falling into an abyss of total and utter despair. But this, because Branagh and Weitz know what they are doing, makes the emotionally cathartic payoff of the famous magical transformation and ensuing ball all the sweeter to savor. Ella in that fragilely gorgeous blue gown is a vision truly worth seeing. This whole section of the movie soars high on the wings of pure giddy elation. Ella's joy is our joy. Her tears are our tears. I was tearing and had a smile on my face throughout this entire stretch of the movie. Bonham Carter's Godmother is, as mentioned, a very small part indeed, but her warmth and genuine care for the young woman she has taken into her charge shine through and make the scene count in a big way.

And what of that Prince Charming? Well, I am happy to report that once again Weitz and Branagh along with a finely chosen Richard Madden have dodged that old bullet that always used to hit the animated classics of yore square in the nether regions. That being the general uselessness of those Princes that, for any number of reasons (a lot of them technical but some…), were always turned into nameless and soulless cyphers with all the personality of a burnt out tree stump. "Oh, he's a charming guy because his name is Charming." Yeah, that always works. Madden's Prince is not named Charming, thankfully, and is therefore allowed to prove himself to be charming by showing us a generously warm personality that lights up like the 4th of July, oh yes there are both figurative and literal fireworks in this movie, when he meets Ella in the woods one day when she has a mini-breakdown of sorts and runs away from her stepfamily. Who can blame her? If I had been her I would never go back. And he has been given a name. Kit. A nickname at least, used by his father whenever the old and ailing monarch is in a particularly good mood. Madden makes a likable presence on the screen and his chemistry with James is sensual yet innocent. This is Disney after all. It's not gratuitously sexed up. Nor does it need to be in order to work its magic on us.

The rest of the cast is all in fine working order. Haley Atwell, who looks nothing like Agent Carter in this, and Ben Chaplin are around just long enough to make an impression as Ella's loving parents. Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera are suitably obnoxious and play up the talentless stupidity of Ella's stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella respectively. Derek Jacobi appears briefly, but memorably, as Kit's ailing father, the king of the land. Nonso Anozie as Kit's loyal Captain of the Guard is an imposing figure from a physical perspective, but shows a tender heart underneath. A true gentle giant. And finally, Stellan Skarsgard plays the Grand Duke who, while a bumbling yet likable little part in the animated film, is now rendered a bit of a conniving political schemer who has taken it upon himself to already promise Kit in marriage to a foreign Princess "for the good of the kingdom." All of these roles are various degrees of small, but they serve their various purposes well and are all performed admirably by a choice and game cast of character actors.

Cinderella is without a doubt the very model to which all future live action "re-imaginings" of classic Disney features will be measured and judged. And it deserves to be so. Kenneth Branagh and the creative team under him have done a remarkable job and in so doing have created what is surely a new classic in the offing. This Cinderella deserves to stand the test of time and come out on top for everything it gets right that so many other Disney remakes get wrong. I like Maleficent. I liked Alice In Wonderland, though admittedly my stance on that one has cooled quite a bit. But Cinderella is a new breed. Rather than fracture this fairy tale and tear it apart Branagh and crew have opted to take the far trickier path and take the old story and deepen it in well chosen areas while still adhering to the already well established framework. Their efforts have paid off handsomely and I definitely plan to see this one again, and possibly again, and then possibly again, and then finally own it on Blu where it will know doubt sparkle with all of the exquisite beauty of one of Ella's glass slippers, but, even more importantly, with the inner beauty and grace of one of Disney's classic heroines that has been given a brand new lease on a far deeper and more meaningful life for a whole new generation to fall in love with. Congratulations Kenneth Branagh, Chris Weitz, Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Haris Zambarloukos, Dante Ferretti, Sandy Powell, and Patrick Doyle and all the rest of the cast and crew of Cinderella. You guys have made, in my humble opinion, not only the first truly great film of 2015, but a treasure that will no doubt be cherished by all who hold out hope for courage, kindness, and just a little bit of magic. Thank you all!

5/5

Review by Eric Spearman, aka spiderfan1985

2015

Bravo, Eric, bravo!!

Mark