Last night I watched 
Snow Queen a film directed by David Wu. I admit I didn’t expect it to be very good as it was made for television and the dvd cover was far from exciting. I felt like watching a Fairy Tale however, and as The Snow Queen is one of my favourite stories, I thought I’d give it a chance.
I was well rewarded. The movie was a beautiful, enchanting journey. It starts out by introducing Gerda and Kay and developing their relationship in a sweet, innocently romantic way. It made me want to go Ice skating with the Prince again. The film then takes a deliciously dark turn as the Snow Queen enters the plot, infecting Kay with a shard of her mirror and turning him in to a dark shadow of his true self. Eventually he is whisked away by the wicked Queen and Gerda must set out to find him (although the way in which she starts her journey gave me a shock!)
She embarks on a journey through the four seasons, each personified in a different way as the Spring Witch, the Summer Princess and the Autumn Robber. I liked the first two best, the Spring witch treats Gerda as a little girl, and Gerda skips cheerfully around her cottage in ringlet curls and plays with dolls. When she manages to escape she travels to the Palace of the Summer Princess which is in the ancient Chinese style. The Summer Princess is obessed with clothes and fashion and makes Gerda attend a ball where she must dance with hilarious gentlemen (Delfont Chalfont: Did I ever tell you all about my exploits with the 35th horse brigade at the battle of Tompkins Bay? Gerda: You couldn’t have. We’ve only just met.) as the Princess schemes to find her a husband. The Autumn Robber just imprisons her, which is a bit boring.
The acting was quite talented for a TV movie. Kay was charming and sweet but also played his dark side scarily well. The Snow Queen was ruthless, seductive and a little frightening. I think she would have played Narnia’s White Witch far better than Tilda Swinton. Gerda was very pretty, but a bit weak in some scenes.
What I enjoyed most about this movie was the artistry of the production. The worlds are created in a stunning vibrant way, I think the film was shot in Northern Europe. In each season there is a certain coloured hue to the lighting which sets the mood and brings out the colours of costume and set delightfully. Gerda gets a new outfit with each change of season to make the distinctions even clearer.
If you have a spare 3 hours to spend in an enchanted world, Snow Queen is well worth the visit.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I love miniseries, I think you can do a lot more with them than a movie (while 3 hour movies do exist, few people with children would want to sit through 3 hours with them in a move theatre) but you don’t have to fill up a whole TV season. For a lot of stories, they’re just right. ^^
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:27 am
The following quotes from Andersen’s original story seem to be so appropriate. Were they used in the TV film?
“I can’t give her any greater power than she already has. Don’t you see how great it is? Don’t you see how people and animals want to serve her, how she has come so far in the world in her bare feet? She must not learn of her power from us. It resides in her heart, it lies in the fact that she is a sweet and innocent child.”
And then right at the end the Grandmother quotes from the Bible:
“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven”
Bridget Fonda, Jane’s daughter, took the role of The Snow Queen - hew first film appearance as a child was in her uncle’s (Peter Fonda) notorious 1968 film “Easy Rider”. Great acting dynasty, Princess.
February 22nd, 2007 at 9:45 am
skwerlie: I agree, the same people that made Snow Queen did Dinotopia and Gulliver’s Travels, both great miniseries.
Nigel: Sadly those quotes were not included, but the dialogue really was quite nice. I shall have to reread the original I think, its been far to long since I have.