Diverging from the blatant revisionism of Disney’s recent
live-action fairy tales, director Kenneth Branagh brings a pleasingly
straightforward adaptation of the “Cinderella” fable to the screen. Though
inspired by Charles Perrault’s classic telling, Branagh is clearly using
Disney’s beloved 1950 animated version as a template, following that film’s
model quite closely (right down to Ella’s close relationship with the resident
mouse population). This is a movie whose trailers literally summarize the
entire story, as if to say, “Look, we know that you know exactly what’s going
to happen, but just look how freakin’ pretty it’s going to be!”
Though
missing the distinctly feminist bent of Disney’s recent output like “Brave,”
“Frozen,” and most notably “Maleficent” (a movie I didn’t terribly care for, but
for reasons other than its strong female characters), Branagh goes for
tradition over deconstruction, presenting a lush, unironic adaptation. The
result is slight but captivating, proving that even after umpteen adaptations
of the tale, “Cinderella” still holds the power to delight. Or maybe after this
endless winter, I’m desperate for a break from gray skies and slush: With its
saturated colors and green foliage, the film screams warm spring weather, and
it is glorious to behold.
You know the
story. After the death of her sweet mother (a nearly unrecognizable Hayley
Atwell, Marvel’s “Agent Carter”) and father (Ben Chaplin), a young maiden named
Ella (Lily James) is left in the care of a cruel stepmother (Cate Blanchett,
going big — but never campy — with the role) and obnoxious stepsisters (Sophie
McShera and Holliday Grainger), who treat her as a servant and bestow the
mocking “Cinder” prefix to her name. There’s also a handsome prince, a Fairy
Godmother (a daffy Helena Bonham Carter), and a pumpkin in there somewhere.
James finds
subtle layers of personality in a character who’s defined so much by her role
as a passive doormat. Ella’s got the kindness thing down pat, it’s the path
toward courage that marks the character’s true arc. Writer Chris Weitz also
fleshes out the backstory of several characters, giving Blanchett’s Lady
Tremaine a bit more motivation for her cruel behavior and adding some needed
development to Prince Charming.
Weitz crucially adds a scene in which
Ella and the prince, Kit, meet in the woods before he sets eyes on her at the
ball. She gains his interest by defending a stag from his hunting party, and
the pair share some flirty banter. Taken with Ella (who doesn’t give him her
name), the prince then arranges the ball in order to suss out the identity of
the mystery girl. Kit is winningly played by Richard Madden (“Game of
Thrones”), and even though he’s missing his trademark Robb Stark scruff,
(meaning that we’ve been sadly deprived of the first bearded Prince Charming),
he and James share a chastely sweet chemistry. The touching relationship
between Kit and his father (Derek Jacobi) is another nice addition to the
story.
Like most
fairy tales, this “Cinderella” is not subtle about making its moral plain to
us. Before her death, Ella’s mother makes her vow to “have courage and be
kind.” The words might seem trite, but as far as morals go, you can do a
lot worse: Are there any more basic guidelines to teach children in order to
give them the building blocks to becoming a decent human being? These slight
tweaks to the story go a little ways in alleviating the tale’s retro gender
politics. Ella’s character still has frustratingly little agency of her own,
but Weitz’s script finds ways to make her kindly nature feel less passive.
Putting up with the abuse becomes a conscious decision born out of her desire
to remain in a home that’s filled with the memories of her dear departed
parents.
Branagh’s
film is thankfully not as reliant on CGI effects as most recent live-action
fairy tales. There’s still quite a lot, but what’s there is infinitely more
visually appealing than the hideous creations of Tim Burton’s “Alice in
Wonderland,” and that’s largely thanks to the wonderful production design by
Dante Ferretti (“Hugo”) and Sandy Powell’s endlessly colorful costumes. There’s
a bit too much screen time devoted to the digitally animated mice, and the
film’s attempts at humor can be rather hit-or-miss, but “Cinderella” always
looks gorgeous — the centerpiece sequence at the ball is particularly lovely.
Delightfully old-fashioned, Disney’s “Cinderella” overcomes its story’s
familiarity through sheer enchantment.
A note:
“Cinderella” plays with the animated short “Frozen Fever,” a charming
but inessential chapter in the “Frozen” universe, revolving around a birthday
party for Anna, one forgettable song, and a cute, highly marketable new
character. Running only seven minutes, the short manages to throw in everything
memorable about the first film, and with the recently announced sequel still at
least a couple years away, it functions as a serviceable way to tide fans over.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2015.
