Customer Reviews

Snow White - The Fairest of Them All

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I have very mixed feelings about this particular Brothers Grimm adaptation. First, I must consider that in the past Fairy Tales have been far from mediocre tales about sanity. Often they are warnings about our most inner desires bringing us certain destruction. This movie deals with jealousy and innocence, kindness and evil.

Caroline Thompson has a great concept at work here, but in places the script falls prey to the cliché. The acting would have been better if the script had been more mature. They seemed to want to make this for children and I could not help hearing the Barney song in the background of my mind when I saw the rainbow and politically correct admonitions. I was disappointed in her naming the dwarfs after the days of the week. I think the names Disney gave the dwarfs were more interesting and would have given them stronger personalities. The acting would have seemed better if all the characters had been given a much stronger script. Yet, this adaptation seems to be reaching further into the past than Disney ever envisioned.

The salvation is in the creativity with which the story is told. It is visually appealing and once you watch the extras on the DVD you will realize this was a low-budget production.

The mirror is fascinating. Not only are there a variety of mirrors, the mirror is broken at one point and contains magical properties. This mirror then becomes a transporter, video camera and weapon. It is no longer just a "mirror, mirror on the wall." The scenes of "raining glass" were wonderfully creative along with the sound effects.

The artificiality of some scenes lend themselves to the "Fairy Tale" appeal. The very fact that the characters are not completely believable at times gives them a certain freedom to be completely evil or completely good.

Snow White (Kristin Kreuk) is incredibly beautiful, but almost solemn in her awakening to the world. She has an almost gothic appeal. As a baby, she is born into a world where apple blossoms fall from the trees into a pond near her home and red rose bushes almost envelope the cottage. Her father John (Tom Irwin) is desperate to save her life after his wife dies after childbirth and tries to make it to a close village. He almost fails and yet his tears awaken a creature frozen beneath the ice. This bewitched creature is able to fulfill wishes like a genie and gives him three wishes. He also unfortunately has a sister who is not quite so kind.

Even as a baby, Snow White was able to sense evil intentions and disliked her new mother-in-law Elspeth (Miranda Richardson) who is part of the wish-fulfillment plot.

In the original story in German, Snow white is born as a princess. In this adaptation, she inherits her royalty through magical means. When the huntsman is told to kill Snow White the new queen asks for her liver and lungs. In this adaptation parents might not appreciate their young children seeing the queen eating "what she thinks" is Snow White's heart.

When the queen finds out Snow White is still alive, she poses as her dead mother instead of a witch. Offering an apple to someone has been known to be a declaration of love or deceit. In this movie, it spells certain death. Snow White is buried in ice instead of a glass coffin.

The queen is not transformed back into her true self until the end of the movie when she is subject to the violence of the "garden gnomes" that come to life to seek revenge. In the real story, she dances to her death in a pair of iron slippers which would not have been enjoyable to watch onscreen. The violence of the gnomes is more "implied."

This is not a calm, happy movie but does have a happy, yet questionable ending. Would any father let such a young daughter ride away with a prince? I think not. In the real story, Snow White grows into an adult while in the coffin. Her hair is still black as ebony, her lips as red as blood and her skin as white as snow.

This movie does contain some violent content I don't think "very young" children should be exposed to although I imagine they might miss some of the implied meanings. This should have been rated PG in some instances in my own mind.

Otherwise, there are elements in this story I really enjoyed, especially the magical elements incorporated into the mirror, castle, roses, forest and the inclusion of various intriguing elements not seen in a Snow White movie to date.

~The Rebecca Review

Though there are some serious deviations to this new version of the Snow White fairytale, on the whole I enjoyed watching it, especially in terms of its beautiful visual style. As most reviewers have already said, everything in the scenes are bright and colourful, yet ornate and whimsical, giving it a truly fairytale feel. Costumes in particular are lovely whether it be the rainbow outfits of the dwarves or Snow White's own princess-wardrobe.

The story harks back more to the Grimm's fairytale, and so is perhaps not for younger viewers (though kids get very little credit these days - if they can watch the Queen's transformation scene in the Disney version of "Snow White", I think they could deal with this). The wood-dwelling couple John and Josephine give birth to a baby daughter according to Jo's wishes when she pricked her finger on a rosebush: a child with hair black as ebony, lips red as blood and skin as white as snow.

However when the difficult birth takes Jo's life, John is forced to leave their home to fetch milk for his daughter. He stumbles through the snow, unable to find the village and only survives when his tears melt the icy prison of the Green-Eyed Granter of Wishes, who grants John three wishes in gratitude. Hardly able to believe the situation, John wishes for milk, a kingdom and his queen. The first two are easy work for the genie, but for John's 'queen', the genie goes to his sister Elspeth, an ugly wench who lives to spread misery over the forest creatures (she has a garden of 'real' garden gnomes!) Transforming her into a beautiful woman she gleefully forces John to fall in love with her through the use of a magic mirror, leaving her with a husband to manipulate, a kingdom to rule, and a stepdaughter to hate...

The movie actually adds quite a lot of components from the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale "The Snow Queen", namely the role of the mirror. When Elspeth shatters it, two shards fly into John - one in his eye and one into his heart - the same thing that happens to Kay in Anderson's tale. I suspect many people were confused at the whole mirror sequence if they weren't familiar with this other story, but it is an interesting melding of stories.

Miranda Richardson magnificently plays the role of Elspeth, the evil stepmother and in many ways it is she who is the star of the production. She plays her role with great pizzazz from the twisted, bitter hag to the joyful maiden to the jealous and suspecting wife. Tom Irwin is a little hen-pecked as John, but ultimately we feel more sympathy than scorn for him. Unfortunately Kirstin Kreuk plays Snow White rather stiffly - though she is a perfect casting choice in terms of physical appearance. However, in Kreuk's defence it is one the most difficult things in the world to play virtuous, perfect heroines, simply because they appear rather boring on the screen (especially when surrounded by more fascinating villains). The dwarfs are a little silly (their connection with rainbows makes them look like extras on "Barney the Dinosaur") but most will be amused to recognise Warwick Davis ("Willow").

In keeping in line with the Grimm's story, the movie does include the sash that squeezes the breath out of Snow White as well as the famous apple, but unfortunately not the poisoned comb. Other interesting directions are taken by the movie-makers: instead of an old hag, Elspeth approaches Snow White as her dead mother, and as well as the colours of the rainbow, the dwarfs are named after the days of the week (and include a normal-sized Wednesday). The Prince is given a bit more of a back-story than simply entering at the end (he even gets a name!), but there are some loose ends not quite wrapped up and Elspeth's ultimate fate is a little silly.

Yet overall I enjoyed this movie, if not just for its gorgeous appearance which is made more amazing considering the very small budget for this movie. I watch it just to look at it: the elegant yet simple palace to the quiet, peaceful woodlands; the elaborate costumes, the colourful makeup, the subtle yet beautiful special effects, I could go on...

It's not your traditional version of the Grimm's famous story, but this effort by Hallmark Entertainment (distributed by Disney) certainly has it's merits!

Caroline Thompson's script tells the traditional story of the princess with "skin as white as snow" and the jealous stepmother who wishes her stepdaughter dead. But Thompson decides to elaborate the story with several touches of her own. For instance, Snow White's father, John (played by Tom Irwin), releases a "jinn" or "genie" type creature (Clancy Brown) from a frozen prison in the ice. To show his thanks, the creature grants John three wishes: 1) milk for his infant daughter, 2) a kingdom, and 3) a queen. But the candidate chosen to sit at King John's side, is none other than the creature's hideous sister, Elsbeth (Miranda Richardsn). As an "act of kindness" to his sister, he transforms her blemished skin to worldly beauty. But King John's heart still lies with his dead wife, Josephine (Vera Farmiga). So, Elspeth's first spell of manipulation is cast.

Another added plot twist borrows from another Grimm's story, "Snow White and Rose Red". Queen Elsbeth lets her raging hormones get the best of her when Prince Alfred (Tyron Leitso) spurns her lusty advances. For revenge, Elsbeth turns the prince into a bear, who then seeks out Snow White to help break the spell.

In a psychological twist, Esbeth disguises herself as Josephine, Snow White's mother, when she delivers the poisoned apple. Quite clever.

Hallmark Entertainment regular Miranda Richardson is perfectly cast as the woman who's sole existence rides on being "fairest in the land". In her usual brilliant way, Richardson's performance is deranged yet humorous all at once.

Kristin Kreuk (WB's "Smallville") as "Snow White" gives a deeper performance than one would expect. Rather than turning the princess into a sugary sweet victim, Kreuk brings out the human qualities of a teenager who longs to be seen as more than the beauty she is. Because of Elsbeth's spell on him, her father ignores her. Her stepmother hates her. The visiting prince swoons over her. The poor girl simply wants to be loved and known for the person behind the beautiful face. Kreuk was the perfect choice.

The seven dwarfs are creatively reworked as the creatures that control the weather. They travel around the countryside as a rainbow, with each of them playing a different color. Named for the days of the week, each dwarf's personality comes from the old nursery rhyme' "Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace.....". Warwick Davis, of Ewok fame, plays "Saturday". Davis is no stranger the Snow White story, having performed in and directed many pantomime productions in his homeland of England. In another creative twist, Vincent Schiavelli plays "Wednesday"....the only "dwarf" over 4.5 feet tall! Michael J. Anderson (Twin Peaks) plays "Sunday" the kind-hearted sympathetic leader of the "magnificent seven".

As in anything she is in, Vera Farmiga is wonderful. She is under used sadly, as Josephine is buried for most of the film. Thankfully she is brought back for the famous apple sequence.

If you are expecting a live action version of the Disney 1937 classic, you will be greatly disappointed. The film rides on it's own merit and will hopefully become another family classic. Thanks Hallmark!

The story of "Snow White," by the Brothers Grimm has alwaise been one of my favorites! I recall begging my mother to read it to me all the time when I was little, and my cousin and I often acting out the famous sceen where the evil queen gives Snow White the poisoned apple. The exceptionally wonderful retelling of the story provided much food for thought, and was extremely entertaining. All of the actors/actresses do verry well with the characters they portray, Miranda Richardson deserving a deafening round of applause for her portrayal of the evil queen Elspeth. It requires a lot of acting ability to portray a villain or villainness, and Richardson obviously enjoys her role. I feel both sympathy and anger toward her character, who is twisted in to a monster because she allows her envy to take control resulting in her ruination. I especially liked the dwarfs in this film, because they provided humor and were delightful characters. It may be interesting to note that one of the dwarfs is a girl, and that all of them are named after days of the week. Kristin Krook is verry good in her role of Snow White, showing the human side of the beautiful princess, and portraying her gentle inward beauty as well as her outward. She also does well at showing a vulnerable side to Snow White that is usually not portrayed. I do not neccessarily think this movie is particularly dark, as some have claimed, however it does provide a more indepth study of the darker side of human nature. This is a truly exceptional story of good versus evil, and is truly worth the price. I would recommend that you at least give the movie a chance. Happy viewing!!

Hallmark may not have a monopoly on dark fairy tales, but they certainly film them in style. This may not be the sugar-coated fantasy flick you remember hearing as a child, or even watching in the old Disney cartoon. This fairy tale is told the way that Grimm would tell it... with dark, sinister elements and fascinating plot twists. The seven dwarves (one of which is a girl) control the weather and are named for the days of the week. One of them is six foot tall. The Evil Queen is actually a hideous half-mortal whose brother, a genie, has given her a chance for happiness by giving her great beauty. The mirror plays a large role in the bewitching of Snow White's father, and Prince Alfred will soon face a challenge of his own.

There's something about the film that appealed to me... probably the darkness of the script, but also its reasoning and humor. I much enjoyed the psychological aspect of 'Snow White.' It's a magnificent retelling with gorgeous cinematography, a memorable score, and above all a magnificent performance by Miranda Richardson. I thought her enthralling as Queen Mab in Merlin; in 'Snow White' she shows us her full potential. I have doubts in Snow White herself, however... either the actress did not give her any passion, or her role was poorly written. Everyone else is just oozing with unique personality and depth, but this Snow White is a bland, brooding heroine with little to contrive interest in her.

What also fascinates me is that they chose to play out the climactic ending with Vera rather than Miranda... but shockingly, it works. She holds up well to the standard set by Richardson in the former scenes, although I did miss our lovely evil stepmother in-between. It's a script that reeks with clever ideas, memorable dialogue, and visual delights. Artisan has gone even beyond its success with The 10th Kingdom in masterful special effects that would put any Hollywood production to shame. The costuming is gorgeous, the sets in keeping with a fairy-tale like Medieval existence, and the cinematography is breathtaking, right from the opening shot to the ending panorama. The writer/director knew what she was doing.

But even gorgeously filmed as it is, you aren't going to want to plunk your little sister down in front of this one unaware. The script is very dark and contains sinister plot twists, frightening circumstances, hideous creatures, and some psychological elements. Preview first.

"Snow White: The Fairest of Them All" is one of those retellings of a classic fairy tale that is probably going to impress adults more than the kiddies, although you will find some problematic elements in this 2002 television movie. This version is closer to the original tale told by Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and his brother Wilhelm Carl Grimm, but Caroline Thompson and Julie Hickson's teleplay comes up with some inventive elements, most of which work. But much as I like the veteran character actor Vincent Schiavelli, a six-foot-five-inch dwarf is a bit of a reach for me.

Anyhow, once upon a time, John (Tom Irwin) and Josephine (Vera Farmiga) were living happily together in the forest when they had a beautiful baby girl then named Snow White. However, Josephine dies soon after leaving John alone to fend for his baby. John buries his wife and starts on a journey to find food; at his darkest moment he is about to give up when he happens to awaken a genie known as the Green Eyed One (Clancy Brown), who will grant three wishes aa a reward for his release. John's first wish is for milk for Snow White. His second wish is to have his wife back, but this is beyond the Green Eyed One's power. Instead, he will provide John with a new queen and a kingdom to go with it. However, what John does not know is that his new queen, Elpseth (Miranda Richardson) is really his own hag of a sister (the crone is played by Karin Konoval), transformed into a beauty. Snow White crows up to be played by Kristin Kreuk (a.k.a. Lana Lang on "Smallville") and when the spell starts to fade and Elpseth's beauty begins to fade, the story takes a dark turn.

"Snow White: The Fairest of Them All" is a much darker version of the story than the beloved Disney classic, so by no stretch of the imagination is this the first version of Snow White you would want any child to see. This is a dark version of the tale that takes place in a much more dangerous world, although the entirely reworked dwarf part of the plot (they are now named for the seven days of the week) usually works against the rest of the story. The sets are beautiful, as are the costumes, and what passes for the magic mirror this time around is pretty spectacular.

A lot of people will check out the DVD version because of Kreuk, who is the WB's new Katie Holmes. I admit I am one of those people, but even I found it rather odd that her cast bio on the DVD features her Neutrogena commercial. Anyhow, Kreuk has little to do but sit there and look pretty throughout the movie (she shows a lot more emotion and flair in the commercial). The one who steals the show is Richardson, which is exactly what you would expect when an actress of that caliber gets a choice role like a wicked queen in a fairy tale. If there was any doubt about whether this version of Snow White is worth checking out, then it is Richardson who tips the scale in that direction. "Snow White: The Fairest of Them All" is certainly worth a look for those who are interested in new takes (or, in this case, extremely old takes) on classic fairy tales.

SPOILERS: This is not nearly as bad as it sounds. When you figure that Disney's Snow White is one of the top 50 U.S. films of all time (and the best thing Disney has ever done), you can understand why Hallmark and writer/director Caroline Thompson (who did such a good job on Black Beauty and Edward Scissorhands) would not want to do that version of the fairy tale. And unlike Alice in Wonderland, Snow White is not sacred material; not only has it changed drastically over the past 180+ years, but versions of the basic storyline are present in the folklore of many different countries and languages. The Hallmark version is much closer to the original (and darker) Brothers Grimm story. So the best way to watch this is to put aside any preconceived notions and view it with an open mind.

One thing it has going for it is that the production designer did the usual Hallmark fairy tale magic with the look of the thing. Very nice.

Casting was a little weak. Kristan Kreuk's performance as the title character is feeble; the director should have been able to get a whole lot more from her, but Miranda Richardson as the Evil Queen was wonderful. Fortunately the story is centered around the Queen, and Richardson is able carry the whole film. I don't know if this was by design or was done in post, they may have trimmed a lot of Kreuk's stuff when they realized it was so awful. But at least they worked hard with the lighting and the digital color correction to lighten Kreuk's complexion-she is still not physically believable as Snow White (not even close to lips as red as blood and skin white as the snow) but the disparity is not as bad as expected. And Kruck is such a sterile non-sensuous beauty that she fits the antiseptic way in which the director apparently wanted to under-portray the character.

Vincent Schiavelli who stole the show in "Ghost" also steals all the seven dwarf scenes.

Vera Farmiga does a great job as Snow White's mother, especially when she plays the Queen impersonating the mother. In fact, the best scene of the film is when she is trying to convince Snow White to eat the apple-some really great shot framing and editing. Interestingly, in the original story it was the mother (not a step-mother) who was trying to kill Snow White,

The ending is a bit anti-climatic as it almost instantly goes from everything being totally bleak to everything being right with the kingdom. And this happens not because of any action from the heroes or in any sort of suspenseful way, the Queen just undoes herself by reaching too far. While this supports the 'its what's inside each of us that's important' theme, it cheats the viewer out of an interestingly evolving resolution.

If you ignore Kreuk (who became a decent actress-or at least much better than anyone could have guessed from this performance) and prepare yourself for a rather 'nothing' ending, you should enjoy this tale.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Where to begin with what was wrong with this film. Could it be the doughy, forgettable Prince Charming? The unfunny anachronistic dwarves? (And one of them is 6' tall, which is a joke I still don't get) The screechy, mugfest of a performance by the usually astounding Miranda Richardson? The expressionless, bland and inscrutable Snow White?

Yes, let's start there. Kristin Kreuk is a pretty girl, but it's evident that's the height of her "talent". See her on the cover up there? That's when Kristin is best-- when she's in front of a camera that doesn't record sound or motion. Otherwise we get her lispy monotone, her wide, inexpressively bright eyes, her lack of body language... and in this film, it's all under about ten pounds of cakey looking white makeup. Why hire an ethnic actress for the part of Snow White if all you're going to do is put her in whiteface? What on earth was the point of that?

But that's the least of Kreuk's worries. Her acting on Smallville has never been noteworthy, but in this, she's downright offensive. I actually found myself laughing out loud when, during a scene in which the Evil Queen's henchman is poised above her with a dagger raised to kill her, she looks up, face blank, and intones without a hint of inflection, "Why?" Yeah, that's what *I'd* do too, hon.

Maybe that's why Richardson's performance seems so overdone by comparison. Next to Snow White and her equally bumbling, tedious father, anyone would appear to be "over"acting.

Unless you're a 15 year old boy with a massive crush on the lead actress who doesn't mind watching 2 solid hours of mindlessness as long as she's in a few scenes, please spare yourself the torture of this horrible movie. Hallmark should be ashamed of itself.

its not the cheesy disney version, though it has its own cheese with the rainbow kids. But I enjoyed the movie because it takes the Snow White story to a more mature level. Its sweet and very pretty cinematically speaking. Its entertaining above all else, which is key when looking for a way to spend some relaxation time.

The story of Snow White is one of the most famous by the Brothers Grimm, and this version by Hallmark is probably the most recent revision. It is also the one with the most magic, and is one of Hallmark's better movies. Snow White this time is born of by the prick of a rose on her mother's finger. Childbirth kills the mother and sends the father out into the cold winter with his daughter. Their desperation brings one of Satan's servants to life, who grants the father three wishes (what other number could it be). The first two wishes turn out well, but the third brings forth Elspeth, i.e. the wicked stepmother. Baby Snow White senses the evil stepmother immediately by crying when they are about to touch. What ensues is a lifelong rivalry in which Elspeth uses her magic to slowly take over the kingdom. This includes her mirror, which can fly. The seven dwarfs are not all short, but instead they now represent the 7 colors of the rainbow, and hence can travel across distances by "rainbowing" themselve. Animals of various sorts get involved, and the battle climaxes with the poisoned apple. Elspeth's evil is undone by the love of a prince, and Elspeth herself is taken down by her own evil creations.

The movie is about two hours long, and moves briskly along from one scene to the next. There is no singing, instead the music is orchestral in the style of classical Romance. The cinematography is great and the special effects are quite nice and believable. The overall story is the same as the original Disney version but many of the details have changed to make it quite distinct and unique. Overall, a good movie.