Into the Forest discussion

Well, what was the last real Cinderella film? Ella Enchanted? And even Ella Enchanted wasn't a straight retelling...

I think there've been modern adaptations since then too, but those don't count, IMO.

There was Ever After- but there wasn't any magic at all in that one.

So it's probably been a couple of decades since the last straight retelling that actually followed the Cinderella story.

I'm all for it =)

I'm excited, there is a great cast (many from Downton Abbey), and I have enjoyed many of Branagh's productions.

The trailer looked a little too much like the animated version for me, but I didn't realize Branagh was directing it. I've enjoyed some of his stuff, so I'll probably give it a watch once it's on video.

Me too, I'm looking forward to this one.

Has anyone seen this yet? What did you think?

I'm waiting for DVD release, much more affordable.

I saw this Saturday with my daughter. I quite liked it! My local movie theater was showing it. Tickets there for adults are $5, so I like to go when there's a movie I might like.

My daughter and I went to see it on Sunday, March 15th. Surprisingly, I liked this new version a lot, yet Ever After remains my favorite live action retelling/ reimagining.

Cinderella (2015) does follow Disney's animated film rather closely; however, notable differences include:

(view spoiler)[NO singing except for a lullaby in the very beginning;

the mice don't talk but they are still Ella's helpers (as are most of the animals on the "farm"), and Jaques is now Jaqueline - Ella says to Jacqueline at one point, "We girls have to stick together";

there's more real emotion in the live action film whereas the animated version was more sentimentality;

there's an explanation as to why Ella accepts the way she's treated by her stepmother and stepsisters;

the fairy godmother in the 2015 version doesn't seem as wise as the godmother in the 1950 version; the entire scene getting ready for the ball was really fun, though with only a couple spoken Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo's - I did miss this song the most;

the court and kingdom definitely appeared more diverse than in the 1950 version; the captain is a man of color (I recognized the actor from his roles in RockNRolla and Game of Thrones) and I observed other men of color in the prince's guard during a session of fencing; the Grand Duke wants the prince to marry a princess who spoke with an accent and seemed to be from a Spain-like country; I thought it was a smart move by filmmakers that the princess in the arranged marriage was quite beautiful and charming too, so the prince's feelings for Ella seemed a bit more genuine rather than simply rooted in aesthetics (aka external beauty);

Ella's character does have an arc; (hide spoiler)]

I'm sure there are many other differences but I've only watched it once :)

I will say that my favorite was the opening scene of the house. That coupled with the voice over narration felt like pure fairy tale to me. I also quite enjoyed Lucifer lol.

Thanks for that feedback. I'd been wondering if I should wait too, for it to show up on TV. Still haven't decided. Agree with Leah, Ever After is my absolute favorite version of this story.

I think I'll end up waiting to watch it, but I'm glad to see some good reviews of it here. My favorite Cinderella is also Ever After!

I read this wonderful article on npr about Cinderella the other day. It's long, but well worth reading: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/20...

Margaret wrote: "I read this wonderful article on npr about Cinderella the othe..."

Good article, Margaret.

This was my favorite line:
"...love will be durable enough to survive her reversion to her real identity"

And they ended with a fascinating conclusion.

Margaret wrote: "I read this wonderful article on npr about Cinderella the other day. It's long, but well worth reading:.."

Terrific article. Thank you for sharing, Margaret!

You're welcome! I would love to see some of the versions she discussed at the beginning made into movies.

We saw this last weekend and I loved it. Of course Kenneth Branagh so I expected Good Stuff, and he totally delivered. Most of all I liked that he didn't try to turn it into someone else's story (e.g. a misunderstood stepmom or an AU evil Cinderella). He went with the core of the fairy tale. He said that in an interview -- that he wanted to show that kindness and courage and honesty weren't just passive ways of finding comfort until you eventually get a reward, but rather active strengths in their own right. He takes the story seriously (as you'd expect from a Shakespearean) and gives it a beautiful depth without being saccharine or sentimental.

I loved that both the main characters had strong ties with their parents -- the part with the prince and his father was particularly moving. And the ethnic mix of the court, as others mentioned, was also very cool. Yay for the big captain of the guards who foils the scheming count!!

There's a great interview with Branagh here, all about the movie -- casting, screenplay, etc.

Is the retelling closer to the original Cinderella or more similar to Disney's retelling?

Jen ƸӜƷ wrote: "Is the retelling closer to the original Cinderella or more similar to Disney's retelling?"

Depends on what you mean by "the original" :) For example, it's very close to Charles Perrault, but then so was Disney. It does have Disney's cat Lucifer and the little mouse friends, including Gus-Gus (my favorite).

It doesn't include Grimm's embellishment about the sisters cutting off their toes, thank goodness (hope that's not a spoiler lol)

Yes, I was meaning some of the more ghoulish elements of Cinderella. And, not a spoiler, just curious.

Jen ƸӜƷ wrote: "Yes, I was meaning some of the more ghoulish elements of Cinderella. And, not a spoiler, just curious."

Ah, ok. No, it's not remotely ghoulish -- quite the contrary.

Okay, Michele, you're making me want to really go now. :)

Thanks, Michelle :)

Nice summary, Hannah, thanks for the feedback.

Interesting article in response to claims that this adaptation is anti-feminist

http://feministfiction.com/2015/04/08...

Leah wrote: "Interesting article in response to claims that this adaptation is anti-feminist

http://feministfiction.com/2015/04/08..."

Great article! I love this:

What absolute rubbish. Once again, the idea of “feminist media” has been twisted around, so that anything short of sassy female characters dishing out one-liners and kicking butt is seen as “weak” and “anti-feminist.”...The idea that anyone with sense and self-respect would fight back is insidious, and it does not match up with reality, not even in a modern, non-fairy tale setting.

Love it...tweeted it. :)

Great article. I've read a few articles in the last week discussing this same issue--the last one I read was about Game of Thrones. I'm definitely glad to see this issue being brought up so much!

Michele wrote: "Leah wrote: "Interesting article in response to claims that this adaptation is anti-feminist

http://feministfiction.com/2015/04/08..."

Great article! I love thi..."

Excellent article. I agree with the part you quoted. I am so sick of the notion that if a female character doesnt "kick ass" and have a black belt in martial arts they're considered weak.

Not to quibble, but the author of the piece Leah found says this Cinderella is feminist, but rather than butt- kicking she is kind. I believe that people and fictional characters can be feminists and kind.

Absolutely Julia!

Leah wrote: "Interesting article in response to claims that this adaptation is anti-feminist

http://feministfiction.com/2015/04/08..."

I agree with the article. In fact, I think the whole argument feminists make about Cinderella being a "doormat" is pretty bogus (and I've earned my feminist creds by spending half of my career working in feminist media.) The whole argument essentially resorts to "blaming the victim," which feminists will be the *first* to decry in any other abuse situation. I wrote about this issue in my post about Disney's animated, 1950 version of Cinderella, but think it applies to any traditional portrayal of Cinderella that bypasses the idea that she should be either "sassy" or "cursed" to explain her "compliance" in her abuse: https://ayearindisneymovies.wordpress...

Julia wrote: "Not to quibble, but the author of the piece Leah found says this Cinderella is feminist, but rather than butt- kicking she is kind. I believe that people and fictional characters can be feminists a..."

Of course!

Julia wrote: "Not to quibble, but the author of the piece Leah found says this Cinderella is feminist, but rather than butt-kicking she is kind. I believe that people and fictional characters can be feminists and kind."

Yes indeed :) I think that is precisely the point that the author of this article is making, too.