The Snow Queen
by David Wu
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bridget Fonda, Chelsea Hobbs, Jeremy Guilbaut, Robert Wisden, Wanda CannonDirector: David Wu
Brand: Lions Gate
Producer: Matthew O'Connor
Producer: Michael O'Connor
Producer: Pascal Verschooris
Producer: Robert Halmi Jr.
Producer: Robert Halmi Sr.
Writer: Hans Christian Andersen
Writer: Simon Moore
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of The Snow Queen
Movie Review: Not the best, but definately not the worst either *WARNING: SPOILERS*
Summary: 4 Stars
While I agree the story was heavily adapted for flighty modern tastes and there are some incredibly horrible dialogues sporadically put here and there that are searching for laughs rather than being inherently funny, it was overall a nice adaptation. It at least tried to keep close to the original tale and only adapted it in a similar spirit whenever possible.
SPOILERS
Kay(Kaye) is now Kai. They're also a few years older and don't start out as best friends (which was the original impetuous for Gerda's search). However at the end of the tale they realize they love each other anyway, so this I can quite easily forgive.
The Eternal Summer Witch becomes the Spring Witch, but the mothering tendency & brainwashing is still there. Really the only thing that changed about that scene from the original story was that she was rechristened as Spring.
The Princess looking for a prince to marry becomes the Summer Princess set on marrying Gerda off. It's a bit of a change, but the spirit of the original part of the story is kept. Quite frankly this scene is very much adapted for modern tastes and is obviously looking for laughs, but it wisely gives us a look at how air-headed & almost blindly idealistic the season actually is, which is something summer fanatics I think tend to forget.
The Robber Hag and her daughter the Robber Girl become an Autumn couplet who capture & keep Gerda along the same lines of the story. As for why they became Autumn, it's quite obvious in my mind. Gypsies, as the Robbers in the original story & this adaptation were portrayed, do a lot of harvesting after all. Also the cynical spirit that comes along with them matches growing pessimism of Autumn in contrast to the bubbly idealism of Summer. Also the gypsy defiance and celebration honors the harvest festivals where people would indulge themselves and play games with one another throwing society into a bit of a chaotic environment. Think of Mischief Night where modern teens go TPing and egging houses. Think of All Hallow's Eve being the one night of the year that people believed evil could break the natural laws that ruled them the rest of the year roam the land for a night. Think of La Dia de los Muertos where the dead are believed to come back to life for an evening and eat the food the family brought for them. Think of Saturnalia in Rome where masters pretended to be servants and the servants as masters. Scandinavia and Britain also held similar holiday revels in the form of Yuletide. Where do you think the concept of Halloween came from? Not from the Candy Companies--they only exploited it.
The adaptation, in my mind was all pretty close to the original plot or the spirit of it until they took out the Lord's Prayer bit that Gerda says to defeat the Snow Queen's army. However most adaptations do that so that's almost to be expected with our secularized society. However they kept the Christian Rose symbolism and changed the Lord's Prayer into Gerda's mother's magic brooch. This part of the adaptation pales in comparison to the original tale, but it attempts to adapt in a similar spirit. The only terribly corny part was the "wake up" sequence, but that I can close my eyes and ignore quite easily.
Also Gerda's mother dying and getting rid of Granny (replacing her with Minna was nice though) made me a little sad, but I thought what was done with that gave a more realistic feeling to the story. It also was a way to make Gerda the traditional "quiet girl" stereotype (with a realistic reason why she is that way) without upsetting the ultra-feminists in our secularized society.
Overall it was a better adaptation than the amazingly bad one that Fairy Tale Theater put on. I didn't expect quality from that, but after seeing something THAT bad, this was kinda nice.
Also, I don't know about your translation of the original tale, but mine goes back and forth between calling the Hobgoblin the devil and a hobgoblin. However I think the devil works best considering the Christian symbolism and parts in the original tale. It's a shame though that the adaptation didn't hold true to the original Christian part of the story, it would've balanced out and explained the Devil part nicely. However, we're dealing with a secularized society so it's not too surprising.
END SPOILERS
Also, I've read some other posts where reviewers go off on that it's not meant for children?!? Fairy tales are inherently seductive, bloody, violent, and full of this kind of stuff--the Snow Queen that HCA wrote is actually is a little more tame in comparison to some original folk tales. Consider for the fact that Hansel and Gretel push an old woman into an oven and roast her to death. Beauty and the Beast is the equivalent of wife beating. Each little pig--in the original story of the Three Little Pigs--dies and is eaten until the Wolf gets to the last one and can't blow down the brick house. But even he is turned into Wolf Stew by the last little pig. The Hare in the Hare and the Hedgehog is outsmarted by the Hedgehog (and his wife) and runs himself to death. In the original Cinderella, the father is still alive and doesn't care for his daughter, the stepsisters cut parts of their feet off to fit into the slipper, and the birds who befriended Cinderella peck the stepsisters blind in the end.
That is the legacy of our original folktales and myths: blood, violence, and gore. The fact that generations of children have been reading/hearing variations on these tales for centuries doesn't surprise me. Those things were a large part of life back then (and still are, no matter how much we try to avoid & deny it), and these stories actually gave a way to deal/introduce such things quite well. They also did so in a in a safer environment & probably provided a comforting effect to children who were already severely effected by them. The Devil is also a frequent visitor in fairy tales, and many characters in many stories go through periods of temptation from him.
So, seeing a man in red makeup portray the Devil, seeing Gerda attempting suicide (which was close enough and adapted along a similar line of self-sacrifice which the original tale drives home as a core theme of the story), and the multiple attempts of seduction and temptation for both Kai & Gerda are actually cornily fluffy compared to what original folklore contained for children.
What society has to recognize is that the real harm comes from editing these stories until there are no "offensive parts" left. At which point the innocence of the original stories looks trite and corny with nothing left to balance it out and the stories lose their true meaning and influence in society. What you learn from these stories is that in order for true innocence & goodness to exist, the darker side of human nature must threaten its very existence, otherwise it has no true meaning. The worst harm that can be done to a fairy tale is editing out the gory bits, however, I digress.
IMO, this movie is meant for kids & preteens--how could it not be? Also, for those who fear that seeing Gerda jumping off a bridge or a personification of the Devil will scar the kids for life, allow me to digress for a tiny bit: I watched Bugs Bunny get drunk on numerous occasions, and what was actually happening went right over my little head at the time. It was only upon revisiting the cartoons recently that I realized what I had actually seen.
So, if any of you still feel like censoring this and all other offensive bits in the sake of "protecting the children", just hire three monkeys, I'm sure they could help you quite easily.
Summary of The Snow Queen
Based on the hans christian andersen classic the story of a young innkeepers daughter who sets off on an adventure of a lifetime to rescue her first love after he falls under the spell of the evil snow queen. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/13/2005 Starring: Bridget Fonda Run time: 180 minutes Rating: NrWhat begins as a simple, bittersweet tale about a widower's daughter grandly unfolds into a rich, mythical adventure in Hallmark's production of Snow Queen. Based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, this story whisks viewers to a remote mountain town where winter claims a surprising number of lives, beginning with the local innkeeper's wife. Many years later, the woman's daughter, Gerda (Chelsea Hobbs), finds true love when her father hires Kai (Jeremy Guilbaut) as the inn's new bellboy. About one hour into this three-hour production, the mood turns rather sinister as the Snow Queen (Bridget Fonda) bewitches and captures Kai. Scenes of Gerda's search--through the lush temptations of each season personified--are interspersed with downright creepy scenes of Kai held prisoner in the Snow Queen's ice palace. Keen acting and smart direction engross the viewer, but those under 8 years old might not be ready for the repetitive themes of seduction and temptation. --Liane Thomas
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