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Mirror Mirror

A A A Comments (0) By Nick Pinkerton Wednesday, Mar 28 2012

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Mirror Mirror
Directed by Tarsem Singh
Relativity Media
Now playing

The fairy-tale movie is "trending" at present, with promise of all sorts of bandwagoning rubbish to come, but Mirror Mirror, one of 2012's two Snow White films, is an enjoyable exception. This is because director Tarsem Singh is no mere follower, having done extravagant work in the realm of pure fantasy for some time—most successfully in 2006's feverish bedtime story, The Fall. Here, the familiar tale is retold with concessions to feminist self-determination and camp humor, bending the Grimm Brothers' tale without infringing on its basic beauty. The widowed evil queen (Julia Roberts) is an aging diva, spurred to great bitchiness by the eclipsing beauty of her loathed stepdaughter, Snow White (Lily Collins). The queen's creeping jealousy turns homicidal with the arrival of a marriageable prince (Armie Hammer) in her oppressed, eternally snowbound kingdom, who falls for Snow instead of the queen. Singh can always be counted on for his opulent imagination, and this is no exception—the queen's court is a mishmash of royal grandiosities, Venice–meets–Louis XV–meets–luxury hotel lobby. The director also reveals a heretofore unexplored knack for broad comedy in the patter between Roberts and Nathan Lane's lickspittle valet, with the Seven Dwarfs performers proving America's surfeit of fine little-person actors.

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Azadeh Parsapour
Azadeh Parsapour

Hi, I was researching about modern fairy tale movies made during past 10 years and their effects on literature so I found your review.

These fairy tales are being retold with a feminist twist. The most recent example is 'Mirror Mirror', and the young snow white turns into a Robin Hood, fights with the wicked queen and is smart enough not to bite the apple.

And it is not all about fairy tales, even classic love stories is getting a feminist twist (Gnomeo and Juliet). I was wondering what is the effect on classic literature. Can we consider fairy tales as a genre in literature? Is it going to fade? Will our children or grand children remember the original ones or even be interested in reading them? Is it a good or bad thing?

I am curious to hear your opinion about this.

Thanks

 
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