Day twenty-three: Cinderella (April, 1)

Telling you that yesterday I went to see Cinderella at the movie theater could be configured as a foold day trick. But it wasn't. First, the solely reason to be there was to wait the midnight screening of Furious 7. However, at the end, I was nicely surprised with what I've just seen.

I had saw the official movie's trailer, but I didn't know much about it. I thought that another Cinderella's filme wasn't necessary, the same way I thought about the most recent Spider Man series with Andrew Garfield. I was surprise at both movies. And accessing imdb.com during the final credits, I understood what made of that adaptation - that hadn't made sense to me at first - a good one: directed by Kenneth Branagh, writen by Chris Weltz, with a good cast (Helena Bonham Carter is a delight as the fairy godmother), a story so well known and adapted already actually made a good film.

Branagh said, about his Cinderella: "It is impossible to think of Cinderella without thinking of Disney, and the timeless images we've all grown up watching. And those classic moments are irresistible to a filmmaker." Besides this quote, the trivia at imdb.com is full of interesting production's details, showing a carefull approach to that fairy tale.  All of them show an attentive eye to many aspects that surrounds the story and its place in the world for many generations. It is clear also in the care of casting multiracial actors - an element usually absent from fairy tales adaptations.

And this care could be felt on the viewers reactions: in a theater with almost only adults, there were various sighs of amazement, admiration, some laughs and even four women recording some famous scenes with their mobiles. It was sweet and intriguing seeing that. And a confirmation how a story well told grips is audience in a couple hours of good and reminiscent entertainment. 

After reading Rodrigo's comments below, I remembered something that called my attention at the time: how children are sensitive to their parents desires and expectations in a way that they end up trying to live up to that. Of course, the strenght of heart is exemplary, but sometimes I felt how Cinderella doesn't react to all the injustice that she faces in order to keep faithful to her mother's deathbed advices. And, as many traditional tales, the message is: keep suffering, keep strong and, at the end, the prince and the whole kingdom will be yours. Kenneth Branagh tries, but even his careful view couldn't go so far away from the classic interpretations of the tale and some of its ambivalent meanings.

Cinderella. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. With: Lily James, Kate Blanchett,
 Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter. Writer: Chris Weltz. 

USA/UK, 2015, 105 min., Dolby Digital/Datasat, Color (Cinema).