THE LONG AWAITED STORY OF A VERY BAD FAIRY... "MALEFICIENT"

What a sensation this one caused when the trailer first hit the web. It came in with a whole wave of “backstories” for fairy tales although we can sit down and argue how good of a job the various Snow White variations did. So Maleficient is the story of Sleeping Beauty. But of course, true to form, it’s the story of “what really happened”. Starring a particularly striking looking Angelina Jolie, among other things, Disney has done a good job of bringing a new angle to a very classic fairy tale.

Maleficient (Angelina Jolie) was not always an evil fairy. She was, once, young and strong and good. So good in fact that she became the protector of the fairy folk. However, like most of us, she had an Achilles heel. Her heart belonged to someone else, a human boy called Stefan, to be precise. The fairy folk are different from humans in many ways and do not understand the lust for power and riches, but Stefan is ambitious. In fact more ambitious than most. In time, Stefan’s political ambition turns him against Maleficient. Love turns to hate and so begins a supernatural war between the lovers that spans decades and draws the lives of other innocents into its midst… Has Maleficient’s heart turned to stone? Or is there a spark of good left in her to allow her to put things right?

I mean ok, as far as the storyline goes this is a pretty bog standard Disney film. I mean all the questions in the previous paragraph are, as we all know, rhetorical. We all know what’s basically going to happen in the end. But I still love the way Disney frames and ends it. Maleficient (and here comes a spoiler) actually holds the key to Aurora’s cure, and quite easily pushes aside the “love interest”, Phillip, proving that the only true love that is possible in this life, comes from our families. This is, of course, in part a response to the success of Brave with its play on the bond between mother and daughter. I mean, of course, Aurora is the daughter Stefan and Maleficient SHOULD have had (incidentally, was it me, or was it slightly unfair the way Stefan’s queen was so summarily gotten rid of without us having so much as learnt her name?). And if we had any other doubts left, Aurora has taken to calling Maleficient Godmother (which is almost Mother anyway), so there we are. Of course the other twist in the tail of this tale is that, in the same way that Prince Charming turns out to definitively NOT be the answer to Aurora’s problems (the film rather cynically stresses “there is no such thing as true love” throughout), Stefan who actually should be the one we sympathise with, in a way, becomes the unadulterated villain, so much so that we don’t really feel that upset when he falls to his death at the end. But I can’t help but wonder – if it’s about parental love, would a kiss from Stefan woken her up too? Hmm… I think I may have found a loophole.

Angelina Jolie is, it has to be said, rather magnificent as Maleficient. Of course she is a story book villain for quite a bit of the film and the effect does rely a bit on the visual. But we do see glimmers of her actual talent here and there, so it is not just built on posturing and posing. And of course, apart from giving us the rather liberating message that a woman’s salvation does not only come through finding a man (incidentally, there is something about Maleficient’s turning good being parallel with her regaining her wings that begs an analogy of women finding their own feet, love giving you wings and the like but the exact wording escapes me), there is another message in there. An important one in our divisive times. Namely, that no one is actually completely black. We are all grey. Some are a darker grey than others, but we all have streaks of white along with the black in us and in life, these are the streaks one should aim for. This is why you can, in life, find the most unexpected people become your friends through the most unlikely circumstances, much like the case of Maleficient.

Incidentally there is a wonderful cast of side characters in this one too, I was so happy to see Sam Riley (who I just LOVED in Control) as Diaval, the voice of Maleficient’s conscience (and also her servant but let’s not get lost in details) and the trio of pixies led by Imelda Staunton also provide a good giggle.

I can safely say that Maleficient is the perfect combo of serious food for thought and family friendly fun. I mean heck, I watched this on a plane, with no “excuses” in the shape of kids around and I loved it J

AND SOMETIMES IT'S ABOUT RE-VISITING OLD FRIENDS: "TANGLED"

But of course Christmas is also about traditions. It’s about coming back to your roots (family meetings being a key personification of this fact) and all things being equal it’s about spending some family time, having way too much good food and having a bit of a rest at the end of the year before you embark on doing the whole thing all over again. It’s good to have familiar things around one at times like this. That’s why “Christmas films” is an entire genre; the themes are familiar but we watch them time and again and we all have our favourites we will never, ever tire of. That’s why we love Disney movies at Christmas time. And that’s why, much to my joy, there was a whole slew of re-runs on television of the year’s films. I had missed quite a few. Tangled was one of them. We all love our fairy tales right? That’s what Disney basically does – tell us fairy stories. What it has been very clever about doing though, is taking the classic fairy stories we all know and love and putting a spin on them. The stories keep up with the times, they fit in with the lives of the younger generations – lives a million miles apart from ours at their age. And yet, somehow, we all crowd round these films and enjoy them. Yes I am a massive fan of Disney. And Pixar.

Tangled is the story of a beautiful princess. When this princess was born, she had one magical quality : her hair. Her hair not only grew whenever she sang, it had the ability to heal and rejuvenate the people around her. The only pre-requisite is that the hair stays on the princess’ head as the moment it is cut, it loses its’ magic. Now of course this is an incredible resource for anyone – but a particularly wicked witch decides that she wants the hair all for herself. So the takes it. Princess and all. Having taken it/her as a baby she also has the time to make up a cover story. As far as Rapunzel is concerned the witch is her mother, the outside world is a very dangerous place – she has never left her isolated tower in her life – and her existence will be entirely lived out in that tower. Except, you know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men; so will go the witch’s plans. For all her conditioning and upbringing, Rapunzel still dreams of the outside world. This year she is turning 18 and despite all her mothers’ tactics she dreams of the outside world. And she is getting a little too big to be contained in the tower… However, for all her strength of character Rapunzel has never, ever lived in the outside world so she will need a guide. And she will get a guide in the shape of a passing rogue, Flynn Rider… But is the outside world all Rapunzel dreams of and more? Or is her “mother” actually right? Is she really simply too ill-equipped for the outside world?

I love what the film has done with the classic story of Rapunzel on so many levels. I mean, fairy stories have such a lot to work with though, don’t they? First of all, fairy stories only provide the bare essentials about their characters. No backstories, no actual character development, they are just dropped in fully formed and our imaginations have to do the rest of the work. This story gives Rapunzel a personality. And it is by no means perfect. I mean yes, she is a Disney princess so she has the “makings” of perfection (as it were), but to start with, she is far, far from it. On the outside world Rapunzel really struggles to cope. And like a lot of us who leave the safety of our family home to face the great “outdoors”, she has to grow up very quickly. This point is precisely why Tangled is so easy to empathize with. It is, essentially, about leaving home. A universal theme everyone can empathize with and we have all struggled with. For all the magical elements, the songs and comedy, it’s about taking those first faltering steps out of the nest… And the best part of it? This is a Disney fairy tale… So guaranteed happy ending in the end (oh come on, that’s not a spoiler). The film is, in short, a warm, relatable modern fairy tale. Our heroine is a Disney princess with just a spot of relatability (is that a word? It should be!) and it guarantees a new meeting with old friends – a bit like Christmas itself.