Brave

I don’t like to read reviews of films I intend to see or review, but my internet browsing is such that I can’t help but catch some of the headlines. How Disney & Pixar’s Brave received anything less than rave reviews is beyond me. I enjoyed Brave more than most films lately, and certainly more than the other family/animated films I’ve seen in the last few years though I admit I have yet to catch Up (pun intended!) and Toy Story 3. Still, I think it’s safe to say that Brave is a different animal.

For the last twenty years, Disney has tried to give young girls a diverse range of Princesses - new role models, or at the very least strong female leads, whose success isn’t founded in being pretty (I’m looking at you, classic Disney: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella). First there was Jasmine (sort of Indian!), Belle (an intellectual!) Pocahontas (Native American!), and then Mulan (wants equal rights! And is Chinese!). Then they attempted to give us Tiana (the first African-American princess! Who wasn’t really a princess at all...) in The Princess and the Frog, which turned out to be something of a disappointment. Most recently, there was Tangled, where even a return to blonde-haired, blue-eyed traditionalism mixed with modern feistiness couldn’t hide weak storytelling and lame songs.

Brave lives up to its name by breaking all the rules. Merida is Scottish and speaks with an accent (wasn’t Belle supposed to be French?). She’s also a fiery redhead (the second, after Ariel) who not only rides horses but has become a skilled archer without having to masquerade as a man. She’s fiercely independent, excited by adventure in ways Belle only ever sang about. And while Tangled marketed Rapunzel’s hair as its own character (it was not), Merida’s incredible curls are far more impressive. Merida also represents a minority in fairytale land - she has both of her parents, both of whom love her dearly. In fact the relationship between Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor, is at the heart of the film. Not that you’d know it from the trailer.

Merida can’t bear the thought of marriage, so she rebels when her parents ask her to choose from one of three rather unsuitable suitors. Deep in the woods Merida follows a path lit by willo-the-wisps, magical fairy-like creatures; the path leads her to a hidden hillside cottage where a reluctant witch spends her days carving bear-themed - everything. Merida bargains for a spell that will help her change her fate... but at what cost? The film’s tagline may be “change your fate,” but only to avoid the clichéd, “be careful what you wish for.”

I don’t want to give away the story - and based on the trailer, clearly neither did Disney - but if you’re not even a little intrigued by the trailer, you might miss out. Brave is moving and different, it gives us castles and archery, gowns and kings and queens and princesses, fiery redheads and friendly horses; but it also pays homage to some of the classic Disney things that were always successful - princesses, witches, magic, mischief, forests, and animals that are less like animals and more like people. Brave also manages to offend fewer feminists, as the resolution does not require Merida to fall in love or to get married. I’m nearly thirty and, perhaps especially for this reason, it’s beyond refreshing - it’s novel, to finally have a princess whose ambition is not once, not ever, tempered by a need for marriage or romantic love. Now if I could only figure out why I associate Merida with Taylor Swift... (I think it’s the curls.)

If you do see Brave, and I hope that you do, there’s an added bonus. As with most Disney/Pixar films, there is an animated short before the feature presentation. Ahead of Brave is La Luna, Oscar nominated in 2012 and an absolutely exquisite little story about a young boy with a special destiny of his own to discover. Reminiscent of classic children’s picture books with more unexpected turns of events than most full length films, it’s a perfect way to set the tone for the fantastic adventure that follows.


Bonus trivia:
- Brave is scored by Scottish composer Patrick Doyle. I know Doyle's work best from his collaborations with Kenneth Branagh - like Much Ado About Nothing. Emma Thompson played Beatrice in Much Ado, and voices Queen Elinor in Brave.
- La Luna is scored by Michael Giacchino, frequent collaborator of J.J. Abrams and composer for the film Up.
- Listen carefully to Lord Dingwall: that's Hagrid (Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane). And Lord Macintosh? Craig Ferguson (also Scottish).
- Reese Witherspoon was originally set to voice Merida. She's said to have had to back out because of scheduling conflicts... but my personal suspicion is that her accent wouldn't have fit. She was replaced with Kelly Macdonald (actually Scottish).
- Nominated for Academy Award: Best Animated Feature Film

Preview: Les Miserables - Trailer

The trailer for Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Boublil and Schönberg’s musical was released this week, and a couple of people have asked for an opinion. I have strong feelings about this one already, though all I have to go on is the casting, some pictures, and now, the trailer. I hold Les Miserables very close to my heart, largely because of my own experience as assistant director for a production in California.

I have a tendency to talk about my career in theatre like an old drug habit - good times were had, crazy times, I had a certain group of friends, and now I’ve moved on to a grown-up job in the suburbs, with no intent to return to my old ways. I don’t like going to theatre, I don’t miss it, but there are some experiences that have forever changed me. One of those experiences was Les Miserables at PCPA Theatrefest. PCPA was the first company to acquire the rights to the show after the Broadway production closed, and one of the stipulations of the contract was that the designers were prevented from recreating the original, iconic sets and costumes. This forced us to rethink the show, go at it from the source material, to seek inspiration from the show’s concept album and the epic (in the truest meaning of the word) novel by Victor Hugo. No film will ever truly capture the scope of Hugo’s mammoth text, which was written over the course of seventeen years, but I do believe that it’s possible for the truth of the story to get through - if the characters are true to the author’s intent, and the plot isn’t mangled too badly.

Based on the early images and choices from the filmmakers, I definitely question some of the decisions. Call me crazy, but I would rather see the characters portrayed accurately than see another production of the musical version of Les Mis. What I respect about the musical is that it leaves room for detail. An actor who has done his or her research and allows it to inform the performance will offer an intricate and dramatic performance based on much stronger motives. In the movie industry, good casting is too often sacrificed for names and PR. Bad enough that self-involved teenagers swooning with unrequited love lament “On My Own” in theatres all over the world, but “I Dreamed a Dream,” too, has been reclaimed and abused by Susan Boyle fans. These are small moments in a vast story whose much bigger theme is redemption - the cost of which most of us could not begin imagine.

When I first met Les Mis in the seventh grade, I could not possibly relate to the middle-aged prisoner Jean Valjean. Knowing the story as I do now, it’s clear that Les Miserables is his story. Valjean is the central figure; the saga begins and ends with him. Yet, strangely, the trailer focuses on Ann Hathaway as Fantine. I know Fantine has fallen on hard times - but insofar as the trailer is concerned, I don’t think she’s fallen far enough. Ann Hathaway looks perfectly healthy, sporting her short ’do, and not at all the desperate woman and mother Fantine is. Fantine is not simply a woman who was seduced by a gentleman and became pregnant. We know from the song that she believed she would be with the child’s father - what we don’t learn is the only reason she is alone: the gentleman and his friends thought it would be funny to dally with these girls and then drop them, without any explanation. It’s positively Neil LaBute. When Fantine gives birth to her child, she has no intention of giving her up, and her efforts to earn enough for the both of them drive her to hock her only possessions (including her hair), prostitute herself to disgusting businessmen and foul sailors, and to sell her teeth. Her daughter, she has been told, is sick and will surely die without money for the doctor. No, Hathaway looks quite well, and quite unlike a mourning mother.

And that’s just Fantine. Those familiar with the story may recall that Fantine all but disappears from the story fairly early. What becomes of Valjean? And from whom is he hiding? The first actor attached to the production was Hugh Jackman - an excellent choice for Javert. That is not, however, who Jackman is playing. Granted, Jackman has the far superior voice - but Russell Crowe would undeniably be a more imposing figure. Far more believable as the strongest man to have passed through French prisons - and escape. It’s hard to imagine Crowe as The Law, or Javert. Born in a jail and determined to bring all wrongdoers to justice, Javert pursues Valjean even as the escaped convict spends his life protecting Fantine’s daughter. The animal imagery and strength attributed to Valjean seems much more appropriately attributed to Crowe than Jackman. Who is more likely to lift a heavily laden merchant cart off of an old man? It’s difficult to imagine Jackman doing so, but former Gladiator Crowe makes sense. It would seem that vital characteristics have been overlooked by the filmmakers. Don’t even get me started on Eponine (she’s supposed to be ugly!). The aptly cast roles of the Thenardiers do not appear in the trailer, and I anticipate excellent, spot-on performances from both Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.

I’m an optimist at heart, and I hope that each incarnation is better - truer - than the last. I’ll still be among the first in line to see the film, but I would not be surprised to see the people (students, revolutionaries) take over the film and overshadow the main message. We shall see; time will tell.