Der Elfengarten

A darker, more metaphysical take on FAIRY TALE: A TRUE STORY which came out also in 1997. Where FT is suitable for older kids, this one certainly is not. This film features many of the same characters as FT, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, two cute little girls, and the Theosophical Society, and theme, we are taken on a very dark journey that explores use of halluciongenic plants as a way to view the fairy folk. There are no fairy tale happy endings here.

Go ahead and rent this film and FT. Let your kids enjoy FT, and after you tuck them into bed, watch PF and spend the rest of your evening comparing and contrasting the surprisingly similar and strikingly different films..

Photographing Fairies was loosely based on the book of the same name by Steven Szylagi. It deals with a fictional fairy incident of two girls, in post World War 1 England, who claimed to have photographed fairies; as seen through the cynical eyes of a photographer bent on proving the girls false. Charles Castle, a British photographer who specializes in trick photography. He is a man haunted by the death of his wife. Following a visit to a Philosophical Society meeting where he debunks the mystical by explaining tricks of the camera along side Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he is approached by a woman who has taken a photograph of her daughter with a fairy standing in her hand and is asked to try and disprove the pictures using empirical logic and the modern camera obscura. This begins his adventure into a world he has never believed in and has gone out of his way to disprove. What he finds is unexpected and spiritually magical. Photographing Fairies is as surprising and touching a movie as it is haunting. High-quality cinema at its best - great acting, a clever story, superb special effects, spell binding soundtrack, and an intriguing examination of the religious and philosophical questions we all face. Love, death, grief, spirituality, and rebirth / redemption; these are the critical elements that weave throughout this movie. Toby Stephens gives a stunning performance as a character, Charles Castle who radiates Humanity and feeling, portraying the personal conflict of a man grasping for understanding years after the tragic accidental death of his wife on their honeymoon. Ben Kingsley offers a ruggedly convincing yet disturbing performance as the country preacher (and father of the girls) ministering to his flock amidst the spiritual void of his times in a post WWI English village. He masks the feelings of pride, avarice, rage, homicide, jealousy, infidelity, gluttony, nearly all the seven deadly sins and more. His is the perfect counter to the fantasy elements and brings a convincing sense of realism to the storyline. The girls in this movie are surprisingly innocent in their well-scripted dialogue and action scenes. They are pivotal characters to the childlike view that pits adult sensibilities and reason to the spiritual test.

The music was a subtle treasure throughout the movie. Its main theme is played as everything from a dance tune to a funeral dirge, and it will stay with you far after the movie. It is that `haunting' quality of the tune that adds that extra ethereal touch to the total effect of the movie. The 'death song' is a part of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, and has been recorded by Sarah Brightman as Figlio Perduto. The movie has definite religious undertones. Photographing Fairies makes no distinctions about beliefs. The preacher-father character is the pastor for a small church, and the heaven ideas can be adapted to suit almost any taste. Its challenge is to the basis of belief itself, and begs to ask a single daunting question "What if heaven were as real as a place?" Much of the magic that makes Photographing Fairies such a resounding success is the elements of love / death / and the longing to recapture ones state of personal grace. A feeling of redemption as real and achievable as the magic of a child's innocence. No matter what your philosophical/religious beliefs are, you will be moved by what you feel in this movie. Its touching message will compel you to view this movie over-and-over again.

Occasionaly I am pleasantly suprised by the quality of a movie that I had never heard of prior to watching it. Photographing Fairies (or Apparition as it was tagged by our local Pay TV provider) is on such movie.

Toby Stephens plays Charles Castle (Stephens to me has some strikingly similar traits to Hugh Grant), who tragically lost his wife on the Swiss Alps. The movie chronicles his struggles to come to grips with her death and how the possibility of an afterlife (I don't wish to give the story away)makes him obsessed to prove that there is such an afterlife.

I was impressed by Stephens in this movie and am sure that bigger things will come his way. I was also impressed with Emily Woof who plays the romantic (if that can be said) support to Stephens. Woof was very good in the Woodlanders and continues her fine form here.

Ben Kingsley is also commanding in the movie and his counternance to Stephens desire to prove the existence of the fairies is the keystone of the movie's conclusion.

I tend to like movies that have story lines that I have not come across before. This is one such movie. The pleasing aspect is that the acting supports the plot which leads to a pleasant viewing experience.

This movie gets my thumbs up 7/10

I was up late one night and this was playing on the Sci-fi channel. I happen to have a fascination with fairies so I figured this would be an interesting film. Indeed I was right The first film I saw pertaining to the story of two young girls photographing fairies was FairyTale: A True Story which was cute but I constantly found myself yawning and wondering when it would end. Photographing Fairies is also about the two girls capturing a fairy in a photograph, but instead of focusing on them the story really revolves around Charles Castle. Toby Stephens (whom most of us know from Die Another Day) plays Castle, a tormented photographer that refuses to do weddings because of a loss he suffered after only one day of being married. He sets out to find the truth, if fairies really do exist, and along the way he ends up discovering a world so precious and sacred that he'd do anything to keep it safe from harm. 8/10

If you have cable and the SciFi Channel, you may have had the

pleasure of catching this little gem. I kept seeing it in parts and

even in the little snippets, it drew me in and had such a haunting

quality. It was on the other night and I just sat and watched it all the

way through and despite the fact that I'd seen some scenes

before, it still held such a wonderful presence. It's hard to really

describe the movie -- part love story, part fantasy, with a little bit of

the Big Question over exactly what the afterlife is. The

cinematography is absolutely picturesque, almost like watching a

Merchant Ivory production, but with a bit of fairy magic thrown in.

Ben Kingsley is an interesting addition to the cast. I wish there

was more characterization done on all the main roles. You get a

sense of where everyone comes from in terms of motivation, but

more background would have made for a richer film. The pace is

sometimes inconsistent, moving quickly in the beginning, then

slowing, then speeding up again. But the film's dry English wit

makes for enjoyable moments of irreverence. It's still just an

overall beautiful film. Very bittersweet and heartbreaking in

moments. The end is shot with such care and emotion. As

fantastic as the premise is, the heart of the movie is something

everyone can understand -- the loss of a loved one and the chance

to rekindle a spirit burdened with sorrow. A funny bit of irony -- the

actor who played Watson in the BBC Sherlock Holmes series is in

this movie and he plays (har har har) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.