Le Secret de Moonacre

I went to the European premiere on Sunday when the film was shown as part of the London Film Festival. Some of the cast were there, also the director and producers who spoke before the screening.

I have read the book, The Little White Horse, many times, but was prepared for a lot of changes from the book. I don't think it's really a spoiler to say that the character of Sir Benjamin is VERY different in the film! And there are many characters omitted, including Old Parson. I enjoyed the film - it is absolutely gorgeous to look at - the costumes, the sets, the cinematography - all beautiful and lush. Ioan Gruffedd a bit wooden but all he really has to do for most of the film is look brooding. Juliet Stevenson gets nearly all the comedy. Tim Curry only has to phone in a performance. Dakota thingummy is surprisingly good (I have a prejudice against child actors). She's fine. Most of the film works quite well but I would have liked more scope for some of the characters to develop. You barely see any relationship development between Maria and Robin - they only really meet about twice. The ending was a little abrupt - I would have liked just five minutes more to develop the happy ending a little further, perhaps back at Moonacre Manor. An enjoyable film but doesn't quite hit the mark. I would watch it again just for how lovely it is to look at, not for the plot or the characters.

The costumes the sets and themes throughout this movie are truly one to be beheld.

The script is almost Shakespearian in its themes especially in exploring the theme of pride and it's effect upon the two family's.

In short I love this film and I always will.

Fairy tales are movies that either sink or swim when it comes to the silver screen, based upon the merits of their story and the characters that exist to propel the fantasy past the absurd and into the tangibly real. The Secret of Moonacre is unfortunately an example of absurdist fairytale done with little restraint or tact; the story is robust with cliché devices, the characters flat and cursed with banal dialogue, and the backstory, costume designs, production—everything just falls far short of what you may come to expect fro productions of this nature. To be fair, there are certain elements inherent to Csupo's outing here that borders on mildly entertaining if only for the references that they make to other works, yet such moments are far and few between and never truly dispel the sour taste of hackneyed amateurism that permeates the majority of Moonacre's ridiculously generic universe.

At its core, The Secret of Moonacre strives to be part adventure fairytale and part whimsy comedy stitched together with undercooked themes of pride, corruption and the power of love to overcome all shadows of the human heart. Ostensibly, this mix has all the elements to make for an enjoyable family feature, yet burdened with a plodding pace and characters that never come off the screen in any manner, the Secret of Moonacre is a dull one. Centring around young teenage girl Maria (Dakota Blue Richards) as she moves into her extravagant and eccentric uncle's mansion in the Middle of Nowhere Forest under the protection of nanny Miss Heliotrope (Juliet Stevenson who serves as a trite source of comic relief every now and then with her biggest character trait being an impromptu belch), Goudge's story is one built upon established ground-works for any old fantasy tale. Sure, fair enough—there's nothing wrong with building upon already tried and tested methods—yet very little is done beyond this to help Moonacre feel like a tale of its own.

Perhaps the greatest and most obvious detractive trait inherent to Alborough's adaptation however is simply through its writing which seems to go through the motions at each and every turn. The result is a feature that plods along through countless cliché and predictable contrivances to the point where all fantastical elements are lost within the generic gloop that is the whole backstory and focus point of Moonacre's world. About half way into the movie, it should be no surprise then that the production boils down to one of absurd ridicule—without the feeling of otherworldly mysticism to back up all the theatrical dialogue, sets and costumes, Csupo neglects his feature to being bland and utterly forgettable in spite of its striking visuals and over-the-top performances. In fact, with the exception of perhaps Ioan Gruffudd , the majority of the acting ensemble here feel just as disconnected to the story's fantasy as everything else does. It's not just bad—it's distracting and downright laughable when any sort of tension or conflict is pushed down the throat with little to no tangible reason to believe in it.

Yet this neglect to raising the suspension of disbelief is what ultimately stops The Secret of Moonacre from ever truly coming off the screen. Perhaps with a greater budget, some bigger stars and a re-write or two, Csupo could have made something more than a sporadically pretty treat for the senses, yet as it stands nothing of the sort of achieved throughout its bumbling and overly melodramatic runtime. This in turn makes recommending Moonacre a lost cause; young females may be able to enjoy all the unicorns, pretty dresses and coy humour to the extent that everything else is ignored, yet even this assertion serves as a broad test of the imagination—which is ironically more than Csupo manages here through his excruciatingly mundane two hour exercise in creating yet another Pedestrian Fantasy By Numbers.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

First of all, I am 17 and I absolutely love the book "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge, with its beautiful imagery, memorable characters and above all its magical story, and I do agree the book is better than the film in many ways. In fact, the Little White Horse is probably my favourite book of all time. I think the film Secret of Moonacre is a beautiful film, that unfortunately is undermined by one or two problems with the story, and doesn't quite capture the magic of the book.

The film looks absolutely exquisite, with those gorgeous costumes and the lovely sets with the huge menacing moon. The music by Christian Henson is gorgeous and very fitting with the scenery. Gabor Csupo, the director of Bridge of Tarabithia, which is admittedly better, obviously has an eye for art, as he used to be an animator. Other directors that have directed visually stunning fantasy films are Ridley Scott with Legend and Guillermo Del Torro with Pan's Labyrinth.(which is the best foreign language film I have ever seen) Whoever trained the animals, must be told he/she did a truly remarkable job.

The acting is very good, an obvious standout is Dakota Blue Richards of Golden Compass fame in a strong central performance as the protagonist Maria Merryweather. Juliet Stevenson and Andy Linden provide the comedy, with the jokes about indigestion, and whizzing quickly around the kitchen. Tim Curry brings a touch of melancholy to an otherwise menacing and complex character, and it made a difference after seeing Curry in over the top roles such as FrankNFurter and Wadsworth. Though, if anything, I wish Curry had more screen time. Natasha McElhone looked lovely as Loveday, with a lovely face that sometimes defies her when she is cursing for instance. Though I will confess I wasn't entirely convinced by Ioan Gruffodd as Sir Benjamin. In the book Sir Benjamin is fat with three chins, which is a far cry from the gorgeous Gruffodd. I am not saying he was bad, he wasn't. He was very brooding at times, but other times when he looked uncomfortable. That I can understand, because since I have participated in operas with similar costumes,(like the Magic Flute) I do know from experience they can be very uncomfortable to wear.

The story I do agree takes a while to get going, but the book takes one or two chapters to explain the story, which isn't a problem as it is called character development. The basics are all there, the Moon Princess, the pearls and the battle of good and evil, but a lot was changed from the book, and one or two of the characters were changed, and others like Old Parson were left out entirely. I was prepared for a lot of changes when I saw this film (they do it all the time), and although I was fine with most of them, I was annoyed that Maria and Robin's relationship from the book was virtually eliminated, as that was one of the book's main merits. The ending was a bit rushed, I am putting a huge emphasis on the bit, but I liked the underwater sequence very much.

All in all, a flawed but hugely enjoyable film (not the best fantasy I have ever seen but a solid attempt) that is well worth watching for the visuals. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The Secret of Moonacre is a beautifully constructed fantasy adventure film. I would describe it as rather charming with a sense of childlike playfulness. While it may not be made on a very big budget, they make do with what they have. The sets are interesting, the costumes are beautiful and there is a decent amount of shiny pretty special effects.

While it may not be fast-paced it does continue on at a steady pace with a lovely storyline. It may seem similar to other fairy tales but the execution is what makes this movie special. Try to enjoy this one for what it is. It doesn't proclaim to offer you anything more than a lovely little movie set in a fantasy land and that is what it delivers.