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.

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)

In London, young, almost-a-teen Maria (Dakota Blue Richards) has just lost her father. Her nanny, Miss Heliotrope (Juliet Stevenson) tries to comfort her. When the will is read, Maria is dumbfounded to find out that she must move to the countryside and live with an unknown uncle, Benjamin (Ioan Gruffudd) at a remote estate called Moonacre. With no other choice, Maria and Miss H make the journey. Immediately, her uncle's gruff manner upsets the young lady. Yet, over the course of the next few weeks, magical things begin to happen to Maria. Elves appear and tell her of Moonacre's curse, that is, a pearl necklace was stolen from the Moon Princess long ago, by Maria's relations. In order to break the spell, the gems must be returned and are said to be hidden somewhere on the premises. Can Maria find them? The young girl also has to deal with dangerous, evil neighbors who inhabit a dark castle beyond the woods that separate the two properties. This family, headed by a horrid man (Tim Curry) wants to capture the girl to prevent her from breaking the curse. Also, living in the woods, is a beautiful lady (Natascha McElhone) who was once in love with Benjamin. Unhappily, their engagement went awry and the two are mild enemies, at present. But, since this beautiful woman knows the woods, can she help Maria in her fight against the wicked castle? This is one very lovely film, as beautiful as the moon, as they say. The art direction and special effects are superb, making the movie enchanting to watch. Also fine is the cast, from the stars to the supporting members. With very fine sets, costumes, script and direction as well, why wait for the moon's next appearance? Get this one today!

While the plot is a bit confusing, the entire film is beautiful in its aesthetics and has a strong message for girls to take control of their own life and fight for themselves. Dakota Blue Richards is absolutely brilliant in her 2nd major film role and Tim Curry and Ioan Gruffudd add to the magic. Harry Potter fans may see some familiar imagery, for the novel it was based on "The Little White Horse" was a favorite of J.K. Rowling when she was a child. This film deserves much more attention and has much more depth than any of the flashy CGI effects shows at the theaters today.

Read my full review: http://kingdomofcult.blogspot.com/2015/05/cult- movie-of-may-17th-secret-of.html

Firstly, I haven't read the book. In a way it works for my advantage allowing me to criticize the movie solely based on what was presented there and not be distracted by what was left out compared to book etc. I can think of two kinds of fairy tales: one is the kind you love when you're 7 but think it utterly stupid and childish when you're 30; the other type is the kind you find magical no matter how old you are. This movie here could've easily belonged to the first group but turned out to be something more valuable. The bicycle has been invented and now it's all about how you do it, not what you do. The whole movie in its being is one big cliché, BUT they have successfully managed to turn that weakness into a strong point. This could've easily been a cheesy Raspberry candidate and I am very picky about my fairy tales and fantasy and I was not disappointed. Several aspects made the story believable, starting from the level of acting and ending with props. When it comes to acting, the weakest link in the bunch was Natascha McElhone, who didn't always seem to be in it as much as the others (e.g the cursing part, people seem to agree on that part mostly). I was thoroughly impressed by Ioan Gruffudd, going from cold to heartbroken definitely moved my cruel heart. The milieu and the special effects were outstanding. No Lord of the Rings, don't get me wrong, but there was no half-hearted effort in that area. The Moonacre Manor and the many other scenes were picturesque and the costumes far-enough-out-of-the-box creative, mixing the traditional with a modern touch in perfect balance. All in all, I was left feeling satisfied and enriched and I reckon this movie deserves a rating above 7 of 10 the least, for it certainly wasn't a mediocre experience.