FAIRY TALE: A TRUE STORY |
| CREDIT: Director: Charles Sturridge. Cast: Florence Hoath, Elizabeth Earl, Paul
McGann, Phoebe Nichols, Tim McInnery, Peter O'Toole, Harvey Keitel & Special Guest
Star. UK 1996. INTRODUCTION: Yet another celluloid tale of those pesky Cottingly Fairies. Yes, after battling alien invasions ("ID4" & "Mars Attacks"), volcanic eruptions ("Dante's Peak & "Volcano"), asteroid collisions ("Deep Impact" & "Armageddon") and even Dalai Llamas ("Seven Year in Tibet" & "Kundun"), Britain gets in on the act by pitching two movies concerning the infamous 1917 fairy photograph case onto our screen simultaneously. Unlike its predecessor however this one is aimed firmly at the kiddywinks, so don't expect any of the psycho-erotica or search for inner meaning supplied by "Photographing Fairies". SYNOPSIS: Elsie (Hoath) and Frances (Earl) photograph fairies at the bottom of their garden sending Elsie's parents (McGann & Nichols), not to mention the world into shock. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (O'Toole) immediately dons deerstalker and sets out to investigate. REVIEW: In the aftermath of the great war there was a great resurgence in spiritualism as people set out to find meaning in a world apparently devoid of a god. Doyle was one of the leading figures along with the likes of Fort and to a lesser extent Barnum, in this giant paradigm shift, and although "The Case of the Cottingly Fairies" is now generally regarded as the greatest mistake in his career (presumably by people who never read "The Lost World") it was in fact a defining book of the era. Hoath & Earl are excellent, McGann, Nichols, McInnery, O'Toole and Keitel as Harry Houdini provide superb support, but even the inclusion of a special guest star cameo at the end can't draw attention away from the true stars of the film, the little people themselves courtesy of F/X wizard Tim Webber. The decision to bring the story to life for the new generation of kids is perhaps misguided as no child in the world is interested in this sort of pap these days, not when "Godzilla" is on screen 1, and so the film finds its way into the art houses, where it can at least find a semi-appreciative audience. Go and enjoy this film and take the kids. They probably wont want to go, but take them anyway, and if you haven't got any kids take someone else's (NB it's probably best to get their parent's permission first). Charming and intelligent, a remembrance of children's films of the past. Mutt's Rating: *** |