Ever
After
Reviewed
by Leonard Heldreth, July, 1999
Removed by several centuries
from the sexual conflicts of The Governess, Ever After is a retelling
of Cinderella in which the girl wins the Prince without the aid of
magic. Framed by a sequence in which the Queen (beautifully played
by Jeanne Mureau, looking as striking as she was in Jules and Jim
and no older than she did in La Femme Nikita) tells the Brothers Grimm
why their version of the story is wrong, and she sets the record straight
about what really happened to make her grandmother the queen of France.
Most of the traditional elements are here—the proud
stepmother who has ambitions for her own two daughters and who makes
Cinderella work as a servant; the haughty stepsisters; the sympathetic
servants; the famous ball at the palace; the slipper (not glass this
time); and most of the other familiar ingredients. The new element
here is the character of Cinderella, whose name is Danielle in this
version. She is a plucky, resourceful young woman who knocks the prince
off his horse with an apple and is less concerned with courtly manners
than with turning the family estate into a functioning farm. She outwits
the gypsies, saves an elderly servant, and frees herself from the
evil Baron to whom she is sold (did I mention that her father taught
her to be an expert with swords?). Finally, of course, she wins the
prince, but not without much tribulation.
Drew Barrymore, not normally one of my favorite actresses
despite E.T., turns in a fine performance as Cinderella. She makes
the girl's accomplishments believable. Angelica Houston plays the
wicked stepmother, and she smirks and condescends with the best of
them. Although she chews up the scenery rather badly in two or three
scenes, overall she brings a malevolent singularity to the role. Prince
Henry (Dougray Scott), the step sisters, the king angry at his son's
refusal to marry, the concerned queen, the scheming courtiers—all
bring the familiar story to life with some original twists. And in
place of the fairy godmother, there is (you won't believe this) Leonardo
Da Vinci, who brings with him from Italy a painting of a woman with
a secretive smile; perhaps more important, he helps Cinderella get
to the ball and tells the prince what a fool he is for not appreciating
her.
As you might expect even from updated fairy tales, as
well as from the title, all ends well for the good folk and badly
for the bad ones, as it should even in revision fairy tales. Older
children should especially enjoy this more realistic version of Cinderella.
