THE WITCHES
UK, 1990, 91 minutes, Colour.
Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Rowan Atkinson, Bill Patterson, Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn.
Directed by Nicolas Roeg.
The Witches is based on a story by Roald Dahl. It is an entertaining story - especially appealing to adults who could use it as an excuse to take their children to see and enjoy it.
The film was directed by Nicolas Roeg, the former director of photography who began a distinguished directing career with Performance and Walkabout. His offbeat films include many with touches of the other world - Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Track 29. Other films include Bad Timing, Insignificance and Castaway.
The film was made on location in Bergen, Norway, and on the Cornish coast of England. The film stars Anjelica Huston, enjoying herself immensely as the chief witch. Mai Zetterling makes a return to the screen as the grandmother. The supporting cast includes Rowan Atkinson as the snooty owner of the hotel and Bill Patterson as a demanding guest.
The film takes it for granted that there are witches, that they mingle amongst ordinary people, that they detest children and are wanting to destroy them. The film has Nordic stories, told by the grandmother, of witches that excite the imagination of her grandson Luke. When they go on holidays to England, after the accidental death of Luke's parents, they find a convention of witches in the hotel. Luke and a fat boy, a guest at the hotel, are turned into mice - which makes for a lot of very enjoyable adventures as they are pursued by the witches. The mice are by courtesy of Muppet creator Jim Henson's workshops.
The film is light, a fairy tale with appeal for children and adults, and a light piece of film-making by Roeg.
1.Entertaining fantasy? Echoes of fairy tales? A contemporary fairy tale? For what audience - adult, children?
2.The work of Nicolas Roeg and his interest in this production? Roald Dahl and his tales of the mysterious, the unexpected? Fantasy?
3.The Norwegian locations, English locations, the hotel on the Cornish coast? The musical score? The importance of the special effects - and the make-up for the witches? The mice and the puppets?
4.The blend of the real and fantasy? What if...? The credibility of the plot, witches, magic, the convention of witches, children turned into mice?
5.The imagination of the story - the tradition of witches, evil women, the threat to children?
6.Norway and Grandma telling stories, Luke enjoying the stories, Erica's story and her disappearance, the visualising of the story, Erica appearing in the picture - and then disappearing? Luke and his enjoying listening to Grandma's stories? Preparation for the adventures in England?
7.Luke's mother and father, going out, the news of the accident? The sadness? The decision to go to England?
8.The hotel on the coast, the elaborate hotel with its rooms, halls, corridors? The kitchen? Rowan Atkinson and his sneering manner as the manager? His authority, his kow-towing to the guests, the suggestion that there were rats and mice? His carry-on with the maid? The variety of guests? The seaside? The lavish style of the hotel? The kitchen staff and the preparation of the meals? The dining room? The hall, the foyer? The rooms? Grandma and Luke settling in, enjoying their stay at the hotel? Afternoon tea?
9.Bruno and his parents, their Scottish manner, the father's continual complaints? Bruno and his eating? The comic touches with Grandma trying to persuade the parents that Bruno was a mouse? Trying to dissuade them from eating the soup?
10.The pet mice and Luke letting them run loose? The manager and his reactions? The preparations for catching the mice - and the setting of the traps? The puppet mice? The adventures of Bruno and Luke as mice? Travelling the hotel, Luke getting the bottle, putting the potion in the soup? The mice in the bag? Bruno and his talking to his parents? Luke and his being chased by the cat?
11.The witches in the hotel - the folklore about witches - their bald head and the itch, their ability to smell? Their ugly faces? Anjelica Huston as the chief witch, her imperious arrival at the hotel, her secretary, the women admiring her? Her snobbery towards her secretary? Assembling the ladies at the meeting, taking off their wigs, her taking off her face? Taking off their shoes and having no toes? Their vengeance against the children? The hysteria at the rally? Interjections, the chief witch destroying the opponents? Smelling the child? Turning Bruno and Luke into mice? The chief witch and her room, the visits? Getting the potion to the other witches? The build-up to the dinner, her grand manner, the soup, the transformation of the witches into mice, the chaos in the dining room? The destruction of the mice and the witches?
12.The sequences in the kitchen, the cook, the scares, the comedy?
13.Bruno's father and his flirting with the chief witch, her reaction? The mother fainting? Recovering Bruno?
14.Grandma taking Luke to the United States? The secretary and her being snubbed, her change of heart? Giving the money to Grandma and Luke? Luke and the magic and his being transformed back to his normal self?
15.The happy ending? An enjoyable fable and fantasy?
