THE SECRET OF MOONACRE
UK, 2008, 103 minutes, Colour.
Ioan Gruffudd, Dakota Richards, Tim Curry, Natascha Mc Elhlone, Juliet Stephenson, Augustus Prue, Andy Lindon, Michael Webber.
Directed by Gabor Csupo.
It is a reasonable complaint to make that most of the movie action leads are male, from James Bond to Harry Potter. Hermione does make her claim but ultimately follows Harry. There have been Lara Croft and Elektra and the girls in The Golden Compass and Inkheart, but compared with the Supermen, the Iron Men, the Spidermen... the women have been outnumbered.
So, on that count alone, The Secret of Moonacre, stands out from the other action adventures and mythical and imaginary stories. As you watch it, you realise that this is the aim of the film-makers and that the boys are going to give this one a miss.
The film is based on a 1946 novel, The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge. I presume we can believe the publicists when they tell us that it has been published in 16 languages and was the favourite childhood book of J.K.Rowling. It won the Carnegie Medal for children's literature in 1947 – and the publicist adds, 'The book appeals to consecutive generations of girls'. In a poll by The Independent is was voted top book for 8-12 year olds and still sells over 30,000 copies each year.
That certainly establishes the niche market and the girls (maybe 7 to 14) will quite enjoy it. It does not have the scope of the wilder imagination stories. There are some wonderful special effects but the storytelling tends to be quite plain.
The setting is the 1870s, Victorian London and then the remote English coast. This means a lot of attention to décor and, especially, to dresses.
Our heroine is a strong-minded girl, Maria Merrywether, whose father's death means that she has to live with her stern uncle. However, her father, having lost all his money and house through gambling, has bequeathed her a fantasy book about Moonacre. This comes alive for Maria: a wedding several hundred years earlier which was to be happy for a magical Moon Princess but was thwarted by a clash between her family, the De Noirs (who do dress in black), and her fiance's family, the Merrywethers. The Moonacre Valley is cursed. The moon is growing larger and threatens to overwhelm the valley in darkness. A descendant of the De Noirs fled to marry a Merrywether (Maria's uncle) but they quarrelled and she lives in the woods while he lives in his mansion, a grumpy man. Her family roam the forest, the father bent on vengeance.
So, that is the scenario for Maria to confront, overcome the curse, bring the lovers together and restore peace and light to the valley.
Dakota Blue Richards proved herself in The Golden Compass. Her difficulties are not so great this time but she faces them with determination. Natascha Mc Elhone is the Moon Princess and the abandoned bride. Ioan Gruffudd is the crusty uncle while Tim Curry is De Noir. Juliet Stevenson is along as Maria's protective guardian with a trapped wind problem – and takes over many a scene with her kind of pantomime dame comedy.
Gabor Csupo animated the early seasons of The Simpsons and The Rugrats and directed the fine children's fable,The Bridge to Terabithia.
1.A fantasy, a book provoking the imagination? The influence of the book on writes like J.K. Rowling?
2.The niche audience, girls between eight and twelve, the film geared for them, for their parents, for their mothers?
3.The background of Victorian England, the visuals of London, the courts and houses, the lectures, the countryside, the woods, the mansion, the coast and the cliffs, the sea, the amphitheatre at the top of the cliff? Atmosphere for realism and for fantasy? The musical score?
4.The prologue on the past, the Moon Princess, coming from the sea, her gift, the strand of pearls, the wedding, the clash between the families, the change in hostility, the lost pearls?
5.Maria and her father’s death, Miss Heliotrope looking after her, the will, his bequeathing the book to her, her reading the book, its coming alive in the story of the Moon Princess?
6.The journey to her uncle’s house, the difficult journey, Miss Heliotrope and her troubles, the beauty of the countryside? Benjamin and his hard attitude, the room and the fantasy, the milk and the biscuits appearing? The fantasy of Moonacre?
7.The realism: Maria, her age? A proud girl, strong? Breakfast, her dealings with her uncle, going into the forest, the warnings about going into the forest? Wandering, the encounter with Robin? Her fears? The story of the De Noirs? The dog, fierce, its help in defending her? Going for the ride on the pony – and becoming lost, the dog rescuing her?
8.Miss Heliotrope, the caricature of the governess, mannered, comic, her wind, big breakfast, her fears, fainting, her help at the end, the proposal of marriage?
9.The cook, appearing and disappearing, his magic kitchen? The butler, his presence, his help?
10.The De Noirs and the Meriwether traditions, hostilities? The influence of the pearls?
11.Loveday, her place in her family, her wanting to marry Benjamin, her father and the family thinking she had betrayed them? The break with Benjamin, each of them proud? Her living as a hermit in the forest? Her friendship with Maria?
12.Benjamin and De Noir, the actors portraying them in the past, in the present?
13.Robin, his place in the family, the dominance of his father, the way of life in the forest and the ruins, hunting? The encounters with Maria, the rabbit in the trap? His capturing her, her escape, the chase, her trapping him, guiding Maria at the end?
14.Loveday, the plan by Maria, writing the notes, Benjamin and Loveday meeting, discovering the truth?
15.The pearls, the greed, the De Noirs and their feeling they had the right to the pearls?
16.The visuals of the moon, its coming closer to the earth, the threat of destroying the earth?
17.Maria and Robin, her catching him in the noose, his helping her, the pursuit? Finding the tree for the pearls, the cook and his memory of the tree? The different groups in the forest, the pursuit?
18.The tree, the cavern, the search for the pearls, discovering them?
19.People assembling on the amphitheatre, the moon coming closer, Maria and her self-sacrifice in the sea?
20.The huge wage, the horses emerging from the sea, Maria’s reappearance? The fate of the pearls? Happiness for all?
21.A work of the imagination, the female dominance, the feminine perspective?
