Thursday Movie Picks #11: Live Action Fairy Tale Adaptations

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I missed the last week Thursday Movie Pick, but now I return to this series with a new theme. Still powered by Wandering through the Shelves Blog, the theme for this week is Live Action Fairy Tale Adaptations. If you, fellow bloggers, want to join this event, please visit the series main page hereyou’ll never get too late.

Actually, live action fairy tale adaptations, especially the loyal adaptations, are really not my type of movie. I prefer some movies that “loosely based on a fairy tale” or “inspired by a fairy tale”, because they usually gave more insight to the narratives and they do not device poetical justice not even deus ex machina to end the story. Therefore, I mix some loyal adaptations of fairy tale and some movies that loosely based on a fairy tale for this entry. Shoot!

01. La Belle et La Bête (2014)

Starting from the latest one, it’s a live action adaptation of French most sensational fairy tale Beauty and the Beast—which has been adapted to many kinds of features. This French movie directed by Christophe Gans gave nothing new to the narrative of the titular story; even the main protagonists portrayed by Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux cannot quite live up the story. However, the CGI-induced visuals (that somehow reminds me to Maleficent) are, obviously, mesmerizing; resembling some paintings from the 16th century. Filled up with ample of visual spectacles with all the ‘fairy tale’ colors, La Belle et La Bête still makes a good fairy tale adaptation to follow (visually).

02. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

A Tale of Two Sisters a.k.a Two Sisters is a psychological thriller, a courtesy of I Saw the Devil‘s director, Kim Jee-won. It’s not a loyal adaptation of a known fairy tale; it’s a loose adaptation of Korean folktale, Janghwa, Hongryeon, presented in modern situation with psychological thriller frame. If you ever heard the adapted folktale, you will understand that this is exactly the same story with Kim Jee-won’s visions: it’s dark, bleak, and merciless.

03. Sleepy Hollow (1999)

A horror fairy tale about a headless horseman can still be a fancy adaptation. Back to the moment when I was little, I could feel that Sleepy Hollow—instead of it is visually stunning—is atmospheric. It’s a typical Tim Burton’s cinematic spectacle—somehow quirky but feels so fancy; therefore, it’s never been a mistake in Burton’s universe.

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So, that’s my pick. I know they do not quite live up the theme, but those are the best I could find. Care to comment?

16 responses to “Thursday Movie Picks #11: Live Action Fairy Tale Adaptations”

  1. Myerla Avatar
    Myerla

    I love both Sleepy Hollow (seen it countless times) and Tale of two Sisters which is indeed pretty dark stuff.

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      Glad that you liked both of them!

  2. Jenna and Allie (@FlickChicksBlog) Avatar
    Jenna and Allie (@FlickChicksBlog)

    Hats off to you, great choices! I made a post about not having seen any fairy tale adaptations, and now everyone is proving me wrong by thinking outside the box!
    – Allie

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      Everyone’s proving you wrong? That’s a great choice of words… Glad that you also found some great movies, too.

  3. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    OMG! Tale of Two Sisters! That movie is seriously incredible, but I forgot all about it. So glad you mentioned it here.

    I’ve yet to see the latest La Belle et la Bête, but I can’t wait to!

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      That is incredible! Only the American remake is terrible 🙁
      You go for it!

  4. Jay Avatar
    Jay

    I never even thought of Sleepy Hollow, that’s a great pick.

  5. Brittani Avatar
    Brittani

    It’s been so long since I’ve seen Sleepy Hollow, that’s an excellent pick!

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      Sleepy Hollow is always my favorite since I was little 🙂

  6. ruth Avatar
    ruth

    I enjoyed Sleepy Hollow, somehow I didn’t realize it was also a fairy tale. Another blogger picked the 1946 version of La Belle et La Bête, I think I might see that one instead of this 2014 one.

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      I read somewhere that it was based on a fairy tale. Well, I haven’t seen the 1946 version but people said it was a better one. The 2014 version was visually beautiful but narratively flawed

  7. joelnox Avatar
    joelnox

    I haven’t seen Two Sisters but your other two are super picks. I’ve seen Beauty & the Beast pop up several times deservedly. A wonderful adaptation. This is the only place I saw Sleepy Hollow though and it’s so apt. I’m not always a big fan of Tim Burton films but he and the source material make so much sense and the dreamy, somewhat desolate, quality he brings to the piece is perfect.

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      This version of Beauty and the Beast was suffering lack of depth in character and narrative, but it had ample of visual spectacles.
      Sleepy Hollow is my favorite Tim Burton movie, cause I think it’s the quirkiest but the deepest!

  8. joelnox Avatar
    joelnox

    Oops, my mistake didn’t realize you had chosen the newer version of B&B. Haven’t seen that, not surprised you didn’t think it lived up to the ’46 version, that’s a high bar but it looks worth checking out for the visuals.

  9. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Sleepy Hollow is a cool pick! One of the only Burton movies I actually like.

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      That makes two of us

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