Mirror, mirror, on the wall....
directed by Rupert Sanders
The scene: Though the entire Snow White and The Huntsman was a bunch of people walking and one wasted talented chasing another, I did enjoy Charlize Theron's work here and if I ever get around to watching Director's Cut of the movie that has been rotting on my shelf for months, it will only be for her performance as the iconic Evil Queen.
Though the very idea of Kristen Stewart ever threatening Theron in terms of beauty is preposterous, if you buy into the premise you may just have fun with the movie. That is whenever Theron is on screen. The film was yet another cash grab destined to capitalize on well known story with safe PG-13 rating, but she really didn't hold back and she gave us genuinely evil, blood thirsty and ruthless Queen.
But even evil Queens have weaknesses. In her case it is her desire to be beautiful. We did get modern CGI update on the iconic mirror here and in what was the most memorable moment of the movie for me, that mirror is brought to The Queen. While if I remember correctly the scene lasts longer and The Queen talks to the mirror at some length, I want to focus on one tiny moment.
The moment when she is pacing around the room nervously and she is saying her legendary "mirror, mirror" lines, half-mad and half-frightened to death at the prospect of the mirror declaring someone else more beautiful than her. That was a great little moment and frankly if the movie would be half as good as this tiny little scene it would be praised even though the casting choices (Theron aside) were odd to say the least. It is astonishing to me that Theron managed to put so much nuance into the character that in the hands of any other actress would be laughable camp. You can truly sense her fear and insanity here. Even if she has some good old yelling and murdering villainess glory in the movie, there are several moments that show her vulnerability beautifully.
Previously in the series:
Charlize Theron just kills it in this scene, it's certainly one of the highlights. I still find it hard to believe that there's someone fairer than her, esp when she looks like Kristen Stewart, ahah.
ReplyDeleteYeah it was kinda a ridiculous casting choice :)
DeleteThey should have made Charlize uglier if they wanted to cast Stewart, throw mud at her or something, though I'm not sure that would do any damage to her looks :)
Yeah they should've made her up closer to the one in Monster where she won an Oscar :D
DeleteBtw, you'll like the casting news piece I'm posting today ;-)
That would work :) She does look worse when she starts to age in SWATH, but her at her worst is better than most at their best :P
DeleteYEY, just left the comment there :P
Love these posts! I tried watching this not too long ago, but it was on pretty late at night and I fell asleep. I'll have to try again.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :) It's really quite boring, but it's worth seeing for Charlize and the visuals.
DeleteThis film didn't really pique my interest, but I am sure Theron makes it worthwhile. (I don't really have an opinion about Stewart -- I've only seen her in one movie.) And the effects look really cool! Beautiful post, as always. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe effects are quite good, I only wish the film would be on their level :) Thank you! :)
DeleteThe movie is currently on HBO as I've only seen some of it where my reaction so far is mixed. I like Charlize, the men who play the dwarves, and Chris Hemsworth. Kristen Stewart though... not so much. I did see this scene and it was a pretty cool scene.
ReplyDeleteGwyneth Paltrow more beautiful than Charlize? Yeah... right.
I like Stewart generally, but her character was so boring in that movie. I guess that happens usually to the pretty heroines, there is just not much originality there.
DeleteSomeone thinks Paltrow is more beautiful? That's nuts :)
That's a great scene. I love the mirror effect, which I'm guessing is one of the main reasons the film got a Visual Effects Oscar nod.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I totally forgot it was nominated.
DeleteThis movie is great actually, but you know there's one major failure in it. It's worth enough to see Theron. Great pick, Sati!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yeah, Charlize was amazing here.
DeleteCharlize Theron was the best bit of the film. She didn't camp it up. She played it straight with a fantastic edge and some sympathy. Great choice for scene of the week - those tears in her eyes!
ReplyDeleteOh, absolutely. I didn't find the movie particularly memorable but her work and this scene stayed with me.
DeleteNever got round to seeing this. Theron's eyes work wonders in these images alone. Could be tempted to give it a go just for her.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth seeing for her, but the film itself is very average.
DeleteCharlize was fantastic in that movie. She elevated the thing almost single-handidly. :o You can see how much she gave in that performance just looking at those screencaps!
ReplyDeleteI only paid attention when she was on screen :P All those LotR/Alice in Wonderland scenes/creatures were too much for me :P
DeleteI'm glad to see someone else giving her performance some love. I thought the movie as a whole was mindless but fun and you're exactly right - her performance is the real draw.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it too! She was really the best part of the movie.
DeleteI wasn't a big fan of the film, but I did love Theron and the visuals (and Florence and the Machine)! I don't hate Stewart as others do, I do think she is capable of giving a really great performance. People are too harsh on her. Having said that, I thought she was miscast here. As much as I like Hemsworth, the Huntsman wasn't very interesting as a character.
ReplyDeleteTheron is an incredible actress, she was born to play this role. I really liked how she made it more than the stereotypical evil queen role. Let's not even begin to discuss Julia Roberts..
I really agree with what you said here, "You can truly sense her fear and insanity here. Even if she has some good old yelling and murdering villainess glory in the movie, there are several moments that show her vulnerability beautifully."
Absolutely, I think Kristen is a talented actress, but playing fairytale heroine is always a thankless job.
DeleteJulia Robert was awful, the whole Mirror Mirror was. I was in agony while watching that one.
Thank you! :)