#peau d'âne 1997

[adarkrainbow]

So... I was checking some free stuff given away and among a bunch of old VHS there was this tape:

I did not take it, because A) I do not have a working VHS player at home and B) The movie is actually fully disponible on the Internet for free. But it got me intrigued and so I decided to talk briefly about this Donkey Skin movie - which is obviously not the great 1970 classic by Jacques Demy, but rather a 1997 French animated movie...

The VHS above was for the movie's "solo" release, but it got a different release under the label "Mes plus beaux contes", a whole series of fairytale VHS apparently:

Let's begin with a bit of context...

This movie was apparently the result of a collaboration between Claude Allix and Vladimir Gontcharov. The scenario was written by Sébastien Viaud, the music composed by Gil Slavin, and the producers included Eric Bayle, Roch Lener and Victor Slepstove. The production companies involved included Polygram Video, Mathares and Borsifen.

And... that's it. That's all I could find. Nothing more, nothing less.

Well, except for one detail: while this movie is presented as... well as a movie, some websites list it as a two-episodes mini-series, each episode being 26 minutes long. I watched it for free on Youtube, where it is presented as a 50 minutes long movie.

Let me start by saying: Gosh this movie looks horrible!

As in... the animation is very rough. But especially the designs... By the devil, the designs are awful! Just look at the Lilac Fairy - they tried to shape her hair like a lilac flower, okay... But it doesn't work AT ALL. The worst offenders however are the dresses. The three magical dresses, meant to be the pinnacle of beauty in the tale... LOOK AT HOW GOSH AWFUL AND IDIOTIC they are! We said "Color of the moon", not "Shaped like the moon". We said "Color of the sun", not "with spikes coming out everywhere to imitate sun-rays". And the villainess' collar just keeps getting bigger and bigger until it becomes so ridiculous... Oh yes, and the guards ALL HAVE THE SAME FACE. They literaly reused the same model for all the knights and guards throughout the movie...

I know that after Jacques Demy's Peau d'âne, every adaptation of Donkeyskin in France will have a hard time challenging the classic... But I don't know if these people didn't put enough effort, or actually tried way too hard.

Now, in term of story, the interesting thing is that they decided to expand upon the original tale. Most notably, they introduce a new villain character, with a concept a tad similar to the one of queen Elspeth from The Fairest of them All.

The entire first segment of the movie is about the "background" of the tale. We begin with the wedding of the king of the realm of Azurie to his wife (Peau d'âne's mother - the princess is named here Ariadne, because "Arianne" rhyme with "âne" in French). We also have a brief introductory song which recaps the entire story... There's quie a missed opportunity because a whole segment of the song is asking "Why are you hiding, Donkey-skin? Why are you disguising yourself Donkey-skin? Who are you, Donkey-skin?" which could have been a strong idea of plot-angle, exploring the identity of Donkeyskin as a mystery to be solved... Except the verses right before this part of the song explicitely detail who she is and why she fled.

As the wedding unfolds, we have a very clever scene introducing the magical donkey - a present sent by mysterious friends of the king, and which stands out like a sore thumb among the treasures and jewels the fher frelieves it is a grave insult - before his queent believes it is a grave insult - before his queen calms him down and convinces him to trust their friend (for good reason, since they later discover the donkey's magical properties). The villain added to the story is the king's cousin, a power-hungry duchess named Malicia, and who is quite pissed off at seeing the new queen - because she herself wanted to and attempt to be the new queen of Azurie. As she leaves the castle, a mysterious sorcerer named Balthazar the Necromancer appears and briefly turns her carriage into stone to prove his powers. He says he came here to answer Malicia's wishes and desires - and he offers her to learn witchcraft, so that she can overtake Azurie... And in exchange, the price to pay will be that she abandons all her belongings and exile herself from Azurie to undergo a long journey fo fifteen years.

What will she do during this journey? We don't know! It is a mysterious "initiation journey" But she returns fifteen years later to the kingdom to enact her devious plan. As for Balthazar the Necromancer... Every time Malicia uses her crystal ball to cast a spell, Balthazar's face appears to give her various compliments or warnings. And that's it... a sort of manifestation of the recurring habit of having the Magic Mirror of Snow-White act as a semi-companion/warning-deliverer to the Evil Queen. I compared Malicia to Elspeth but I could also compare her relationship to Balthazar to the evil queen's relationship to her mirror in the "Mirror, mirror" movie. In fact, Malicia seems very obviously inspired by Disney's Evil Queen... It makes you wonder why Balthazar was introduced as his own character before being reduced to an info-dropping disembodied face... Anyway.

Malicia is presented as the supernatural cause of the events that start the story - which is a quite interesting and solid move when you need to tackle Donkey-skin for children. The death of the queen is due to Malicia's hatred of the happiness and wealth of the royal family, and her ambition. She casts a curse that causes the deadly sickness, and then tries to convince the king to marry her. But when the king refuses by blatantly saying he promised his wife to marry a woman more virtuous and more beautiful than her, and that Malicia is not more virtuous nor more beautiful than the late queen... Let's just say Malicia is quite pissed off, and she decides to have him be dethroned by causing a second curse - the one that will create an incestuous desire of the father for the daughter. Balthazar warns her that such a curse will break if the princess ever ends up knowing true love - to which Malicia replies she will just have to make sure the princess will be forced to marry her father and never escape him...

I have to say, while the animation is garbage, the ideas and concept of the story are very interesting. The scene of Malicia casting the curse onto the queen is truly chilling, as you see the blue mist she conjures up slowly wither the flowers of the garden before crawling up to the queen's bedroom and entering her body... And I like how Malicia's incantations use elemental motifs matching her curses: she invokes the "spirits of the air" to cause a "deadly breath", a cursed wind that will "dry up" the queen ; while to "inflame" the king's passion for his daughter she calls upon the "spirits of fire" to cause an incestuous desire that nothing "shall extinguish". There is also a whole warning in the beginning about black magic needing the user to have an absolute control over their emotions - foreshadowing Malicia's downfall. At the end of the movie, when Donkey-skin/Ariadne is happily married and her true love break the curses, Malicia is so enraged she tries to cast a curse on her, despite Balthazar's warnings that she need to stay calm, and that she cannot fight true love which is the most powerful magic of them all... However she does not listen and the curse backfires on her, making her disappear forever... Again, this is all very Snow White's Evil Queen-inspired.

I'm not going to make a full breakdown of the movie - the rest of the story is pretty much the same as the original tale but with the characters slightly exaggerated and more prominent (such as the peasant woman and her son who use - and frankly abuse - Donkey skin when she stays around ; there's also the comical character of the prince's personal assistant who is always finding an occassion to "taste wine" whenever he has something to do). There's a lot of visual nods to classic illustrations - for example the goat-pulled chariot the princess use to visit her godmother, while seeming straight out of Norse mythology, is actually a reference to the illustrations of Gustave Doré where the princess use a similar chariot ; and the king's chambellan is made to look like Riquet with the tuft.

So yeah... In conclusion I would say it has good intentions, some good ideas and some moments that do work - but it stays a very rough, very dated product that needs one to take some effort to get into it... and is definitively NOT a masterpiece. But a valuable effort, it must be recognized.

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: february 2023

short month, short list

read:

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas - glad I gave this novel a second chance! Very interesting, extremely funny, everyone's kind of an asshole but in an entertaining way. Constance deserved better but what else is new. I have a lot of thoughts on some specific ways in which the show differs from the books (which is. A lot of ways. Van Helsing (2004) vs. Dracula the actual novel kind of a lot of ways), but I’d better leave this for when I will have read books 2 and 3

The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge - bookcrossing finds, part 1: a Norse mythology-inspired novel about a girl who is Odin's descendant. The style and romance are already far too YA to me (especially romance - the only thing about it that I didn’t find dull was that the guy was hiding something dark, but it was never fully elaborated on), and generally I think I would've liked it better as a movie, but it's an okay one-time read

Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani - bookcrossing finds, part 2. Fairytale retellings just seem to find me themselves this year. Some of the stories I liked (especially Cinderella and Bluebeard), some seemed boring, some were okay but had some detail that felt jarring to me. The style is meh, but that may be translation's fault. I think this one and The Twisted Tree shall have to leave me the same way they came to me - I don’t have enough space on my bookshelves anymore to keep the books I don’t like that much. Hopefully eventually they’ll find an owner who would keep them :)

+ progress on the Vulgate Cycle: working my way through The Story of Merlin. Also, halfway into Twenty Years After, the sequel to The Three Musketeers.  

watched:

Peau d'âne / Donkey Skin (1970) - first of all, it's VERY beautiful. Secondly, it's also a tad weird and unsettling, but then again, so is the original fairytale (though I don’t recall the version I read, uh, relishing the potential incest that much). Thirdly, the fairy godmother being a time traveler was a fun idea

The Cell (2000) - really cool! Suspenseful, imaginative, visually stunning. The reviews saying the plot was too confused... maybe to YOU, lol

Mirror Mirror (2012) - it's very funny, cute, and beautifully filmed, but I'm afraid I'm unable not to compare any adaptation of Snow White that I watch to Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997), and nothing will ever be quite as good as it

+ watching The Borgias, as you surely have noticed; currently at s3.

[bebemoon]

i am so in love with your blog! pardon my curiosity, which films and books inspire your aesthetic? 🐚🖤

films:

>>mr. peabody and the mermaid (1948)

>>the ghost and mrs. muir (1947)

>>la belle et la bête (1946)

>>kvitebjørn kong valemon (1991)

>>rusalochka (1976)

>>malá mořská víla (1976)

>>the slipper and the rose (1976)

>>peau d'âne (1970)

>>the singing ringing tree (1957)

>>bram stoker's dracula (1992)

>>la religieuse (1966)

>>legend (1985)

>>ruslan i lyudmila (1972)

>>ondine (1975)

>>queen of the damned (2002)

>>étoile (1989)

>>valerie a týden divu (1970)

>>marie antoinette (2006)

>>duke bluebeard's castle (1988)

>>livide (2011)

>>orlando (1992)

>>the lure (2015)

>>fairy tale: a true story (1997)

>>black swan (2010)

books:

>>anything angela carter

>>any leonora carrington short stories

>>clive barker's abarat series

>>hdm series by philip pullman

>>the girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making by catherynne m. valente

>>circe by madeline miller

>>lotr trilogy by j.r.r. tolkien

>>cry to heaven by anne rice

[revuedepresse30]

1997, Modiano-Deneuve : un passionnant dialogue qui sublime le cinéma

Après Houellebecq, Godard, Gossip, Isabelle Huppert ou les frères Gallagher, voici notre première série consacrée à un Prix Nobel au pedigree depuis longtemps lié à notre ADN. Écrivain des errances, piéton de Paris et des cafés perdus, Patrick Modiano nous a une nouvelle fois séduits avec Encre sympatique, son dernier roman. Avec lui, comme il a su si bien le faire tout au long de son œuvre, nous remontons le temps et le fil des souvenirs.

Avant d'aller au Festival de Cannes pour la première fois, quelles impressions en aviez-vous ? Est-ce qu'il vous faisait rêver ?

Catherine Deneuve - ­Non. Comme quand on me demande quelle héroïne de cinéma ou quel film me faisaient rêver quand j'étais enfant... Le cinéma ne me faisait pas rêver. Je me souviens avoir été transportée par des histoires, mais je n'étais pas fascinée par le milieu et je n'ai jamais eu de héros ou d'héroïnes de cinéma. Je n'ai été épatée que par des rencontres. Peut-être que pour Patrick, Cannes est un endroit qui évoque beaucoup de choses ­ mais pour moi, pas du tout. Jusqu'à ce que j'y aille, que j'y aie des émotions, le Festival de Cannes n'avait aucune résonance intime. Et vous, quel est le premier Festival de Cannes auquel vous êtes allé ?

Patrick Modiano - Je n'étais pas vraiment au Festival, j'étais juste à côté, par hasard, sur la Côte d'Azur, chez des copains, quand j'étais adolescent... Je regrette, j'aurais aimé y être et voir de mes propres yeux, c'était en 1959, l'année des 400 coups et de l'apparition de la Nouvelle Vague... Après, je n'y suis jamais allé. Mais je me souviens du Festival de Cannes dans les années 1950... De personnages comme Errol Flynn... qui faisaient des choses bizarres...

Catherine Deneuve - ­ (elle rit et le coupe) Ah oui, évidemment, les Américains qui viennent passer dix jours sur la Côte d'Azur, pour le plaisir de vivre un peu décalé, comme ça, au soleil... Mais de toute façon, en dehors de certains films, le cinéma n'est pas quelque chose qui me fait rêver. Mon admiration est toujours professionnelle ­ ou bien naît d'une rencontre personnelle. Pourtant, j'adore Al Pacino, j'ai une passion pour Marilyn Monroe ou Louise Brooks, mais ce ne sont pas des personnages qui m'ont fascinée. Je crois que ce n'est pas du tout mon fonctionnement de me fabriquer des mythes de cinéma. Même avant d'en faire, adolescente, je n'ai jamais eu de photos d'actrices ou d'acteurs dans ma chambre... Et puis de toute façon, il n'y aurait pas eu la place, on était trois. Bien sûr, quand j'ai commencé, je lisais Ciné-Monde, comme tout le monde.

Patrick Modiano - C'est vrai... Au fond, ce qui est important, c'est le film. Quand on pense à une actrice, on pense à un film...

“Quand je rencontre des petits enfants qui veulent voir l'héroïne de Peau d'âne ? Avec cette robe dorée, cette couronne, en train de chanter, faire sortir des poussins des œufs, comment voulez-vous être à la hauteur de cette image ?” Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Deneuve - ­Oui, quelquefois. On a envie de rencontrer les acteurs d'un film et je comprends que les gens soient fascinés, mais ils ne peuvent qu'être déçus. "Déçu" n'est pas le mot, mais ça ne peut pas remplir le... Tout à l'heure, je suis arrivée chez un ami, un jeune ami, il était en train de regarder le câble et j'ai dit "Mais qu'est-ce que c'est que ça ? C'est moi ?" C'était Peau d'âne et je tombe sur une des plus jolies scènes, celle de la recette. Et évidemment, comment voulez-vous être à la hauteur de cette image après ? Quand je rencontre des petits enfants qui veulent voir l'héroïne de Peau d'âne ? Avec cette robe dorée, cette couronne, en train de chanter, faire sortir des poussins des œufs... Bon, je prends un cas limite, mais je trouve qu'il est très symbolique de l'image que se font les gens des acteurs et des actrices. Moi, c'est comme si j'avais toujours su, même avant de faire du cinéma, que les acteurs n'étaient pas ces personnages merveilleux.

Patrick Modiano - Les actrices sont émouvantes quand elles sont uniquement des actrices de cinéma, quand il n'y a rien de théâtral chez elle. Par exemple vous, vous êtes une actrice totalement cinématographique, vous n'avez rien de théâtral.

Retrouvez toute notre s��rie Patrick Modiano

>> Episode 2 Patrick Modiano en 2007 : “Grand écrivain, c'est bizarre comme concept”

>> Episode 3 Patrick Modiano en 2014 : “Le Nobel m’a fait l’effet d’être quelqu'un d'autre”

>> Episode 4 “Encre sympathique”, Modiano à la recherche du temps perdu

>> Episode 5 [Vidéo] Interviewer Patrick Modiano, c’est comment ?

Catherine Deneuve - ­C'est ce que François Truffaut disait. Et c'est sûrement pour ça que je ne fais pas de théâtre. C'est vrai que les actrices de cinéma et de théâtre sont très différentes. Je comprends qu'on puisse penser qu'une actrice de cinéma ne peut pas faire de théâtre et réciproquement. Quelquefois, je trouve des acteurs formidables au théâtre et quand je les vois au cinéma, je me dis que ce n'est pas du tout le même genre. Ce n'est pas le problème de savoir lequel est le plus sérieux ou le plus important. Le théâtre reste quelque chose de très stylisé, où il faut exprimer les choses beaucoup plus. Alors qu'au cinéma, c'est le contraire : plus on garde, mieux c'est ­ puisque la caméra vient tout capter. Le cinéma, quand ça marche, c'est une loupe. Ce sont deux disciplines très contradictoires, à l'opposé l'une de l'autre en ce qui concerne le jeu de l'acteur.

from Les Inrocks - livres https://ift.tt/2lnttsz via IFTTT

[bebemoon]

what are your favorite movies 🖤🖤

malá morská víla (1976), la reine margot (1994), marie antoinette (2006), legend (1985), sucker punch (2011), peau d'âne (1970), la belle et la bête (1946), queen of the damned (2002), valerie a týden divů (1970), kvitebjørn kong valemon (1991), rusalochka (1976), mr. peabody and the mermaid (1948), titanic (1997), the witches of eastwick (1987), lady chatterley's lover (1981), madame bovary (1991), jeanne d'arc (1999), the fifth element (1997), orlando (1992), the ghost and mrs. muir (1947), la belle et la bête (2014), bram stoker's dracula (1992), étoile (1989), the handmaiden (2016), howl's moving castle (2004), la religieuse (1966), the company of wolves (1984), romeo + juliet (1996), lotr trilogy (2001-03)