![]() Blanchett’s pale face emerges from behind a hat, the entrance evokes the likes of Jane Greer “coming out of the sun” in the noir “Out of the Past” so she can destroy Robert Mitchum. There certainly is a touch of Joan Crawford’s Mildred Pierce to the Stepmother and her sob-worthy back story (as well as her blood-red lipstick and power shoulders). Blanchett takes some of the credit (or blame), as does the visual design for the character which, from her soignée updos to a leopard-skin dressing gown, suggests a 1940s femme fatale. Less genuinely wicked than seriously mercenary, this Stepmother can’t help but steal the show. Here, the screenwriter Chris Weitz adds some dimensionality to the standard conception of the Stepmother (as she’s only known), mostly by referencing the dire prospects for a widow with two children and no income of her own. It’s a strange matriarchal world, after all, if one still rived with complexities. The prince may eventually find and marry Cinderella, but it’s a mother who truly saves her. One mother abandons Cinderella, leading the way for a second mother to torment her, who in turn opens the door for a third mother to come to the rescue with a wave of her wand. In traditional iteration after iteration, the story of Cinderella is also that of mothers - dead, cruel and magical - who loom over this quintessential dutiful daughter far more than any man. #CINDERELLA LIVE ACTION MOVIE#The cinema pioneer Georges Méliès told her story in 1899, perhaps for the first time on screen, and she recently popped up in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Disney has further helped stoke the demand for this new movie with two direct-to-video sequels to its 1950 film, “ Cinderella II: Dreams Do Come True” (2002) and “ Cinderella III: A Twist in Time” (2007). ![]() Why Cinderella, why now? If you’re the Walt Disney Company the answer can only be: Why not? She may not be a princess (yet!) and the story may have been told innumerable times, but there’s gold in those glass slippers no matter how many miles they have on them. “Maleficent” and its revisionism are so last year. And, fascinatingly, much remains the same, including a fairy tale that opens with clear skies but soon plays the poor-little-girl blues before you-know-who comes along. ![]() In the 1950 Disney animated musical, her friendly neighborhood mice know the score and give it song: “Night and day, it’s Cinderelly! ‘Make the fire, fix-a breakfast, wash the dishes, do the mopping, and the sweeping and the dusting.’ They always keep her hopping!” In Disney’s latest version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, the mice stick to squeaking and look about as real as most computer-generated rodents. Poor Cinderella - she still can’t catch a break. ![]()
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