Directed by: Nicolas Roeg
Too bad all kids movies aren't like this! Angelica Huston, who actually won Best Actress awards from the Boston Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics for her performance in this (and her impressive work in THE GRIFTERS), stars as Eva Ernst, the Grand High Witch. She plots to turn helpless children into mice using contaminated chocolate and heads over a whole coven of witches at a beautiful seaside hotel, where a convention of witches is taking place. Young Luke (Jasen Fisher) discovers what they're up to, and is promptly turned into a rodent (along with another chubby kid)... Can he still stop them? Mai Zetterling is a real treat as the wise, cigar chomping grandmother (who's also an expert on witches) and Huston is delightfully wicked (and cruel!) in her role. Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the special effects. Some parents objected to certain story points here (and in the Roald Dahl book this was based on), but they're morons. What better way to teach kids to not to take candy from strangers than to make that chocolate contaminated? What better way to teach them not to talk to strangers than by making the strangers ugly, child-hating monsters with purple glowing eyes? The ending of the book was a bit more grim and has been changed for the movie version, but I doubt many people will mind. It was Henson's last film project. He also served as the executive producer. Lovely photography and picturesque location work in Norway.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
Ah, The Witches, my most favorite film based on a Roald Dahl book! I know Dahl hated the ending since it was the one moment that contrasted strongly with the book, but I think the filmmakers made the right decision to end it that way just to make it more appealing for younger audiences. In fact, they made other kinds of changes to make the film more suitable for children, but the ending was the biggest change of all.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, I love this and the book, too, because I love how Dahl created witches for this story to be completely unlike what we commonly know them to be them from popular myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Like we often think of witches as dressing in black, wearing pointed hats, making potions using a cauldron, and of course, flying on broomsticks for transportation. But while Dahl did create witches to be magic users, he also makes them bald, clawed, toeless, child-hating demons who evade discovery not only because people don't believe in them or know they exist, but because they blend in with society by dressing, working, and acting like ordinary women.
Anjelica Huston was perfectly cast as the Grand High Witch, and she absolutely nailed the role, even when she played the character when unmasked. Oh man, I just LOVED how the film made the Grand High Witch more terrifying than her novel counterpart, especially with her appearance: hunched back, elongated fingers, sharp claws, blistered face and bald head. She was made a villain to remember, all right, AND is arguably one of Dahl's most evil and terrifying villains! It's not just children who fear her; it's all other witches, too.