Snow White [DVD] [2002]

John [Tom Irwin] and Josephine are a poor couple living in a forest. After the birth of a daughter, whom they name Snow White, Josephine dies. Trying to protect his child, John becomes trapped in a blizzard. Weeping for his infant, his tears free the Green-Eyed One, a horrifying creature trapped in the ice. Out of gratitude, he grants John a wish, convincing him to wish not only for food and shelter, but to marry a Queen. For the Green-Eyed One has a sister to marry off, and John is granted a lavish castle with the formerly hideous, but now beautiful Elspeth [Miranda Richardson], who soon becomes jealous of her step-daughter's beauty.

Screen writers Caroline Thompson and Julie Hickson are clearly not content to follow the established version of Snow White and embelish their story with a number of new elements, which certainly keeps things interestingly original. It has its own unique charm with a host very well designed characters. Interestingly, both writers have worked with Tim Burton (Hickson and Burton even dated for a time) and the darker influence that mingles with a plot that is generally sweet is sometimes reminiscent of Burton's style, though perhaps not quite so dark. The result is something mellow, without being too taxing to watch.

Queen Elspeth is certainly the most interesting character, due to a delightfully wicked performance by Miranda Richardson. Irwin fails to invoke much sympathy from the audience, and while Kreuk certainly looks the part of the innocent princess, she often lacks screen presence, leaving her character bland and without personality, and making it difficult to empathise with her. Far more enjoyable are the seven dwarfs (Wednesday, you will note, is in fact rather tall to the dismay of some purists, but we discover he is accepted by the others because of his child-like mind, suggesting "height" is not solely about appearances, but is rather about one's mental attitude). Named after the days of the week, and donning colourful clothing, these are quirky but intriguing characters, which much amusing banter between them.

The visual effects are sumptuous throughout, putting some big budget productions to shame through its careful usage, in a particular all effects involving the mirror. The Queen's circular room of mirrors is great, entrapping and distorting characters. The medieval costumes are always perfect, with long flowing sleeves and a perfect fairytale appearance. Sunday's subtle costume and makeup to reflect his half-statue/half-man appearance is excellent. The dwarfs ability to "rainbow" and teleport is also an interestingly conceived idea. The cinematography is equally wonderful, capturing scenes perfectly, and using a palette of bright and bold colours to great effect. Also noteworthy is the Green-Eyed One's makeup, which is truly terrifying, fitting this dark tale of sinister plot twists.

Despite some superfluous threads, such as the glass shard and Snow White's love interest who serves little purpose but to be turned into a bear and wake her at the end, this is a beautiful production, and it is wonderful to see a darker, "Grimm"-er version of this classic tale which is intended for childrens' viewing, not just adults. The whole family can truly enjoy this (in part due to Richardson's performance which even adults cannot find dull!) although the very youngest of children may not appreciate its surreal atmosphere.

Anyhow, once upon a time, John (Tom Irwin) and Josephine (Vera Farmiga) were living happily together in the forest when they had a beautiful baby girl then named Snow White. However, Josephine dies soon after leaving John alone to fend for his baby. John buries his wife and starts on a journey to find food; at his darkest moment he is about to give up when he happens to awaken a genie known as the Green Eyed One (Clancy Brown), who will grant three wishes aa a reward for his release. John's first wish is for milk for Snow White. His second wish is to have his wife back, but this is beyond the Green Eyed One's power. Instead, he will provide John with a new queen and a kingdom to go with it. However, what John does not know is that his new queen, Elpseth (Miranda Richardson) is really his own hag of a sister (the crone is played by Karin Konoval), transformed into a beauty. Snow White crows up to be played by Kristin Kreuk (a.k.a. Lana Lang on "Smallville") and when the spell starts to fade and Elpseth's beauty begins to fade, the story takes a dark turn.

"Snow White: The Fairest of Them All" is a much darker version of the story than the beloved Disney classic, so by no stretch of the imagination is this the first version of Snow White you would want any child to see. This is a dark version of the tale that takes place in a much more dangerous world, although the entirely reworked dwarf part of the plot (they are now named for the seven days of the week) usually works against the rest of the story. The sets are beautiful, as are the costumes, and what passes for the magic mirror this time around is pretty spectacular.

A lot of people will check out the DVD version because of Kreuk, who is the WB's new Katie Holmes. I admit I am one of those people, but even I found it rather odd that her cast bio on the DVD features her Neutrogena commercial. Anyhow, Kreuk has little to do but sit there and look pretty throughout the movie (she shows a lot more emotion and flair in the commercial). The one who steals the show is Richardson, which is exactly what you would expect when an actress of that caliber gets a choice role like a wicked queen in a fairy tale. If there was any doubt about whether this version of Snow White is worth checking out, then it is Richardson who tips the scale in that direction. "Snow White: The Fairest of Them All" is certainly worth a look for those who are interested in new takes (or, in this case, extremely old takes) on classic fairy tales.