Since the oh so epic Titanic came out in late '97, there hasn't been much in the way of romance on the big screen. Ever After is the first real film in 1998 to provide a beautiful romance story and an entertaining film. Unfortunately the film will likely be pidgeonholed, as I am doing now, as a romantic drama or a "chick flick", and that is unfair. Ever After is as much a comedy, fantasy and adventure film as it is a romance, and it's very good at being all four.
The tale starts with the Brothers Grimm (perhaps not the original, but certainly the most recognizable, recounters of the tale of Cinderella... well, next to Disney anyway) having a meeting with an elderly noblewoman in her luxurious castle. She wishes to set the two writers straight on the story of "the little cinder girl", and along with her we flash back to be greeted by a small child, Danielle, and her adoring father. They have an obviously loving relationship, brought closer together by the absence of Danielle's mother.
Papa, as Danielle calls him, wishes to have a female influence for his young daughter and finds a wife in a Baroness. Along with a new step-mother, she also recieves two step-sisters, Jacquelinem - the prim and prissy spoiled one - and Marguerite - the younger, self-conscious pushover. Not long after the arrival of the new family members, Danielle's father suffers a stroke, leaving Danielle in the sole care of an unloving, and rather self-involved step-mother Rodmilla. The death-scene of Papa effectively and quickly establishes how selfish the lady Rodmilla is. As Danielle wails over her father's body, the suddenly widowed Baroness rushes over and proceeds to upstage the young girl with her cries.
Fifteen years later we find Danielle has become but another servent in the household, fit only to make Rodmilla and her daughters happy. But Danielle has grown up defiantly and strong willed, capable of making up her own mind and doing her own deeds. In one instance she goes to the towns court to buy back one of the household workers (whom Rodmilla has sold because the household has since become destitute due to the many years of upholding the Baroness' lavish lifestyle). Decked out, not as a worker but a Countessa, Danielle argues the immorality of buying and selling human lives, and attempts to bargain for her friends life. It is not until the intervention of Prince Henry that she suceeds. Danielle thanks the Prince, who is instantly smitten with her, not realizing that he met her in peasant garb not long before.
Prince Henry is a lot like Danielle, having his own defiant streak, refusing to the arranged marriages his parents have set up. Unlike the poor girl, however, the Prince knows nothing of society and the true plight of the misfortuned. Having once more fleed an arrange marriage, the King and Queen (a strangely compassionate duo for their time) decide that if the Prince cannot find his own bride in the next few weeks, he will go through with the arranged marriage or be barred from his Royal lineage.
The Prince has called for a dance to be held in the courtyard as a place for him to find a bride, and the town is a buzz as all the girls vye for his attention until that time. With the encouragement of her mother, Jacqueline tries the hardest, and manages to win the affections of the Queen. But Henry still has his mind on the girl from the courtyard, and after a few chance encounters they realize their love for eachother.
Danielle, however, wonders if the lies that she has told Henry about herself will change his mind and his heart, or if love will ring true. Of course, the movie is titled Ever After for a reason.
What sets this telling of Cinderella apart from all others is the omission of almost all the classic fantasy elements... the fairy godmother, the pumpkin carriage, and the trying on of the glass slipper (which does appear in the film, its relevance significantly changed, however). Instead, the magic of this film is that of love and affection (sounds sappy, doesn't it, it's not, really), and the humour and sorrow that arise from such emotions.
Ever After is a lavish production without being too glitzy. Costuming is beautifully done, and the scenery and cinematography is absolutely stunning. Drew Barrymore has one of her finest roles in Danielle, and Angelica Huston is excellent at portraying the not-so-wicked-as-she-is-simply-cold stepmother. Dougray Scott, Melanie Lynskey and Megan Dodds, as Henry, Jacqueline, and Marguerite (respectively) also show tremendous skill for little known actors.
While I really liked the film, and I can honestly say it's not a chick-flick, I still wouldn't recommend it as a guy's night out type of thing... and I personally wouldn't see it without a female in accompanyment. But it isn't a chick flick, really.