PRETTY, PRETTY GOOD
Striking visuals save the day — almost — in this sumptuous, but wobbly Nutcracker
It’s been 202 years since E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and we’re still trying to make the perfect adaptation. The first ballet performance premièred in 1892, with music by Tchaikovsky. A filmed version of that from 1986, with sets designed by Maurice Sendak, remains popular. And a 2010 adaptation, The Nutcracker in 3D, was easily the worst film of a year that included Furry Vengeance, Cop Out, Grown Ups and Marmaduke.
The good news is that Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is nowhere near that level of ghastliness. (The other good news is that it was directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, because you just know if Peter Jackson had got his mitts on it he’d have made a nine-hour epic with one film for each realm.) For a start, the visuals are fantastic. The 19th century has seldom looked so lived-in. You could freeze almost any frame and revel in the costumes and set decoration. There’s also a weird steampunk vibe happening, with all kinds of clockwork mechanisms, water wheels and Rube Goldberg devices, including a mousetrap. It’s great fun to watch. The film opens in the Stahlbaum family house at Christmas. Mother has recently died (this is Disney, after all) and Father (Matthew Macfadyen) tries to put on a brave face but ends up with a mopey one. The protagonist, however, is Clara (Mackenzie Foy), who receives a sort of Fabergé egg from her late mother, but lacks a key to open it. Enter Godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman in an eye patch and a cameo), whose present is a trip to a magical world where Clara tries to track down the key, which has been stolen by a mischievous mouse. She’s helped by a nutcracker/soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), who introduces her to the realms’ regents, played by a falsettovoiced Keira Knightley, Mexico’s Eugenio Derbez and Richard E. Grant, redeeming himself after taking a small role in that 3D Nutcracker, which I’d like to add cost $90 million to make and grossed exactly $195,459. It really was horrendous. Anyway, Helen Mirren plays Mother Ginger, the ruler of another realm that looks like an amusement park gone to seed. We sense that at least one of these monarchs might be misrepresenting themselves, but the nice thing about a radical reworking of the story is that, even when the narrative flounders, it at least offers some surprises.
It’s worth letting fans know not to expect more than a little of the ballet’s music in this version. We get the odd snippet, along with a little bit of dance, but then it fades away in favour of a score by James Newton Howard, who, eight Oscar nominations notwithstanding, is no Tchaikovsky. Foy, who turned 17 during filming, turns in a strong performance as Clara, switching between amused, bewildered and frightened as the scene requires. The Four Realms features some mild peril, but its PG rating means it should be safe enough for most little ones, and its mix of Narnia and Oz-like visuals should keep everyone engaged. It may not become the Christmas classic Disney is hoping for, but it remains as pretty as a decked-out tree.
It turns out vampire kids do grow up.
Since being cast as Renesmee, the 10-year-old offspring of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) in 2011’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 and its sequel, Mackenzie Foy has been carving out a niche for herself in Hollywood.
Foy is kick-starting the holiday movie-going season with Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
The film reimagines the classic holiday fantasy with a wildly imaginative new take directed by Lasse Hallström and written by Ashleigh Powell.
Foy plays Clara Stahlbaum, a young girl ushered into a dazzling world parallel to our own on Christmas Eve.
“The film is based on the book by E.T.A. Hoffmann and it draws inspiration from the ballet, but there are a couple of twists and turns in the film that are new,” says Foy, 17:
Q What is your earliest memory of seeing the ballet?
A I can’t remember how old I was, but I was pretty little when I went to the ballet for the first time. The first time I saw it, I was absolutely mesmerized. I remember buying a nutcracker afterwards and I put it up on my bookshelf every year during the holidays. That nutcracker is my prized Christmas decoration.
Q Tell us about Clara.
A Clara has the same strength and fearlessness that she has in the book and in the ballet. But in this version her mother has just passed away and she’s trying to deal with that grief and that pain and trying to be strong for her family ... and then she finds herself in this world that her mother created that is being threatened. But then she finds out she’s the princess and that she must protect this world and goes on this journey of epic action and adventure and also finding herself.
Q You get to work with some pretty cool people in this film, including Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and Richard E. Grant. What was that like?
A They were so nice and happy and there was a wonderful energy on set ... They built these sets that were incredibly practical and with the costumes and the makeup, we came to work every day and played in this fantasy world.
Q In the movie we’ve got the lands of Sweets, Snowflakes, Flowers and a mysterious fourth realm. Which is your favourite?
A This is always changing, but right now I like the land of Snowflakes. It has these really pretty wintry blues and silvers and it’s very sparkly and happy. I really like it.
Q What was it like for you to see these realms realized on the big screen in all their CGI glory?
A A lot of what you see on the screen is there, especially in the fourth realm. Those sets are real. They built those forests ... It was really amazing being on those sets and wandering around and discovering that world just as Clara does.
Q Talk to me about the music in this movie.
A The music is absolutely beautiful. It is the Tchaikovsky score, so lovers of the ballet and lovers of the score will have that happiness. But there are also some variations and new pieces in there. It’s really beautiful.
Q Nutcracker and the Four Realms is the film that’s going to kick off the holidays. What’s your favourite holiday tradition?
A I love decorating with my family. We all wait until we’re all together until we fully go all out and start decorating, which I really, really love doing. Also, I love baking cookies on Christmas Eve. And on the days when we’re all together, we just sit on the couch with the dog and the cat and a big blanket and get hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies all day. That’s so much fun.
Q You mentioned watching Christmas movies with your family. What’s your favourite holiday film?
A I love The Polar Express. That’s the one I try to watch first to kick off the Christmas movie season. It gets me happy.