Film 33 - Snow White and the Huntsman

I have to confess that it comes as a bit of a surprise that a film so meticulously populated with such rich detail winds up being somewhat of a hollow affair.

Snow White and the Huntsman is, of course, the second major film adaptation of the classic Grimm Brothers fairy tale (the other being the decidedly more comedic take expressed in Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror – which I did not see primarily because 90 minutes of Julia Roberts attempting comic timing is not my idea of a fun evening out (and this is from someone who saw Ghost Rider 2)).

As far as the plot goes, there’s not a lot in the broad strokes here that you don’t know already. A wicked Queen (Charlize Theron), named Ravenna in this version, obsessed with her own beauty discovers a rival in her stepdaughter Snow White (Kristen Stewart) and plots to have her killed to assure her own grip on the populace. Snow White escapes and, with the help of a few allies she meets on her journey, must find a way to break the Queen’s stranglehold on the kingdom.

What’s remarkable about Snow White and the Huntsman is the amount of detail the script seems eager to bring to the well-worn narrative. The titular Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth in the third film I’ve seen him in this year – running the risk of making him 2012’s answer to Sam Worthington) is given a much expanded role and his own back story (though strangely not a name). Effort is made to explain why a band of dwarves may have exiled themselves to the forest, and we are given at least a bit of clearer rationale for why Prince William/Charming (Sam Claflin) might find the heroine so winsome as he does. The additions to the plot really help to deepen the sense of what’s going on and make the story feel much more cohesive than may otherwise be expected even if they don't always have the emotional impact that's required.

Of course, the greatest embroidering here is the back story given to its villainess, Ravenna, and it is here that the film is strongest as it brings out a more complex feminist reading of the classic tale. Ravenna is not merely evil for its own sake; it has been made abundantly clear to her that to gain agency in a misogynistic world she must maintain and wield her strongest weapon – her beauty – to its maximum effect. Moreover, rather than this being Ravenna’s mental pathology, the film is quite explicit that her beauty is what makes her magical powers function.

The interplay between the two ideas of beauty and power here allows the film to make several strong points: not only about the power relationships between men and women (and the sacrifices strong women make to be strong) but also the way that power relationship sours relationships between women. There’s an early scene that implies that Ravenna could have been fond of Snow White were she not such a rising threat to her goals.

None of this is particularly new ground to anyone who’s been paying any attention to feminism, ever, but it’s nice to see Hollywood willing to take on a more complex understanding of feminism. Typically a film like Snow White and the Huntsman might take on a “girl power” narrative that is temporarily fulfilling but banal in its simplicity (I believe this is indeed the road that Mirror Mirror went down). I like that it represents a new level of debate that has been sorely missing from the mainstream (we’ll have to wait to see how Mockingjay handles the similar themes of female strength leading to female alienation that were present in the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy).

The film falls down a bit in this stream though when it comes to encapsulating exactly what alternative to Ravenna’s brand of feminism that Snow White can offer. She’s seen as a Messianic figure by most of the rest of the cast, and her ‘innocence’ and ‘purity’ appear to be the character reasons she’s regaled as such but, without seeing her make a decision that Ravenna failed to, I can’t quite see how she’s the improved option – just a very lucky girl to be loved by so many without earning it.

And indeed, it’s the characterisation of Snow White that exposes the film’s greatest flaw – we are simply never given a reason like her or to care what happens to her. The film mounts the argument that she is an avatar for the land itself and her ascendancy represents a broader healing but, without emotionally connecting to her in any way, it’s hard for an audience member to feel the gravitas for this idea that the dwarves do. Cynics will lay the blame for this at Kristen Stewart’s feet, given that her Twilight stint has made her something of a reliable punching bag, but the truth is it’s not Stewart’s fault at all. The material just isn’t in the script.

The other major flaw that drags SWatH down is a very real problem with pacing, particularly in the second half (coincidentally when Ravenna goes largely AWOL). Key points are raised and then belabored to the point where it’s unclear if the filmmakers think we lack the intelligence to follow what’s going on, or are just so enamoured of the importance of what they’re saying. There is a slight sense that the producers would much rather be producing The Lord of the Rings right now, as everything is given an epic sense, whether it warrants it or not. Actually, given that this was made by the producers of Alice In Wonderland, which also wanted to be LotR in its third act – this may very well be the case. The even make the same mistake about how trebuchets are used that was in Return of the King.

This is probably a misstep by the director as the film feels more naturally attuned to 1980s fantasy romps such as Legend, Ladyhawke or Willow (indeed, the film bizarrely rips off set pieces from The Neverending Story and Princess Mononoke).

While the script fails to maintain this sense of epic wonder though, the visual design certainly does not. The film is  delight to look at from the nightmarish claustrophobia of the Dark Forest to the unrelenting grimness of Ravenna’s rule to the sylvan delights of the Dwarves’ home – there are very few frames that don’t have something to offer up to the eyes.

As far as performances go, much will be made of Charlize Theron’s marketing launching turn as Ravenna. As talented as Theron assuredly is though, I’m not sure if she’s really the better actor amongst the cast, or just the only character we’re ever given a reason to sympathise with. Certainly Theron works the gamut from sorrow to haughty glee but she also has her off moments, occasionally threatening to veer into histrionics. It won’t come as any great surprise to hear that neither Stewart nor Hemsworth particularly stand out (but neither is given much to work with) but the member of the cast who may be worth keeping your eye on is Sam Claflin who at least brings a steely determination to his role of Prince William and looks badass with a bow as he does it.

All in all, I think Snow White and the Huntsman is well worth seeing but not for the reasons you’d think. It’s an object of beauty and has some interesting things to say about power, duty, honour and feminism but will ultimately feel more like an intellectual exercise than an emotional one.