Mirrormask

[valis2]

I saw it last night.

Keep in mind that I had no idea what it was about whatsoever. I only saw one or two little scenes on Neil's blog, so I was completely in the dark about what the movie was about.

My overall thought? It was visually fascinating, and quite visually inventive, and visually exhilarating at points. The story? Hm. I did enjoy the movie, but much of the story had that already done that feel. I don't know if this was meant to be a teen movie or young adult movie, but it had that feel, and much of what happened plot-wise was entirely predictable. In fact, it was rather cliché-ridden. It was quite obvious from scene to scene where the plot was going.

But it was never obvious where the visuals were going. Each scene had intriguing, dreamy, Dave McKean-style scenery. Each scene was new, unusual, and haunting. Nearly all the sets were amazing in some way, though occasionally the poor synch-up of actor to CG scene was obvious. The alien landscapes, the strange-looking creatures---I must say that Dave McKean's work is tremendously enriched by being rendered into 3-D action. It's almost as if he's been set free. And the creatures! They all move beautifully. Honestly, they're so well done! Usually I hate CG creatures because they're so ridiculously unlifelike in their movements, but these were fantabulous. All the Bobs (and Malcom) moved so convincingly.

As much as I was unimpressed with the plot, there was another layer underneath that really made me think. The world has a Dark Queen and a White Queen, and a father and a princess. But just one princess, and one father, and one real girl. What was interesting about the layer is that you can just sense that a parent is writing this, because you can see how it is really a plea for a daughter not to get screwed up by life. It is a plea to listen to good advice, to grow up properly. I think that it is a bit of wish-fulfillment, because I think so many parents have this desire for their children to actually be able to see themselves from outside of themselves and see how ridiculous they are when they're screaming and setting their drawings on fire in a wastebasket. It's almost a bit of a heavyhanded parental fantasy...after all, the most important bit advice is Remember what your mother told you, this desire for children to see that parents really and truly love them and say the things they say out of caring.

There is also that dichotomy of dark and light. To a child, sometimes a parent is only two things, approving or angry, and that plays into a child's role as well. It really is interesting that the only character who exists in both ways in the movie is the mother. Mothers have a nurturing Light side and an angry Dark side; mother is both mothering and controlling. Issues of control and freedom were definitely highlighted repeatedly.

A few of the side characters got right to me, which is very Gaimanesque, of course. Twin giants, one heavy, one light...the male giant holds down the female giant in midair, preventing her from floating away forever. A thin, shaved-head, East European circus girl who remarks that "cash" is more important. Robotic "stylists" who pop out of clocks and sing and dance in a jerky, robotic manner while giving the main character a makeover...an astonishing spectacle.

I have a feeling that I could see the film a hundred times and still not see every one of the little details.

I would definitely recommend seeing this in the theatre. The visuals are worth it. The plot is one you've seen before a hundred million times, but the thoughts behind it are interesting to think about, and the dreamy surreality of it all is something to experience.

On a personal level, there was one thing about the movie which affected me right from the beginning more than I ever expected. And that is creative space.

I lived with my parents (much longer than I should have), and since then I've been in a couple different apartments for four years. And I have always longed for a room of my own, a place I could simply line with drawings and writing and a giant letter a and anything else my heart desired. I've wanted mobiles of bits of glass, brass stampings, a wall of velvet. I've wanted an old couch and a steamer trunk and pillows made of cotton and silk. Somewhere to indulge in free time, in writing, in just absorbing. And this movie struck so fearlessly at that want that I was overwhelmed for a moment. But it can't happen until I have a home of my own. I'm not going to start something like that in an apartment. I don't have an extra room anyway. I mean, I have so much furniture crowded in here as it is, and I don't want to repaint and put everything back like it was. I just want a teeny little room big enough to house my thoughts.

Comments

[jen-deben.livejournal.com]

The wish for creative space is certainly one I can relate to very strongly; I just want a room where I can leave out my oil painting gear, because what gets in the way of me painting more than anything else is the fact that I have to clear the table, drag out all my stuff, then paint (awkwardly, standing between the table and the couch), and then tidy everything away again afterward.

If I could just walk up to the easel, paint, and then clean my brushes and go away again, I think I'd actually spend a reasonable amount of time painting. Currently, I don't.

I think the reason I like writing so much is that my creative space is already set up, in the form of a computer on a desk with a printer attached to it. I can just sit down, and do my thang. No hassle, and no worrying about getting all those poisonous pigments cleaned off our kitchen table.

*Sigh* One extra room; that's all it would take.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I would love a little corner where I could just sit and think and read and write and draw and waste lots of time.

However, after having a little corner, I'd then have to find the time.

So now I'm thinking that the entire thing is most likely a pipe dream. heh. And if I had a creative corner, I wouldn't use it much. I'd still be parked in front of the computer. ;)

[gillieweed.livejournal.com]

I have such a space. A whole room. A very small one, but still...
Was supposed to be my Project Room. Project turned out to be the computer. Which I am once again parked in front of. The table that was brought in as a work table is stacked high with "important papers to be filed" and the like.
*sigh*

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Heh...doesn't that always happen? What you want has to make way for what you need. *sigh*