FairyTale: A True Story [VHS]

4 reviews for FairyTale: A True Story [VHS]

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – April 22, 2024 Lemuel Rohan

   Watched on Amazon prime. So cute. Great story for a 6 year-old and adults!

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – August 30, 2024 Corine McKenzie

   This is a sweet and enchanting family movie I watched on a day my son was home sick. I like to share movies I watched when I was younger with them. It wasn’t for very young children, but not for only adults. Probably 7 and up.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – October 23, 2024 Cordia Murray

   “Masters of illusion never reveal their secrets” says Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel) in the lyrical fantasy ”Fairytale–A True Story” (1997). And pay attention to the things Houdini says like: “Never try to fool children. They expect nothing and therefore see everything”, because his character exists to articulate the film’s themes. These revolve around the need for many people to believe in the existence of spiritual concepts, the wisdom of not challenging these beliefs if they give sustenance, and how loss of the ability to see much that is hidden goes along with our loss of innocence. The innocence is stressed early in the film when an 8 year-old girl seeks out a horribly scarred veteran on the train and gets “her corporal’s” help to play a game of cat’s cradle.In its best montage the film moves between, Houdini’s fabled “The Chinese Water Torture Cell” illusion, a chess match, and the first-hand spiritual education of an investigative reporter.The film loosely documents the “Cottingley fairies” incident in 1917 when two English girls produced photographs that showed themselves in the presence of fairies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (insert Sherlock Holmes here) published the photographs when he and various experts became convinced they were authentic. Many years later the girls would confess that they had faked all but one of the photos, but they continued to claim that their fairies actually exist.12-year-old Elsie Wright (Florence Hoath) and 8-year-old Frances Griffiths (Elizabeth Earl) are the girls. It is late in WW1 and Francis has come to live with her Aunt and Uncle because her father is missing in action on the front lines. The Wright’s too are dealing with a recent loss as Elsie’s brother has passed away. So both children and Mrs. Wright (Phoebe Nicholls) are primed for belief in the other world.Yes there are fairies, the viewer sees them when no people are around and we see them leaving the area when Doyle’s revelations cause the property to be trampled by a hoard of both believers and skeptics.The production design and the special effects are impressive and the film is absorbing from scene to scene. The target audience is a little hard to pin down as the subject is geared to children but much of the story a bit confusing if you are not already familiar with historical figures like Houdini and Doyle. The film utilizes the tried and true device for connecting with children by giving them a story about young people who know stuff is real, even though adults don’t get it.In the film the age gap between the two girls is slightly less than it was in real life, which gives their relationship a bit more believability. Even more impressive is how successful the director was in the subtle creation of two very distinct personalities. Elsie is shy and artistic. Frances is confident and social. Their interplay is the film’s real strength; apparently the director sensed this dynamic and worked very hard in his acting for the camera direction of the two young actresses. He kept them in character and added behavioral elements they give their characters considerable depth and dimensionality.Then again, what do I know? I’m only a child.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – December 24, 2024 Mrs. Tamara Kemmer II

   This is a charming and aesthetically beautiful film. The story is simple enough and is based on a set of historical events that happened during the WWI period in England. What is true or not about the Fairies is delicately left open enough for one to draw one’s own conclusions.Either way, a delightfully done film with many good performances and memorable, especially for the young, or young at heart.I can’t give it 5 stars because of the genre, but it is delightful enough that it’s a winner.