The sleeping beauty
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The sleeping beauty |
| Original title | La belle endormie |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 2010 |
| length | 82 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Catherine Breillat |
| script | Catherine Breillat |
| production |
Jean-François Lepetit , Sylvette Frydman |
| camera | Denis Lenoir |
| cut | Pascale Chavance |
| occupation | |
| |
The Sleeping Beauty (La belle endormie) is a French television film by Catherine Breillat from the year 2010 . The modification of the fairy tales Sleeping Beauty and The Snow Queen is about Princess Anastasia, who falls into a hundred-year sleep and dreams meanwhile that she is looking for a revered boy. It also contains references to Alice in Wonderland . Breillat explained her interest in the material by saying that girls were mostly raised to be submissive. But she wants them to "face the challenges of the world, fight battles and win like heroic knights." As a little girl, she always wanted to take part in the boys' games.
action
At the birth of Anastasia, who is to become a princess, an old fairy puts a curse on her: she is supposed to die at the age of 16. The benevolent young fairies are late and can only soften their curse. When she was six years old, she stabbed her hand and fell into a hundred-year sleep. She escapes a boil-strewn guard of hell by solving the task that leads to freedom.
She moves through the forest and comes across a house where a woman lives with her underage son Peter. The woman takes her in and Anastasia befriends Peter. The happy times come to an end when Peter catches an ice flake in his eye, he demystifies the world and sees the Snow Queen in his dreams. He's got into his boozy years, moves out and leaves a sad Anastasia behind. She embarks on a search for him, whom she believes is the perfect man. A passing steam train unloads them at the train station in a place inhabited by dwarfs. A man is known here who fits Anastasia's description. A dwarf leads them into his bedchamber, but the man is not Peter, but the King of England. She tells him and the Queen her story and has breakfast with them. Then she gets on a carriage for the rest of the way. Robbers attack the carriage and a robber girl claims Anastasia for himself. They become friends and the girl shows her her pigeons and her reindeer in the robber's den. She tickles Anastasia with a knife and explains that she itches to stab even if she doesn't. The next day she saddles her reindeer for Anastasia, with which she moves to Lapland. In a large tent, Anastasia meets a sorceress who is shouting magic spells that are supposed to help in the search for Peter.
When Anastasia wakes up, she is 16 years old. Peter's great-grandson Johan, 18 years old, whom she feels to be at least equal to Peter, is standing by her bed . She falls in love with him and lets him open a few buttons on her bodice, but refuses to come closer. Disappointed, he goes away for a few days. Meanwhile, the robber girl, who has meanwhile matured into a young woman, comes into her room. Both talk about men and love; the experienced robber initiates Anastasia into sexuality and sleeps with her. Johan visits friends and cuddles with another woman. After his return he deflowered Anastasia, but soon after she disappeared. In a contemporary French city, he discovers her on the street. He blames her for being gone for so long. Contrary to his concerns that they are both too young, the pregnant Anastasia wants to keep her child. They assure one another of their love.
criticism
On the occasion of the performance of the work at the Venice Film Festival in 2010, the Standard judged : “Despite the surreal characters and incidents, the film looks contemporary.” Compared to Breillat’s gender struggle films, La belle endormie has a “cheerful note” with its “cheeky main character” . For Le Monde , the film is "a beautiful homage to the power of dreaming and the fearlessness of childhood." The fluid camera movements and "the inventive settings reinforce the script's ideas."
Web links
- The Sleeping Beauty in the Internet Movie Database (English)