“Maleficent” is a movie which presents a new version of Walt Disney’s animated film called “Sleeping Beauty”. The movie was released this year, on the 30th of May. It is directed by Robert Stromberg.
The first line of the film is “Let us tell an old story anew and see how well you know it.” The story is seen from a different perspective and it starts like this: a pretty, young fairy is flying above her enchanted land, the Moors, greeting the magical creatures with a sweet voice. The fairy is, of course, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie). One day, at the borders of the kingdom, the little girl meets a boy named Stefan (Sharlto Copley). Even though he is caught stealing something, Maleficent forgives him and falls in love with him. The two of them become very good friends. Stefan has feelings for Maleficent as well, but unfortunately he has another big wish: to become the king of the human land. When Maleficent turns 16, she and Stefan share their first true love’s kiss. But as they grow older, the boy doesn’t visit his friend anymore.
The current king of the human land wants to invade the Moors. Maleficent has to protect her kingdom from its enemies. After she defeats the humans, the king promises that whoever kills the fairy will become the new successor. When Stefan learns about this, he visits Maleficent. He apologizes for not having visited her for a long time. He also tells her that she is in danger. They start to talk to each other again as if nothing happened between them. Stefan gives Maleficent something to drink. Without realizing, the fairy drifts off to sleep. Stefan tries to kill her, but he just can’t do it. Instead, he cuts Maleficent’s wings. Stefan takes the wings to the king to prove the fairy’s death.
When Maleficent discovers that Stefan betrayed her, he rescues a raven named Diaval (Sam Riley). He becomes her new servant. Everyday he goes to the castle to find out more news. When Stefan is crowned, Maleficent’s pure heart turns into stone. She finally realizes that true love doesn’t exist at all. She becomes the queen of the Moors and transforms the land into a dark kingdom.
One day King Stefan announces the christening of his new daughter, Aurora (Elle Fanning). As Maleficent wants to take revenge, she arrives at the castle uninvited, just when the three fairy Godmothers are about to give Aurora their presents. The movie scene is exactly the same as in the well-known story of Sleeping Beauty.
Maleficent offers the princess an evil curse: on her 16th birthday, she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel that will bring her to a death-like sleep.
King Stefan locks away all the spinning wheels in the kingdom. The three fairies take Aurora with them deep into the woods, in a little cottage. For the next sixteen years, Flittle, Knotgrass and Thistletwit don’t have the slightest idea about taking care of a baby. They have a lot of fights and forget about Aurora. But all this time, Maleficent watches the princess in the company of Diaval. Even though she calls her “beastie”, the fairy saves Aurora from many dangerous things.
When Aurora is 15, she finally meets Maleficent:
“Aurora: I know who you are. You’ve been watching over me my whole life. I know you’re there. Your shadow has been following me ever since I was small. Don’t be afraid.
Maleficent: I’m not afraid.
Aurora: Then come out.
Maleficent: Then you’ll be afraid.”
But Princess Aurora is not afraid of Maleficent at all. She even calls her “Fairy Godmother”. Maleficent takes the princess in the Moors. While she is watching Aurora having fun with the magical creatures, she realizes that she has grown fond of Stefan’s daughter. She wants to revoke the curse (“I revoke the curse! Let it be no more!”), but as she declared a long time ago, nothing can change it (only a true love's kiss which doesn't exist). To keep her safe, Maleficent lets Aurora to stay forever in the Moors. The princess is so happy to hear that! Later, Aurora meets Prince Phillip and falls in love with him. Diaval thinks that this is true love and the key to getting rid of the curse, but Maleficent is not that sure...
On the day before Aurora’s birthday, the three fairies accidentally reveal the princess’ true identity. Aurora finds out everything about the curse. She is very angry with Maleficent and leaves her behind. The fairy is heart-broken. When the big day comes, Maleficent finds Prince Phillip. She has to take him to the castle. Unfortunately she arrives too late. Aurora finds the hidden cellar with the spinning wheels, pricks her finger and drifts off to sleep.
In “Sleeping Beauty” the entire kingdom falls asleep. But in this movie, the princess is the only character that suffers from the curse. When Prince Phillip is brought to Aurora’s room, he kisses her, but it has no effect upon the princess. Maleficent apologizes to Aurora for everything she did (“I will not ask you for forgiveness. What I have done is unforgivable. I was so lost in hatred and revenge. I never dreamed that I could love you so much. You stole what was left of my heart. And now I’ve lost you forever.”). She gently kisses Aurora’s forehead. After a few seconds, the princess awakens. The curse is broken because Maleficent shows real love to Aurora. This is an act of true love, indeed!
After a while, Stefan traps Maleficent in an iron net. Aurora helps the fairy to escape by releasing her wings from the king’s room. Stefan tries to kill Maleficent, but in the end he gets to die.
The movie has a very happy ending: Aurora is crowned the queen of both human and fairy lands, unifying the two kingdoms. The princess is the answer to bringing back the peace to the troubled world... and to Maleficent’s soul. Also, in the end of the film, the narrator reveals her identity as “the one they called Sleeping Beauty”...
So this is how we learn about the true story of Aurora and Maleficent. We’ve lived so far with the tale of an unreliable narrator who preferred to hide the real truth!
I liked this new perspective on the story very much! It made me think about other possible unreliable narrators who might have hidden lots of facts from the famous childhood stories. Let us think about other classic tales such as “Beauty and the Beast”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Snow White” or “The Little Mermaid”. What if Belle really fell in love with a beast and there was no transformation of the beast into a prince to make the story more lovable? What if Little Red Riding Hood were mean, ate her Grandma and blamed it all on the poor wolf? Or Snow White being poisoned by the seven dwarves and rescued by the Queen? Or Ariel, the little mermaid, stealing Ursula’s beautiful voice? Anything is possible! Who knows how many unreliable narrators might have tricked us for so many generations...
I recommend “Maleficent” to all the “Sleeping Beauty” fans out there! The movie is very, very good and I’m sure that everyone will enjoy it! :)
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