The Quirks of Cate's Mind

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 2002)

Spoilers herein.
For some reason, IMDB dropped my original comment. Only Gandolf knows why. This is a slim replacement, but done after some time has passed. That distance is valuable.
The game here is one that you can only lose. Books can tap the imagination in ways that film ruins because what you see constrains what you can imagine. The books were successful because they created a whole world in such a way that found niches in our ability to envision. The best that can be done is to amaze visually, not trample the actual story, and hope that distracts from the fact that something unbounded is now visually bounded forever.
My original comment spoke to small compromises made in the film that make the pagan notions fit more clearly in a Christian context. That's likely what prompted the removing complaint, so I avoid repeating the mistake. But I will note how the women, Ms Blanchett and Tyler are photographed. They are so idealized (even for film!) that I sat impressed. The camera can construct beauty and imply so much more. They do so here, and many girls will struggle with these ideals in the future.
I think the idealization of Cate adds one dimension to the story that wasn't quite in the book: Cate's magical pledge could be seen as creating a vision that is the entire rest of the story. I prefer this, seeing all the monsters and motivations as coming from this lovely magical queen's mind. Cate as Elizabeth, the magical queen that Spencer has as the Fairie Queen whose dreams define the world. This way, the imagination part of the project is made explicit.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 4: Has some interesting elements.