Snow White and the Huntsman

(Though I think there isn’t much room for SPOILERS in this case, you should rather see the film before reading this review.) Neither a fairy nor a dragon. This modern rendering of the archetypal story epically spans the territory of Game of Thrones (the would-be harsh rural setting, the incestuous relationship between siblings), The Lord of the Rings (numerous “wandering” money shots), Disney movies (the fairy forest), Besson’s Joan of Arc (including an inappropriate spiritual dimension), and video-game fantasy (spectacular, bloodless vanquishing of enemies, and partly Snow White’s resuscitation, which is of course present in all versions). Other than the somewhat incomprehensible feminist subtext, the film’s modernity does not lie in reinterpreting a familiar story or putting it in a different context. Rather, the screenwriters merely stretched a simple story into a feature-length epic film, so there’s nothing left for us to do but successively tick off familiar situations. Our immediate recognition of the source material and firm knowledge of how everything will turn out in the end naturally draws our attention away from the content to the various treats for the eye (most of the scenes with the queen) and the ear (the dwarves imported from England). Unfortunately, the fairy-tale black-and-white distribution of power is not in any way relativised and if you want to cheer on Charlize Theron’s emancipatory struggle against the patriarchal order instead of the anaemic princess, the film will do nothing at all to support you in this. ___ The queen’s paranoid defence of her hard-won position, accompanied by her need to be the fairest of them all, could have been used beautifully to express a timeless commentary on gender inequality, to which the traditional (and the film’s chosen) ending conversely contributes.  It’s worth noting that whereas the docile Snow White comes to understand “her” position without authoritative guidance, but surrounded by macho men, the more aggressive queen was, judging from the fleeting hints of her disdain for the male sex, guided by the upbringing she had from her mother and obediently accompanied only by her effeminate brother. Snow White’s climactic act of defiance follows a series of hardships culminating in her clinical death, when she is wearing asexual armour serving to deflect both arrows and the male gaze (thus creating the opposing figures of Snow White as being “butch” and the Queen as "femme", thus further confusing the already uncertain sexual orientation of the characters). Snow White paradoxically gains her exclusive position among men by becoming one herself in terms of her appearance (the exact opposite of the queen’s constant self-beautification). However, it’s possible that today’s girls (not necessarily just Twilight fan) are looking for this type of heroine, who must “suffer” in order to gain the victory that she believes she deserves due to her princess-like nature. The men faithfully follow Snow White only after her suffering reaches its peak (though anyone who has seen Martyrs might object to her lovely collapse to the ground). Unlike in melodramas, the topos of the suffering heroine here does not primarily elicit “unproductive” emotions, but rather conditions the active struggle. Paradoxically, it is the struggle for an abandoned home, where the possibilities for women’s emancipation are limited on principle. The film leaves answered the question of the extent to which Snow White’s rule will be dependent on men. There are multiple ways to interpret the symptoms of this new film version of Snow White, but I’m afraid there will be few that clearly favour women. ___ Snow White and the Huntsman is an outwardly appealing film, but with every layer that gets peeled back, it becomes less and less convincing in what it wants to tell us. 65% (05/30/2012) (less) (more)