In this version, the two parties have switched sides on account of a twist that makes a villain of one of the ballet’s sweetest characters. Just don’t be too surprised if writer Ashleigh Powell’s playfully revisionist approach - which unfolds more like a pitch meeting than a proper screenplay - recasts Mickey’s mouse cousins as the good guys in the epic battle for control of the land where Christmas toys come to life. To be fair, that war for control of the kingdom has its roots in Hoffmann’s original story. That said, there are certainly wrong answers, and Disney’s dazzlingly hollow, superficially PC live-action adaptation, “ The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” veers dangerously close to blowing it, squandering a talented cast and some of the most spectacular design work this side of “My Fair Lady” on a version with precious little dance and even less chemistry.Ĭonceptually speaking, who better than Disney to make a definitive big-screen version of “The Nutcracker”? And yet, both the film’s title and the peculiar circumstances that led co-helmers Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston to share directing credit betray the soulless, overcalculated approach of this unwieldy tentpole-by-committee, which feels like a world-building scheme for some future Disneyland theme-park attraction (introducing yet another princess to be trotted out for parades), suggesting but never showing several spinoff-ready realms while rushing through a bellicose plot that centers on a giant battle between rebel mice and an army of tin soldiers. Hoffmann’s 1816 short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” has been told and retold so many times over the years - as a ballet by Tchaikovsky, as a novel by Dumas, as a Christmas cartoon by Barbie - that we can reasonably conclude there’s no one right way to reinterpret the beloved classic. The film is also full of swan imagery while silver swans are referenced in Hoffman’s story, this could also be a nod to Tchaikovsky and Petipa’s other famous collaboration, Swan Lake.Conceived just a smidge over two centuries ago, E.T.A. Basil’s Cathedral we’d like to think that this is referencing the ballet’s Russian roots. The Realms’ palace looks nearly identical to St. Towards the end of the film (we promise, this isn’t a spoiler), Clara’s father, upon hearing the “Grand Pas de Deux” music says, “This is the first music your mother and I ever danced to.” This feels poignant as the Nutcracker is most dancers’ first ballet, and the Grand Pas marks a breakthrough for many rising stars. While Mother Ginger’s clown-like minions don’t look like the rosy-cheeked polichinelles that ballet audiences are used to, word polichinelle is the French translation of pulcinella, a commedia dell’arte figure resembling a clown. And the Nutcracker Prince? His name is Philip Hoffmann… a reference to E.T.A., we presume. Early into the film, we find out that Clara’s mother was named Marie. In The Four Realms the protagonist is named Clara Stahlbaum, a combination of the names of Hoffmann’s character (Marie Stahlbaum) and Dumas’ (Clara Silberhaus). Hoffmann’s 1816 original and Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 remake. Story that most dancers are familiar with is a combination of E.T.A. Includes all kinds of references that only true balletomanes will pick up on. Photo by Laurie Sparham, Courtesy Disney Enterprises, Inc. Here’s The Four Realms Mother Ginger, played by Helen Mirren. While purists might take umbrage with this remix, we found it both pleasantly surprising and sweetly sentimental. Yet some parts are entirely unexpected, with riffs that you’ve never heard before. Some parts will feel familiar: For example, the party music matches the party scene, and “Waltz of the Snowflakes” plays while Clara walks through snow. From the opening shot of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms through the closing credits, the film takes Tchaikovsky’s music and mixes it up. You immediately feel a mix of emotions: fear that you’ve missed your entrance, exhaustion and, of course, nostalgia. We know this scenario well: It’s December, and you’re walking through the aisles of your local grocery store when a tinny version of Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Snowflakes” is piped out over the speaker system. Here’s Clara, played by Mackenzie Foy, walking through a forest of Christmas trees. Familiar refrains can be heard throughout the film.
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