Wonderfully charming children's fantasy film, a true
classic!
I used to love this film as a child and even watching it as
an adult it's even better. This is fine children's filmmaking at it's very best
and I can easily say that it's one of the best live action adaptations of a
classic story ever done.
Nicolas Roeg directs Roald Dahl's classic novel "The Witches" and brings it to life on the screen with a superb sense of magic, wit and wonder, something that is sadly missing from children's films these days. The film begins in Norway as Helga Eveshim (brilliantly played by Mai Zetterling) warns her young grandson Luke (newcomer Jasen Fisher) about the secret world of witches- who they are, what they do, how you can spot them and how you can avoid them. Cut to England where Helga and Luke are on a break in a seaside Cornwall hotel, where unfortunately a slew of England's witches decide to hold an annual meeting at the very same place, led by "The Grand High Witch"; leader of all the witches of all the world, played to supreme perfection by Angelica Huston. There Luke and Helga learn of their secret plans for world domination, and as Luke is forcibly turned into a mouse by the Grand High Witch herself, it's up to Luke and his grandma to stop them before they can do any more damage! I simply love this film. As a child it's fantastic because of the sheer amount of creativity put into it, from amazing special effects courtesy of Jim Henson and his Creature Workshop, to inspired performances (especially by Anjelica Huston who completely steals the show with her fantastic portrayal of the witch leader), to hilarious acts of sheer quirky and black comedy, as well as featuring a fine cast of well known British actors; if you're familiar with them then it's a joy to spot them all as they are all great in their roles (such top quality personas such as Rowan Atkinson, Jane Horrocks, Bill Paterson and even a small appearance by Roberta Taylor (later known by her inclusion in Eastenders and The Bill) are all a joy to watch. That's also another good thing about this film- it's a British production, so it very much has that quaint charm of being English (which can be seen in the Harry Potter films as well), and that again makes it stand out from the crowd.
The make-up effects are truly fantastic and very much one of the strongest aspects of the film, there's a whole host of SFX seen in this film and it all looks amazing. There's a particularly horrific transformation sequence where Anjelica Huston turns into what seems a monster, and the make-up is not only terrifyingly scary, but brilliant to see; especially since she's still acting underneath. As Luke turns into a mouse we are again treated to more amazing transformation effects, all practical and done in camera- no trickery and definitely no CGI or animation of any sort! And none of it has aged badly at all! And when Luke is a mouse we then get a cute mouse puppet that talks, and it just looks authentic and just works. All of these effects are shot in a great way so it all works and none looks fake or bad. This is the kind of example which just shows that practical old skool effects will always win me over CGI because everything here just looks real and is believable, and another reason why this film excels. Bravo to Jim Henson and the team once again. Outstanding technical achievements that look great and nothing like films these days, which is an awesome charm.
We also get a magical score by Stanley Myers that captures the essence of Roald Dahl's style and it's a joy to listen to.
My only gripes with the film are that some of the directing is very offputting and amateur- the camera-work leaves a lot to be desired at times, Roegg loves to zoom in and out all the time and even go hand-held and this greatly cheapens the aspect of the film as it then looks very amateurish. There's also a lack of proper lighting in the film, most of the look seems bland and grey and makes it look a tad dated (especially as it was filmed in England with it's bad weather, the colour tone is very bleak), and so some lighting or even colour grading would have greatly enhanced the film's visuals and give it an extra heightened mood (the unveiling of the Grand High Witch's true form could have been better with desired lighting). Still, a small price to pay for what it a great film, i wish the camera-work was better but it still captures the magic on offer.
Other than these small trivial issues, i had a blast with this film; both as a child and as an adult revisiting it many years later. This is a great children's film- funny, charming, brilliantly executed and even disturbingly scary at times- and you can't have a good family film without some scares and this does it all. Absolutely essential viewing for all the family and definitely one of the best of it's genre- a true classic that has become even better in time and a pinnacle in live action children's fantasy entertainment!
Nicolas Roeg directs Roald Dahl's classic novel "The Witches" and brings it to life on the screen with a superb sense of magic, wit and wonder, something that is sadly missing from children's films these days. The film begins in Norway as Helga Eveshim (brilliantly played by Mai Zetterling) warns her young grandson Luke (newcomer Jasen Fisher) about the secret world of witches- who they are, what they do, how you can spot them and how you can avoid them. Cut to England where Helga and Luke are on a break in a seaside Cornwall hotel, where unfortunately a slew of England's witches decide to hold an annual meeting at the very same place, led by "The Grand High Witch"; leader of all the witches of all the world, played to supreme perfection by Angelica Huston. There Luke and Helga learn of their secret plans for world domination, and as Luke is forcibly turned into a mouse by the Grand High Witch herself, it's up to Luke and his grandma to stop them before they can do any more damage! I simply love this film. As a child it's fantastic because of the sheer amount of creativity put into it, from amazing special effects courtesy of Jim Henson and his Creature Workshop, to inspired performances (especially by Anjelica Huston who completely steals the show with her fantastic portrayal of the witch leader), to hilarious acts of sheer quirky and black comedy, as well as featuring a fine cast of well known British actors; if you're familiar with them then it's a joy to spot them all as they are all great in their roles (such top quality personas such as Rowan Atkinson, Jane Horrocks, Bill Paterson and even a small appearance by Roberta Taylor (later known by her inclusion in Eastenders and The Bill) are all a joy to watch. That's also another good thing about this film- it's a British production, so it very much has that quaint charm of being English (which can be seen in the Harry Potter films as well), and that again makes it stand out from the crowd.
The make-up effects are truly fantastic and very much one of the strongest aspects of the film, there's a whole host of SFX seen in this film and it all looks amazing. There's a particularly horrific transformation sequence where Anjelica Huston turns into what seems a monster, and the make-up is not only terrifyingly scary, but brilliant to see; especially since she's still acting underneath. As Luke turns into a mouse we are again treated to more amazing transformation effects, all practical and done in camera- no trickery and definitely no CGI or animation of any sort! And none of it has aged badly at all! And when Luke is a mouse we then get a cute mouse puppet that talks, and it just looks authentic and just works. All of these effects are shot in a great way so it all works and none looks fake or bad. This is the kind of example which just shows that practical old skool effects will always win me over CGI because everything here just looks real and is believable, and another reason why this film excels. Bravo to Jim Henson and the team once again. Outstanding technical achievements that look great and nothing like films these days, which is an awesome charm.
We also get a magical score by Stanley Myers that captures the essence of Roald Dahl's style and it's a joy to listen to.
My only gripes with the film are that some of the directing is very offputting and amateur- the camera-work leaves a lot to be desired at times, Roegg loves to zoom in and out all the time and even go hand-held and this greatly cheapens the aspect of the film as it then looks very amateurish. There's also a lack of proper lighting in the film, most of the look seems bland and grey and makes it look a tad dated (especially as it was filmed in England with it's bad weather, the colour tone is very bleak), and so some lighting or even colour grading would have greatly enhanced the film's visuals and give it an extra heightened mood (the unveiling of the Grand High Witch's true form could have been better with desired lighting). Still, a small price to pay for what it a great film, i wish the camera-work was better but it still captures the magic on offer.
Other than these small trivial issues, i had a blast with this film; both as a child and as an adult revisiting it many years later. This is a great children's film- funny, charming, brilliantly executed and even disturbingly scary at times- and you can't have a good family film without some scares and this does it all. Absolutely essential viewing for all the family and definitely one of the best of it's genre- a true classic that has become even better in time and a pinnacle in live action children's fantasy entertainment!
9/10
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