Synopsis
The Other Side of Reason. The Other Side of Fate. The Other Side of Truth.
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home
2005 Directed by Dave McKean
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home
La máscara de cristal, ミラーマスク
I can't tell you how many times I watched this when the dvd was released in 2006. It's kind of silly to say, but at the time I really identified with the character. I was at a weird age - a little older than her but probably at the same maturity level. I had a strained relationship with my Mom and just wanted to draw all day. Also, I was dropping acid fairly regularly, so you could say I experienced 'Mirrormask' under the best possible circumstances.
Once the initial shock of the slightly over-filtered cgi haze wears off, you can allow yourself to become immersed in the dream world. The music and dialog take you to another place. I always…
What if Terry Gilliam directed the live action adaptation of "James And The Giant Peach"? This is probably what it would look like.
Yeah, this is visually a very strange and odd film that has unequal appeal to some but it might also be hated by others as well. The costuming works well with this bleak and strange world, allowing you to immerse yourself into it. While at the same time some of them looked so poorly done, like they were half-assed, for example, the whole thing covering the face of the mom's keeper character felt incomplete and off.
The biggest complaint I have with this movie is that it seemed designed for kids of a certain age group. As…
___________________________________________________________________
Film #20 of "Scavenger Hunt #3" Challenge!
Task #14 : A film about/featuring a circus!
letterboxd.com/naughty/list/scavenger-hunt-3/
___________________________________________________________________
The exquisite wickedly dark visuals were so breathtakingly beautiful I forgave the extremely weak story and dialogue! I also loved it for best use of the Carpenter's tune "Close To You" in a motion picture film ever!
Director Dave McKean is an artistic genius! He's also a nincompoop for allowing an inferior script to sabotage this visionary masterpiece!
The perfect fantasy world to let yourselves get lost in!
Pure Eye Candy!
PANS LABYRINTH for bitches with serious mommy issues. also terrifying movie. Hits you where it hurts while simultaneously being fucking nuts. everyone Needs to watch this movie now.
girls be like oh no my desire to destroy the escapist fantasy world i’ve built in my head as a response to the real world has consequences
uncanny valley 2000s pre-rendered cutscene digital hellscape, major silent hill/psychonauts vibes, it's like someone took a handful of my exact specific aesthetic interests and put them all in one film. neil gaiman doing the writing certainly helps tie this beautiful package all together
I think my favorite thing about Mirrormask is that it looks EXACTLY like a mid-'90s CD-Rom adventure game FMV cut scene.
Neil Gaiman is one of the most creative writers out there. I have read all his books, comics and watched everything based on his work. This film is, by far, my favourite Gaiman based work. This mainly has to do with the matching of Gaiman's incredible fantasy to the visual art of McKean.
Now, there is a lot of evidence here that this is a first time effort at a full-length feature film. The pacing is off and it has structural problems, but it doesn't matter one tiny bit. It is visually stunning, original and in certain scenes completely unique.
This is Gaiman's Alice in wonderland and he, as always, delivers a truly original story with memorable characters.
So if you love fantasy and can appreciate visual flair, you should defintely check this out!
There are strange films that have a sense of unique beauty to them.
There are strange films with a sense of brilliance to them.
There are strange films that try to have some hidden brilliant but end up being stupid.
Then, there's Mirrormask...a little bit of all of the above.
This is about a little girl named Helena who is apart of a family circus act. She'd rather live a normal life and after sharing some harsh words with her mother, her mother ends up in the hospital. Filled with guilt, Helena can do nothing but escape into the confides of her very bizarre dream...or is it a dream?
Mirrormask is like a more bizarre version of Wizard of Oz.…
Neil Gaiman Films Entry #1
A bizarrely charming "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"/"Alice in Wonderland" style film written by Neil Gaiman. The story follows a young girl transported to dreamlike world where she's coveted by an oppressive mother figure (Gaiman explored similar themes in his book "Coraline" which was adapted into a fantastic film). The film's visuals by director Dave McKeanare switch from dreamlike to nightmarish on the fly. Stephanie Leonidas carries the film convincingly as a teenage Helena despite being in her 20s. A tantalizing escape down the rabbithole film for kids and adults alike.
A critic's thoughts:
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a rating of A-, saying that the film is a "dazzling reverie of a kids-and-adults movie, an unusual collaboration between lord-of-the-cult multimedia artist Dave McKean and king-of-the-comics Neil Gaiman (The Sandman)" and that it "has something to astonish everyone."