Psycho's Movie Reviews #166: FairyTale: A True Story (1997)

FairyTale: A True Story is a 1997 French-American fantasy drama film directed by Charles Sturridge and produced by Bruce Davey and Wendy Finerman. It is loosely based on the story of the Cottingley Fairies. Its plot takes place in the year 1917 in England, and follows two children who take a photograph soon believed to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. The film was produced by Icon Productions and was distributed by Paramount Pictures in the United States and by Warner Bros. internationally.

Plot

Early 20th-century Europe was a time and a place rife with conflicting forces, from the battlefields of World War I to the peaceful countryside of rural England. Scientific advances such as electric light and photography appeared magical to some; spiritualism was championed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle while his friend Harry Houdini decried false mediums who prey upon grieving families. J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan charmed theatregoers of all ages. Young Frances Griffiths, whose father is missing in action, arrives by train to stay with her cousin Elsie Wright in rural Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Polly Wright, Elsie's mother, is deep in mourning for her son Joseph, a gifted artist who died at the age of ten, and she keeps Joseph's room and art works intact. Elsie is not allowed to wear colours or to play with his toys, but she has taken the unfinished fairy-house he built up to her garret bedroom where her doting father, Arthur, regales her with fairy tales. He is a bit of a local hero, responsible for the electrification of the local mill, where children as young as Elsie go to work. He is also an amateur photographer and chess player. When Frances arrives she and Elsie discover a shared fascination with fairies, whom they encounter down at the "beck", a nearby brook. They abscond with Arthur's camera one afternoon to take pictures of the fairies, hoping to give Polly something to believe in. When she comes home after attending a meeting of the Theosophical Society, where she hears stories of angels and all sorts of ethereal beings, she finds Arthur reviewing the prints in disbelief, but she thinks they are real. She takes them to Theosophist lecturer E.L. Gardner, who has them analysed by a professional and then brings them to the attention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The photos are pronounced genuine, or at least devoid of trickery.

No one except Houdini believes that young children could be capable of photographic fraud, and Conan Doyle himself arrives at the girls' home with Houdini, Gardner and two new cameras. Arthur catches Houdini poking around and tells him point-blank that he doesn't believe that the fairies are real, but that no trickery took place in his darkroom either. Abetted by the buffoonish Gardner, Elsie and Frances soon come up with two more photos and Conan Doyle has the story published in The Strand Magazine, promising everyone's names will be changed. But a newsman soon identifies the beck in Cottingley, tracing the girls through the local school and besieging the family. Hundreds of people invade the village in automobiles and on foot, and the fairies flee the obstreperous mobs. By way of apology to the fairies, the girls finish Joseph's fairy-house and leave it in the forest as a gift.

The girls are invited to London by Conan Doyle, where they embrace their celebrity and see Houdini perform. In a quiet moment backstage Houdini asks Elsie if she wants to know how he does his tricks, and she wisely declines. And when a reporter asks, he declaims, "Masters of illusion never reveal their secrets!" Back in Yorkshire, while the girls and Polly are away, Arthur has a chess match with a local champion reputed to be mute, and the newsman breaks into their house. He discovers a cache of paper dolls in the form of fairies in a portfolio in Joseph's room, but he is frightened away by the apparition of a young boy, leaving the evidence behind. Arthur wins his match, wringing a shout from his opponent, and another myth is debunked. After the children return home, the fairies reappear, and finally, Frances' father comes home as well.

Background

In 1920 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who had developed a strong belief in spiritualism in the last third of his life, was commissioned by the Strand Magazine to write an article on fairies, and it was while preparing this article that he first heard of the Cottingley Fairies. In 1922 he published The Coming of the Fairies, which included numerous photographs and extensive discussion. Magician Harry Houdini publicly exposed the many fraudulent mediums he discovered during his search for a genuine medium who could help him communicate with his late mother. The two maintained a friendship for several years, exchanging several letters about supernatural phenomena.

Filming and Production

Much of the film was shot on location in the Cottingley, Bingley and Keighley in the City of Bradford. Filming locations include Cottingley Town Hall, Cottingley Beck, and Keighley railway station along with the rest of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. The cinematography was by Michael Coulter, with art direction by Sam Riley. The film was produced by Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions and Gibson appears in an uncredited cameo as Frances' father.

Release/Reception/Box Office

The film was released in the United States on October 24, 1997.

The film got its UK premiere in Bradford, the city it was filmed and set in, on the 8th of February 1998. It was shown simultaneously at the Pictureville Cinema (which is based in the National Science and Media Museum), and Bradford Odeon just over the road. The Bradford premiere was attended by the likes of Dominic Brunt (among other Emmerdale stars), politician Gerry Sutcliffe, the lord mayor of Bradford Tony Cairns, Frances Griffiths' daughter Christine Lynch, the films stars Phoebe Nicholls, Tim McInnerny, Florence Hoath, and Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Earl, along with the director Charles Sturridge. The after party was based at the Bradford Alhambra which is situated in between the National Science and Media Museum, and the Bradford Odeon.

FairyTale: A True Story received mixed reviews from critics, as it holds a rating of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes from 23 reviews.

The film grossed just over $14 million in the US and Canada. In the UK, the film grossed £2.4 million ($4 million) for a worldwide total of over $18 million.

Box office $18 million

My Review

In Gilstead Crags, England it is said that there is an opening in the rocks known as "Fairies Hole" in which tiny creatures dance in the moonlight and can be heard miles away clanging musical tongs. When we were young, many of us loved stories about elves, goblins, fairies, and sprites in which children braved the unknown. When we got older, however, many became preoccupied with school, job, marriage, or children and never again dipped into the "deeper, darker landscapes". Of course when no one is looking, we may secretly revisit tales from our childhood such as Rip Van Winkle or films like The Wizard of Oz or Darby O'Gill and the Little People. One of the most enchanting of this genre is Charles Sturridge's delightful adventure fantasy Fairy Tale: A True Story.

Whether you believe in fairies or not, Fairy Tale: A True Story rekindles a sense of wonder at the infinite mystery of life and the joy evident on the faces of the girls in the film's luminous ending seeps quietly into our hearts. Unfortunately, the film fails to inform us that the girls, interviewed in 1982 for an article in The Unexplained, confessed that the photos were hoaxes, cardboard cut-outs pinned to the ground with a hatpin. Francis maintained, however, that one of the five pictures was real and stated in her last interview in 1986 that both she and Elsie saw the fairies and believed very strongly in them.

She said that, "The first time I ever saw anything was when a willow leaf started shaking violently, even though there was no wind, I saw a small man standing on a branch, with the stem of the leaf in his hand, which he seemed to be shaking at something. He was dressed all in green." Whatever the truth may be, there is even to this day still a strong belief in fairies around the Cottingley area and, after seeing Fairy Tale: A True Story, some of us may believe in the possibility as well.

Fairytale: A True Story is a truly charming and delightful film, that has all the charm of the enchanting Secret Garden and the equally wonderful Little Princess. The screenplay was very solid, and the film does look very, very beautiful, with perfect camera-work and splendid period detail. The simple but well-told story tells of two young girls who find and photograph fairies, and they manage to convince even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (marvellously played by Peter O'Toole) that the fairies are real. The music was really lovely to listen to, and director Charles Sturridge manages to draw spirited (and exemplary) performances from his two leads Florence Hoath and Elizabeth Earl. The supporting cast include Paul McGann, Pheobe Nicolls and Harvey Keital, and all do more than a respectable job. Overall, a very pleasing and charming film, that does certainly leave you wanting fairies at the bottom of your garden, like the back of the video box promised.

After watching this film I realize that it is not so much about whether it "was really" true or untrue...the essence of the film, made amply clear is the Belief of the two girls in fairies that made them see them in the first place. On a metaphysical level the film says that if you really believe in something, however odd or outlandish, it will come true or be true. There's no sense in being contentious about the basis of this film because that is very much valid as I have pointed out above. To do so, as I see some people have done over here, is to not only misunderstand the message of the film but to downplay its other qualities.

The acting of Florence Hoath as Elsie and Elizabeth Earl as Frances is really impressive. Both have done complete justice to their characters. The rest of the cast, Paul McGann as Elsie's father, Peter O'Toole as Arthur Conan Doyle and Harvey Keitel as Houdini are also really good. I also absolutely agree with most of the reviewers here that the early 20th century has been evoked very well. But of course, the best thing about the film is the cinematography. It's gorgeous! The woods where the girls encounter the fairies are evoked beautifully, they're appropriately dreamy and realistic. Praise must definitely be due to the set decorators who have done a brilliant job with the house that the Wrights live in and especially the room which Elsie and Frances share. It's a dream garret room! The music is also quite good. I thoroughly recommend this film, certainly for those who believe in Believing things and also for those who like to watch a really well made period film. 10/10!!!

{I know that this song wasn't on the score to this film, but every time I hear it it reminds me of the film - that and in the video the ending scene where all the fairies sneak into the girls house to see them is in the video. I'm not gonna lie, I do believe in fairies. Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they aren't there}.