The Secret of Moonacre is a 2008 fantasy film loosely based on the 1946 novel The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. The film was directed by Gábor Csupó and starred Dakota Blue Richards in the leading role and with Ioan Gruffudd, Tim Curry, Natascha McElhone and Juliet Stevenson in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2009 by Warner Bros. Pictures.
And one thing you should know about me, I'm not usually a fangirl that gets excited when a hot actor is in a film... however, that doesn't mean there aren't certain actors that I may or may not simp for {Tom Hiddleston, Gerard Butler}; Tim Curry being one of them! And you can bet any film Tim Curry has been in, I've watched... most of them...
Plot:
Maria Merryweather inherits a book after her father's death: The Ancient Chronicles of Moonacre Valley. She reads of the first Moon Princess receiving magical pearls from the moon. At her wedding with a Merryweather, her father, a de Noir, presented the couple with a black lion, while the groom gifted his bride a unicorn. When the princess revealed the pearls, the two families were possessed by greed.
Forced to leave her London home, Maria and her governess, Miss Heliotrope, go to stay at Moonacre Manor with her estranged uncle Sir Benjamin Merryweather. Sir Benjamin warns of bandits and instructs Maria to stay away from the forest and the de Noirs, the rival family. After riding with her uncle, Maria hears a distressed cry and sneaks into the forest, where she is surrounded by bandits, including a boy named Robin de Noir. Before they can kidnap her, Sir Benjamin's intimidating black dog, Wrolf, frightens them away.
When Maria finally continues reading the book, she discovers that the two families fought over the pearls and the Moon Princess cursed Moonacre Valley to be plunged into eternal darkness at the rising of the 5000th moon, unless a "pure heart" is heard. The Manor's chef Marmaduke tells Maria she is the new Moon Princess, as she can see the unicorn, and only such a one can undo the curse. Maria figures out that the very next full moon will be the 5000th. Frightened, she runs away and finds a cave inhabited by a woman named Loveday. Loveday reveals she herself was a Moon Princess, but failed to unite the families and break the curse. Maria realises that the de Noirs stole the casket containing the pearls and the Merryweather's took the key to it.
Finding the key in the book's bookmark, Maria sneaks into the fortress, but is spotted by Robin's father Coeur de Noir. She gives him the key but he reveals that the casket is empty, accusing the Merryweathers of stealing them. Maria escapes and is led home by Wrolf. At the manor, she meets Loveday, who gives her more information: Loveday and Sir Benjamin were once engaged until Loveday revealed she was a de Noir; Sir Benjamin, furious, broke off the engagement and Loveday ran away. Maria then notices a painting of the first Moon Princess, who shows her where she hid the pearls in the forest. Maria sends forged letters to Sir Benjamin and Loveday convincing them to meet, then persuades Robin to help her. Meanwhile, Loveday and Sir Benjamin meet and discover Maria's deception. Together with Miss Heliotrope, Marmaduke, and the "halfwit" servant Digweed, they set out to search for her.
Back in the forest Maria and Robin find the pearls in hollow tree and escape through a secret tunnel. Coeur's men pursue them and kill Wrolf in the process. Coeur reaches the cliff where the valley was cursed just before the moon is about to rise. Sir Benjamin then arrives with Digweed and Marmaduke, followed moments later by Maria and Robin. Loveday, revealed to be Coeur's daughter, also arrives. Maria pleads to her uncle and Coeur to put aside their pride and so break the curse, but fails. She then realizes she must do it herself, and jumps into the sea with the pearls. A huge wave surges towards the cliff and Maria appears on the back of the white unicorn. A revived Wrolf appears, having resumed his true form: the black lion. Sir Benjamin and Loveday reconcile, and Miss Heliotrope finally arrives. The Merryweathers and de Noirs are united, the curse is lifted, Moonacre Valley restored, and Maria and Robin are in love.
Production:
{FUN FACT} In pre-production it was decided the film needed a different title from the book. An internet poll was run, giving fans of the book a chance to vote for their preferred title: The Moon Princess or The Secret of Moonacre. The Secret of Moonacre won.
Filming began in September 2007. While a few scenes were filmed in London, England, most of the film was shot in Hungary. Locations included Dobogókő, Alcsútdoboz, Csesznek and Budapest. The Csesznek Castle was one of main outdoor locations, while the director Gábor Csupó chose Schossberger Castle to "embody" the Moonacre mansion.
Music:
The film's score was composed by Christian Henson and features the Sacconi Quartet. The soundtrack album was released digitally on 17 February and on CD on 17 March 2009. The soundtrack includes the song "Stars", co-written by Henson and Caroline Lost, and performed by singer Skye Edwards. Lost sang on her own version of the song, "Stars (Lullaby Version)", released as a single in February 2009.
My Review:
First thing, my word is this movie underrated/unknown, nobody I know when I last asked know this beautiful movie. It's sad that indie movies don't get much attention, a lot I find are much better than most blockbuster movies. In a way this is like a fusion between 'The Secret Garden' and 'Alice In Wonderland'. You can tell there's a lot smaller budget with this film ($27 million, it only made $1,437,637 in the United Kingdom and a worldwide total of $7,070,330 {HOW?!?!?!}) but honestly it still holds up, the cgi for this film is like that of a blockbuster's, the orchestration of the music is truly quite beautiful with a tinge of melancholy; a beautiful gem of a soundtrack, Christian Henson did an amazing job. The characters are portrayed well, and the actors do a good job playing them. Tim Curry plays the villain, like he does 90% of the time in the films he's in, and he's probably the best character - everything Tim's in he gives it his all, especially since this was one of his last films. Heck, every movie that Tim is in get's a star just for him being in it; every movie is made better with Tim in it.
Overall, I highly recommend this film if you haven't watched it already (probably not); I give it a 9/10.
That and Tim's character's son, Robin is fiiiiiine {God damn what I can't give for a bad boy}.
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