Whether it be Beauty’s beastly romance, Cinderella’s evil step sisters or Dorothy’s journey to the Emerald City, fairytales and fables have been etched into the fabric of society from the beginning of time.
A vivid collection of these fantastical tales are bringing their happily-ever afters to GOMA this summer as the gallery explores the cinematic allure of the traditional narratives and their continued ability to capture our imaginations.
Told through animations and live action films, ‘Fairytales and Fables’ explores wider filmic interpretations of European tales and their influence on these genres in North America and beyond.
From the early silent tales of George Méliès and the animated fairytales and fables of Lotte Reiniger, through to fantastical contemporary tales by filmmakers Tim Burton ('Edward Scissorhands') and Terry Gilliam ('The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'), the program encourages audiences to look past the Disney stories which have come to dominate society’s perception of fairytales.
“If you were born in the last 50 years I don't think you would be unfamiliar with Disney fairytales and they say the first fairytale you see is the one that you think is the true fairytale,” says program curator Amanda Slack-Smith.
“But there is this whole other collection of fairytales from filmmakers who have really taken the important tropes and motifs and have explored them in different ways.”
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Today, as they have been in the past, fairytales and fables remain a booming force in the film industry with filmmakers enjoying the adaptability of the basic and unchanging issues of society captured in such tales.
“Fairytales were some of the earliest films made because people knew the motifs. So filmmakers just had to hint at these stories and then they got to do all this spectacular technical investigations with this brand new medium, like people disappearing and coming back again, or rising from the floor, flying with wires. Fairytales permeate nearly all of our storytelling so that's why you have films that don't feel like they are fairytales but are.”
Along with the general screenings there will be a special teen-only screening of 'Where The Wild Things Are' and a conference, 'The Perlious Realm: Fairytales on Film', which explores the darker narratives of the cinematic fairytale and the oral and literary roots they draw upon.
From enchantingly enthralling favourites to wickedly gruesome adaptions, Amanda assures us that the program is not just for the kids.
“Fairytales weren't originally meant for children, they were told by adults to adults around the fire and were about dealing with adult issues. So we have a range. Some days we have the films that are G and PG-rated so families can come out and see them. But then we are putting out things like the Korean retelling of 'Hansel And Gretel' and 'Cinderella' which are Korean horror films.”
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Amanda believes fairytales will never be out of fashion as they offer a way for the audience to explore difficult issues of society in a less confronting way.
"As a human species, we tend to have similar anxieties around change and social taboos, social boundaries and a lot of the fairytales are about addressing transgressive behaviour and reinforcing social codes and dealing with these anxieties in a way that is entertaining and less obvious to the audience. 'Hansel and Gretel' for example looks at child abuse,or all those evil step mothers or serial killers could be reflected as ogres.”
‘Fairytales And Fables’ runs from Jan 10 - March 30 at GOMA.