Friday 8 January 2016

Three Nuts For Cinderella

This version of Cinderella might be one of the lesser known (outside of Europe at least), but it has been my very favourite Cinderella story ever since my parents recorded it 20 years ago.

                             

As this adaption gives the story a bit of a twist, and I think that twist is one of the main reasons I love it so much, I think a summary is needed (it will contain lots of spoilers, but I think we all know the fundamental Cinderella plot):

The mansion/farm where Cinderella (or Popelka as she is called in Czech) lives is in a hurry before the royal family's upcoming visit. Her evil stepmother and stepsister forbids Cinderella to be there when they come, so she uses all the activity as a cover to slip away and visit her pet owl (Rosalie) and go for a ride on her horse in the forest.
Who should she meet there but the prince and 2 of his friends who have slipped away from their duties to go hunting instead. When she disrupts his aim by throwing snow at him, it results in quite a game of tag where they manage to corner her, but she eventually gets away by "borrowing" his horse.


When the prince returns home, the king announces that the prince has to grow up, and therefore he has decided he must marry (to the prince's big dismay). Invitations to a grand ball are sent out and the stepmother and sister is all aflutter when they receive it, so they immediately send a servant to town after fabric. When he returns, he also brings Cinderella a gift of 3 nuts he accidentally came upon on the road. 
When Cinderella later mourns the fact that she cannot see the prince again to Rosalie, she suddenly discover cloth poking out of one of the nuts! And what does she find inside it but a hunter's outfit!
She then shows up at the yearly royal hunt, where she shows that she is by far the better shot among all the contestants.

Tri orisky pro popelku / Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel / Three wishes for Cinderella. Who says a girl can't hit target?:

When the night of the ball arrives Cinderella is forbidden to come and is very sad. To seek consolation she goes to visit Rosalie where she recalls the magic nuts she has. When she makes a wish one of the nuts transforms into a beautiful ballgown and she rides off to the ball on her horse.
When she arrives she meets and greets the prince who was just about to burst from the room, exhausted by the many dance partners. He is, however, drawn into conversation with Cinderella and asks her to dance. During the dance he very quickly falls in love with her and keeps asking who she is (she has put a veil in front of her face so no one will recognise her). He ends up proposing to her at last and in reply she gives him a riddle:
                                 Soot on the cheek but not a chimney sweep
                                 Feathered hat and crossbow but not a hunter
                                 A dress with train and silver thread but not a princess
He doesn't know the answer and she replies that until he knows the answer to the riddle she will not answer his proposal, where after she bolts from the room.


A  hunt after her ensues, during which she (of course) drops a shoe. The prince keeps following her and sees her enter the mansion, so he of course wakes up the entire household asking about for the beautiful princess. After a lot of laughter he comes with the obligatory "whoever this shoe fits will become my wife" speech, and starts trying the shoe on all the women. The stepmother and sister arrive home at the same moment, and catching a glimpse of Cinderella, they realise the truth. They then set a cunning plan in motion which involves dressing the step sister in Cinderella's dress and trying to get the prince to propose to her without seeing her face, but it is foiled.
At the same time Cinderella uses the last magic nut and it reveals a wedding gown to her. 
When the prince is standing disillusioned in the court yard, who happens to come riding in, wearing her new gown but Cinderella? She repeats the riddle to him, and he suddenly realises that she was both the girl he met in the forest and the hunter that impressed him so. 
And then they announce the wedding!


There, that became quite a lenghty summary. But don't think you can skip watching the movie just because you read this, for I didn't include all the funny little moments it is full of and makes it even more worthwhile.

Well, onto why i love this movie.
Firstly, Cinderella is just perfect! She is so sweet and beautiful but still determined and independent, and not so overbearing as in many other movies. I mean; she rides (even when she's not allowed to), she is a skilled hunter and she takes most of the initiative to meet the prince (quite a difference from most other adaptions).
And another thing I like about her; she doesn't accept the prince's proposal at first. She wants him to know that she is more than just the girl in the pretty dress before she agrees to marry him, which is a detail I really like!

 

The other characters are lovely done as well!
The prince is very entertaining with him trying to avoid growing up and running around having fun with his friends, but he is still very sweet.
The step mother and sister are evil but don't have much depth.
The king and queen, however, is the definite highlight among the characters. They have a wonderful relationship and a lot of playful banter. Most of my favourite funny moments from this movie involves the king and queen!

Tri oriešky pre Popolušku:

Don't even get me started on the scenery! It all takes place in a gorgeous winter wonderland filled with snow!
Also, Cinderellas costumes are really something! Her costume for the ball is a favourite of mine (especially the hair do), but I also just love the simple dress she wears around the house.


I nearly forgot to talk about the music!!! That is the most beautiful thing ever! Try and listen to the main themes here and here and then tell me it doesn't beautifully describe the essence of a Cinderella fairy tale.

So  for the conclusion (if my exaggerated use of the words "love" and "beautiful" hasn't made it clear): I love this movie and i really wish more people knew about it.
You should definitely watch it if you love Cinderella or fairy tales or just beautiful movies..or even if you don't. Just watch it is all I can say to you!!

It's available here with english subtitles!

17 comments:

  1. Well, you've definitely made me want to watch this movie. And just for the record, I love lengthy, detailed, summaries.

    You did an excellent job on this review, Rose! And the pictures you included are lovely! Yeah. I really want to watch this now. :)

    ~Miss March

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  2. Awesome review!! My sister showed me this one a few years ago and I agree with you, it's gorgeous and beautiful and a delightful adaptation.

    Cinderella is charming here and adorably spunky. I also love that she gave the prince a riddle to solve instead of just accepting proposal. The scenery is perfection with endless snow-covered woods. :D

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    1. It is truly delightful!
      Cinderella's character is one of my favourite things about this movie!
      Thank you for your kind comment:)

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  3. After reading your lovely review, I went and watched this on Youtube just for fun and I really enjoyed myself, so thank you!!!

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    1. You did? I am so glad you liked it!
      My main purpose with this review was to make more people want to watch the movie. So glad it worked;)

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  4. I just watched this on Youtube yesterday. I didn't realize it was going to be in another language, but really I was surprised at how well English subtitles work. I was definitely able to get into the story and enjoy it, even though I had to read what the characters were saying.

    Cinderella has such a sweet, mischievous nature in this version. I liked her a lot. And I love how the prince is such a boy...who doesn't want to get married but just wants to spend his days hunting and fooling around with his friends. His grumpiness at the ball was hilarious! :)

    Thanks for reviewing this, Rose. I had a lot of fun watching it. :)

    ~Miss March

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    1. You actually watched it? I am so glad that my post served its purpose;)
      The subtitles might take some getting used to, I usually watch it in German so I can understand it.
      I'm so glad you liked it!
      And yes, I also find the prince completely adorable and hilarious.

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    2. Yes, and thank you so much for recommending it. Actually, it's fired my imagination and I have now got a new story cooking in my brain. (Like I NEEDED another story...haha!) It was very much fun to watch.

      You speak German? Wow! How many languages do you know?

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    3. A new story?? That's so exciting, I want to hear all about it!

      I know 3 languages: Dansih, English and German. (Though I would love to learn a lot more)

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    4. Really? Well, I'd be more than happy to tell you all about it except that I don't know all about it myself yet. :) I'm still trying to solidify some of the ideas in my mind. We'll see if it ever comes off, though, as I have never yet written a complete story. :/

      Three languages! And you'd like to learn more? Wow! I only know one, and that's probably all I'll ever know because I'm much to lazy to work on learning a second one. Heehee. :)

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    5. I know that feeling! Most (all) of my story ideas never gets written down. As long as they're just in my head I don't have to worry about plot holes and troublesome scenes;)
      But if you get it together eventually, I would still love to hear it:)

      Learning two extra languages is mandatory in Danish schools. That's the main reason I know them.
      That, and I just love languages!

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  5. I think this rendition's so intriguing and unusual! I can't wait to see all of it sometime. And your summary's fantastic. :)

    Yes, the music is soooo beautiful!!! It's so utterly light and charming, I think I fell in love with it immediately.

    And hee. The prince kept me smiling in all the parts I saw... And with his father and mother? So delightfully funny!

    Thank you so much again, Rose. :) I'm so happy you were able to review this one!!

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    1. It is quite a different twist on the story isn't it? I'm looking forward to hear what you think of the movie in its entirety:)

      Thank you for giving me the motivation I needed to finally write about this movie!

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  6. This sounds like a cool movie! Nice job reviewing it. I love that it's set in the winter, as most of Cinderella stories seem to take place in the summer. I'll add this to my TBW list, for sure.

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    1. Thanks!
      True, that does set it apart from the others, and adds a lot of gorgeous winter scenes!

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  7. Ooh! I want to watch it! Thanks for the link; now I can! ;D Great review, Rose :)

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    1. Glad you liked it, Olivia!
      I hope you'll also like the movie:)

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