Pick of the month

MirrorMask (Dave McKean, 2005)

We wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't even heard of this hidden gem, as it is a very low-key UK production. Although the screenplay is by Neil Gaiman, it didn't seem to gain much mainstream attention (or any attention for that matter). The film's story is basically Alice in Wonderland, but with a twist. Yeah, this is what Tim Burton's Alice should have aspired to. 

In the centre of the film is a teenage girl named Helena. She is the main reason we recommend this film, as it's quite unusual to find such a character in a fairy tale/fantasy movie. You wouldn't normally expect a teenage protagonist to be so likable and capable. Often these characters are portrayed with a God-complex, to care only about themselves and to be annoying brats. Hollywood films have truly perfected this phenomenon to the point that teenagers themselves cannot relate to characters their age in film, or so we have discovered the case to be with us. We can't relate (even when we were teenagers) to annoying and egotistical brats. Yes, teenagers HAVE an ego phase (we've all been there), but we just think that movies tend to overdo it these days.

Now Helena is an utterly normal teenager; yes, she fights with her parents and has a rather antagonistic attitude towards her life, but she also has real problems like people in real life have, eg. her mum gets cancer and her parents' business is going under. That stuff really adds to the film's atmosphere and story. You're actually invested in the character's development. 

The film is visually an absolute feast to watch, and very inventive with it's dreamworld scenarios. The movie is quite the successful mixture of fantasy/fairy tale/comedy/adventure genres, which means, in a word, not to be taken too seriously. This is a film to watch when you want something light but different, in an odd kind of way.