5 Reasons I’m looking forward to Snow White and The Huntsman

‘Snow White and The Huntsman’, the modern-day adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released last weekend. I haven’t watched it yet, hence this article, but I am hoping to watch it this weekend. Here’s why:

1. It’s the dark and twisty twin!

And I love Grey’s! (Yeah, go ahead & judge me if you must.) The original Snow White, inspite of all its dark themes, was a children’s book. I would have imagined the themes of innate goodness, the conflict of what true beauty is and the death wishes of the vain and heartless, a bit too complicated for children. But apparently, none of the adults though so, so what the hell!
P.S. I still haven’t watched Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Figures, huh?

2. It’s real.

Until now, Snow White and Ravenna are but characters. The characters belong in fairytales, not reality. However, this adaptation strives to explore the puritan themes of Snow White in a realistic setting. It humanizes the characters. It is a gritty, dark, action-packed take on the all too altruistic Snow White. It takes the essence of each character and theme and puts it to test in what cynics like me often refer to, as the ‘real world.’ That in itself sounds challenging and intriguing. A movie which can think of doing that with an age-old fairytale is definitely worth looking forward to.

3. Kristen Stewart

Socially awkward, doped, sleepy, bored or whatever it is that she is; she just always seems herself. Of course, this ‘self’ could be an exquisitely tailored persona (which 22-yr old wants to look like they care?). Yet, she seems to be evolving from this vulnerable, one-personality- fits-all-teenagers character to bold, mature roles. And yes, I do think Snow White in this adaptation is a mature role. You wouldn’t want to be caught dead playing a Disney princess after having played an aspiring vampire for 5 consecutive films but Kristen seems to know what she is doing. And she looks gorgeous doing it! Even when she’s dressing as a man against her own feminine self.

4. Charlize Theron

She plays a character designed to be loathed. Vain, narcissistic, egomaniacal and mostly, just pure evil…that’s Ravenna. Her rasps should give you goosebumps, her evil laughter should repulse you, and her murderous intentions should make you squirm. And yet when you watch the trailer, all you can think of is how beautiful and magnificent she looks. She’s smoldering and compelling and magical. Her vanity and everything else that comes with it seems to stem from a dark pit of vulnerability and insecurities; and that makes her just like any other woman. Almost.

5. Kristen and Charlize

More likely than not, this is just a marketing ploy and I don’t know if this even counts as a reason but I have seen too many videos of these two together to not want to see them sharing screen space even if one is trying to kill the other. In an interview, Charlize said that she would ‘jump off the building for that girl’ referring to Kristen. And then to watch Charlize being the one pushing Kristen off the building, though figurative, is a different kind of exciting (twisted as it may be).

Maybe the film won’t actually be good, as is the case with most remakes so I really shouldn’t get my hopes too high. But the treatment Snow White and The Huntsman is no fairytale. It’s intense and brazen; like a real story with layers of raw emotion and shadows of one’s own inner demons. And wicked or not, everyone has those.