MirrorMask

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MirrorMask

MirrorMask film poster
Directed by Dave McKean
Produced by Martin G. Baker
Lisa Henson
Simon Moorhead
Michael Polis
Written by Neil Gaiman (story, screenplay)
Dave McKean (story)
Starring Stephanie Leonidas
Jason Barry
Rob Brydon
Gina McKee
Distributed by Sony Pictures
Release date(s) September 30, 2005
Running time 101 min
Language English
Budget $4,000,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

MirrorMask is a 2005 film from the Jim Henson Company, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Destination Films. It stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee. It is designed and directed by Dave McKean, and written by Neil Gaiman from a story created by McKean and Gaiman.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Helena Campbell

Helena, portrayed by Stephanie Leonidas, is the story's protagonist. The young circus performer and aspiring artist dreams of running away to join 'real life'. Despite these feelings, Helena loves both of her parents although she spends more time with her dad in the movie. In one circus skit they juggle and then have her mother come out in a gorilla suit. After a fight with her mother, in which Helena wishes she could 'be the death' of her, her mother falls ill, possibly from a brain tumour. Helena blames herself for the illness. On the night doctors operate on her mother, Helena dreams, or thinks she dreams, of a mysterious world of masked people and monsters. In the context of the dream world, it's not a dream that has taken her there, but the Princess, daughter of the Dark Queen, who has used a charmed mask (the Mirrormask) to escape the dream world. Helena volunteers to help find the Mirrormask and use it to restore balance in the dream world. It soon becomes apparent that Helena is the creator of the dream world, having created it from her drawings, posters, sculptures and daydreams. Her mother's illness is mirrored by an enchanted slumber which has befallen the White Queen. The two queens are identical to each other and to Helena's mother Joanne (all three are played by Gina McKee).

[edit] The Dark Queen, The White Queen, and Joanne Campbell

The Dark Queen creates the main villain the Princess. A possessive mother who wants a daughter but expresses it through oppresing both the Princess and Helena, the Dark Queen also turns a blind eye to the problems in the dream world if they relate to her daughter. Helena tries to convince her to change her ways and let her daughter grow up, but the Dark Queen refuses to. One can almost pity the Princess if she has to return to the dream world; she'd also have to return to her mother.

Joanne Campbell, on the other hand, has let Helena grow up into her own person up to the point that her daughter's trailer is filled with drawings. She has good intuition and gives advice that helps Helena find the Mirrormask: "when you are looking for something, it is probably staring you in the face". A circus acrobat and ticket-seller, Joanne also dresses up in a gorilla suit for a short skit with her husband and daughter; on the night she collapses another performer has to take over while she travels to the hospital. The movie doesn't explain what her illness is exactly, but dialog implies that she has a tumor of some sort and that it's in her head. After an operation where they "got all of" the illness, Joanne returns to circus life with her relieved family.

Not much is known about the White Queen except that she rules the City of Light, took in the Princess, and the sun is her sigil. The reason why the viewers don't know much is because the Queen is asleep for most of the movie (due to the Princess using the Mirrormask to escape the dream world), except when she wakes up during the climax and when she appears to Helena in the border between the Cities of Light and Dark.

All three women are played by Gina McKee.

[edit] The Princess (Anti-Helena)

Also played by Stephanie Leonidas, the Princess is the daughter of the Dark Queen and is Helena's parallel self in the dream world. The Princess is who Helena would have been if she had lived under a possessive and controlling mother like the Queen and had been unable to develop her own personality. She uses the MirrorMask to switch places with Helena and hides it in her room. After escaping to Helena's world - the "real world" - she takes advantage of her new freedom: dressing like a teenage punk, "snogging" boys that Helena finds distasteful, smoking, and arguing with Helena's father. Her only connection to Helena are occasional windows in the dream world that connect to the art on Helena's bedroom walls, allowing them to see each other. However, the Princess is destroying these windows by crumpling up and burning the drawings, so that she will never have to return to the dream world. In the climax Helena finds a window that the Princess had missed (on the balcony door) and uses the Mirrormask to set things straight. It is unclear whether the Princess is returned unwillingly to the dream world or merges with Helena (a visual effect and the audio commentary by Gaiman and McKean on the DVD imply the latter).

[edit] Valentine

Played by Jason Barry, Valentine is a juggler and performer who describes himself as a "very important man." He becomes Helena's companion in the dream world, although his loyalty slips at times. The biggest slip occurs when he turns in Helena to the Dark Queen for "all the jewels he can carry." (Later he helps her escape.) Valentine is vain, cowardly, and sometimes dim, but he can be both clever and loyal when pushed into a corner. He is constantly in search of reward. He has two performance partners, but both are taken by the Dark Queen's Shadows when he first meets Helena. He is very proud of his tower, a possession that was more useful before he and the tower had an argument and parted ways; when the Dark Queen is chasing him and Helena he finally shouts his apology and the tower rescues them. Valentine, like the other characters, has an unnamed counterpart in the real world whom we meet twice. The first time is when Valentine eats future fruit and sees an alternative future where he uses the Mirrormask to escape to the real world and ends up as a terrible waiter; this vision influences his decision to give Helena the Mirrormask when she asks for it. The second time he asks to audition for the circus and talks to Helena for a minute after bumping into her. His personality is not noticeably different, but he knows nothing about the adventures in the dream world.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] History

Reportedly, it was given a green light by a studio executive who wanted another movie that would sell as well in video release as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal:

  • "Well, in 2001, Lisa Henson phoned and said, 'Look, we've been talking with Sony, and it's become obvious that Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, these two family fantasy movies that Henson made in the 80s, which at the time were both regarded as being flops, have gone on to have this life-forever. People love them, people remember them.' She said, 'We want to do something like that again.'" -- Neil Gaiman on [1]

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and had been announced by Neil Gaiman to come to theaters in late 2005:

  • "The current news is -- good news, MirrorMask will be getting a wider release than was originally envisioned; bad news, it's now going to be getting to the cinemas later in 2005 than was originally planned. I think it'll be released in early autumn. More news as I get it." -- Neil Gaiman on [2]

The time of production is clearly (although incidentally) evident in the film itself: scenes overlooking the seafront of Brighton, England, where the film was shot, show landmarks which provide chronological evidence of the film's production. In the scene where Helena and her father are on the rooftop, overlooking the seafront, the burned-out old West Pier is clearly visible, juxtaposed with the still-standing pier. The fire occurred in the early part of 2005.

The movie opened September 30, 2005 in the U.S. The film ultimately had only a very limited release. The North American DVD release on February 14, 2006 marked the first time this film was made available in most regions.

The movie opened on a very limited release in Australia on December 8, 2005.

[edit] Associated Work

Tokyopop in partnership with The Jim Henson Company are planning to publish a manga-style comic based on the movie, which will be a prequel to the film. TokyoPop Press Release

A small children's book, authored by Gaiman and illustrated by McKean, has already been released and distributed. A book containing the film's complete storyboard and script, as well as some photographs and archival text by Gaiman and McKean, has also been produced and distributed.

[edit] Soundtrack

The film is notable for its soundtrack, which is composed mainly by British jazz luminary Iain Ballamy (who appears briefly in the film as a circus musician) and features contributions from other prominent musicians such as Arve Henriksen, Stian Carstensen, and Ballamy's old Loose Tubes bandleader Ashley Slater.

[edit] Trivia

  • The flat scenes were filmed in Embassy Court in Brighton that, at the time of filming, was semi-derelict and in a poor condition. After the filming was complete, Embassy Court was redeveloped.
  • Filming took 6 weeks in an East London warehouse.

[edit] External links

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