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Rating:  - "Fairytale:A True Story" absolutely wonderful-A MUST SEE!
For young and old alike,this delightful film has it all! Based on the true story of two young girls who claim to have seen fairies in England during WW1,"Fairytale:A True Story" features superb acting throughout,especially Elizabeth Earl and Florence Hoath as Francis Griffiths and Elsie Wright, whose fairy sightings stir up quite a bit of controversy throughout wartime England. Among the people caught up in the excitement are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,brilliantly portrayed by Peter O"Toole and Harry Houdini,featuring Harvey Keitel in one of his finest performances. Paul McGann and Phobe Nicols are also wonderful as Elsie's parents. I really can't say enough about this film. Brilliantly cast and beautifully photographed,it is enchanting entertainment from beginning to end. The film score is even well worth the price if you can still find the CD! This film is not your average children's movie and I have read alot of reviews that ask weather this film was aimed at children or adults.This could very well be why it was not more of a commercial success.A pity, because I believe this film offers something for all ages.I also regret that I have not seen Florence Hoath in many other roles,save for "The Governess" and I haven't seen Elizabeth Earl at all-they deserve more recognition!
Rating: - A unique and enchanting movie
Many reviewers give this movie high praises for originality, but since it's not the typical children's type of story are uncertain if they should give it a 4 or a 5 rating.
This movie has no evil villians trying to ensnare the poor faries and capture the little girls. There are no heroic leads who come in and set everything right. It is simply about living and believing in what most cannot.
The film follows the story of Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith, two girls who want to prove to their unbelieving mother that faries do exsist. Their photographs, however, get out of controle and soon the entire nation is in an uproar. The two girls must find a way to stop the commotion while not breaking their promise to never reveal the faries' secrets.
This movie is very well done and superbly acted. The two girls are great actors (not many child actors are!) and as a sherlock fan i am proud of Peter O' Tool's portrayal of Sir Author Conan Doyal. The addition of Huddini in the mix adds for a delightful drama.
The movie doesn't sugar-coat anything, and the question about what happens when children grow up is ever present. It is a sad-sad world where we are forced to become adults and stop beliving in fantasy and magic.
I would like to dispell alot of the claims of "bad computer animation" in this movie. ... For one thing, Computer Animation wasn't used to portray any of the fairies except the mermaid one. The rest were real actors. I think that the little amount of footage of the faries on screen allowed the filmakers to spend more time on them and create a much more believable scene than anything done in recent years (with the exception of "Hook")
Rating:  - Fairy good
It is the true story of 2 children(well,actually,I have read all about the Cottingly Fairies and the real girls were teens)who insist they have seen fairies.While nice,it was also rather boring.
Rating: - Is this movie for children or adults?
Don't let the title fool you - I think this movie is great, only not what some people might be expecting. Despite the title, the fairies themselves don't come into the movie much expect as a plot device - there are a few fleeting glimpses but not a word of dialouge spoken among them. So forget any ideas of fairy mischief-making, as the movie centres more around the topic of belief and faith, and the contriversy that arises from the two girls and their 'proof' in the existence of fairies. Therefore, only the thoughtful and patient (and rare!) breed of children will get much enjoyment from this movie - others I'm afraid will be simply bored.
I have always been fascinated by the real story of the fairies in Cottingley Glen, and have copies of the photographs taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith, two teenagers who claimed that the fairies and gnomes captured by their camera were in fact real. I have also read several conflicting stories on the resolution of these events - one resource told me the girls confessed that the photographs were fake, another that on their death-bed one of them swore they were real. And yet another - the editorial review claims the girl passed away without any confession one way or the other. In the movie version the fairies are obviously real beings, and yet the director cleverly slips in a scene illustrating how the 'real' pictures could have been created - the nasty reporter pins cut-out fairies to the desk top.
The movie story is fairly straightforward, but with deep and serious undercurrents - Frances Griffith's father is missing in action during the war, and so travels to her older cousin Elsie Wright's home to wait out the fighting. Though the forest and river is populated by fairies, the Wright house however, is not such a happy place - Elsie and her parents are still mourning the loss of their son and brother Joseph. Arthur Wright (who had forbidden his son to have anything to do with fairies before he died) cannot even bring himself to speak his name, and Polly Wright gradually looses herself in the desparate hope of angels and fairies. To renew Polly's faith the two girls decide to photograph the fairies as proof to her that they do truly exist. Their plan works, but eager to share her new-found joy, Polly gives the pictures to a public speaker who releases them to the public, instantly making the girls celebrities. Also in the mix are well-known public figures Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Peter O'Toole) a pawn to so-called psychics due to his desparate wish for his deceased son's spirit to communicate with him, and Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel) the famous escapist and magician who despite his disbelief in real magic, becomes the girls strongest supporter. And hang on a second...was that Mel Gibson turning up at the last moment as Frances's father?!
The two child stars Florence Hoath and Elizabeth Earl are wonderful as the children struggling through the difficulties life throws at them, and the belief they uphold throughout it all - Frances is mischievious and cheerful, Elsie is serious and thoughtful, but the two of them form another theme that comes through: the inevitable truth that everyone must someday grow up (watch out for the cleverly inserted Peter Pan pantomine). Discussing the subject at night, Frances gives the lovelist reason as to why someone would *want* to grow up - "I think I know what it means to be grownup. It's when you feel...what someone *else* feels."
All in all, though I like this movie enough to have it on tape, I feel that since the movie is mainly about having faith and belief in the unseen, it may have been a better idea not to have the fairies shown at all expect in the photographs - letting the viewer decide for themeselves whether they believe in fairies or not.
Rating: - Cute...
This was a nice movie. It is BASED on a true story but it doesn't really follow what truly happened, mind you. In real life two girls photographed each other posing behind paper cutouts of fairies. They fooled the world for decades. In the movie, however, the fairies are real. There's something that's just so magical about this movie, I can't describe it. There isn't much storyline, it's just two cousins trying to prove that fairies exist. The computer animation is really good. If you like movies about young children from World War II such as The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, this is for you!!
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