Mirrormask (2005)

In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a fifteen-year-old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.

Director:

Dave McKean

Writers:

Neil Gaiman (story), Dave McKean (story)

Stars:

Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon

5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephanie Leonidas	...	Helena / Anti-Helena
Jason Barry	...	Valentine
Rob Brydon	...	Morris Campbell / Prime Minister
Gina McKee	...	Joanne Campbell / Queen of Light / Queen of Shadows
Dora Bryan	...	Aunt Nan
Stephen Fry	...	Librarian
Andy Hamilton	...	Small Hairy
Simon Harvey	...	Sphinx
Lenny Henry	...	Cops 1-4
Robert Llewellyn	...	Gryphon
Eryl Maynard	...	Mrs. Bagwell
Eve Pearce	...	Future Fruit Lady
Nik Robson	...	Pingo / Bing (as Nik Robinson)
Victoria Williams	...	Nurse
Rick Allen	...	Man In a Box

Storyline

In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year-old girl named Helena who works at the family circus with her father and mother, who wishes--quite ironically--that she could run away from the circus and join 'real life'. But such is not to be the case, as she finds herself on a strange journey into the Dark Lands, a fantastic landscape filled with giants, Monkeybirds and dangerous sphinxes. She must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get back home.

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Plot Keywords:

circus | dream | fantasy world | dark fantasy | dream world | 

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Taglines:

Enter A World Where Dreams Are Real

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild thematic elements and scary images

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

Carobna maska

Filming Locations:

Black Island Studios, Alliance Road, Acton, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$126,449, 2 October 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$864,959, 11 December 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Destination Films, The Jim Henson Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

• Total number of scenes in the script: 135
• Total number of pages in script: 107 3/4

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Goofs

Dwarf actor Peter Burroughs is misspelled in the end credits.

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Quotes

Prime Minister: Right, and you reckon that's the charm, hmm?
Citizen: Yes.
Prime Minister: I'd have to say, to me, it looks rather like half a brick.
Citizen: Not really. Well... a bit...
Prime Minister: it's half a brick isn't it?
Citizen: Ermmmmm...
Prime Minister: Good try, thanks for coming. Next.

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Connections

Referenced in Coraline (2009)

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Soundtracks

My Waltz for Newk
Performed by Iain Ballamy and Stian Carstensen

User Reviews

Incredible visuals and great story

Title: Mirrormask (2005)

Director: Dave McKean

Cast: Stephanie Leonidas, Gina McKee, Rob Brydon, Jason Barry, Dora Bryan

Review: Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman have partnered up in the past to write some visually astounding children's books. McKean would take care of the artwork and Gaiman would take care of the story. This time around they have joined forces to create a film that very closely resembles their previous colaborations. Only this time around, the images move and actors say the words in this way helping to bring McKeans art and Gaimans words to vibrant life.

The story in Mirrormask is about a young girl called Helena. Her parents run a circus and she has been brought up in the circus environment, but lately shes been feeling like shes not really cut up for circus life. Helena and her mother have a fight about her not wanting to be in the circus anymore and she wishes her mother would die. On that same day, her mother falls ill and ends up in the hospital and Helenas conscience begins to bother her, after all, she did wish her mother was dead. And now she is close to dying. So once Helena falls as sleep thinking about all these things she enters her imaginary dreamworld where everything has a representation of what she knows from real life.

This is a very visual film. McKean fills the screen with his lush imagery. If you've seen McKeans artwork and know how beautiful it is, then you know how incredible it is to see his pictures come to life on this film. This movie is eye candy, and for those of you out there who love art and love films that give their utter most importance to their visual aspect, then you will love this movie. McKean fills the screen with really outlandish, strange, weird and dreamlike situations. Nothing is what you would expect.

Some people might feel that this type of movie is all style and art and no substance simply because its such a visual film. But I sincerely think that this is not the case with Mirrormask. With a writer like Neil Gaiman in charge, well, you can almost tell that the movie is going to have some deep psychological themes going on for it. And it does. Every character, every situation, every word spoken in Helenas dream world means something in Helenas real life. So be on the look out for those comparisons.

The movie has some truly astounding sequences that left me breathless and my jaw was dropping. First there was the giants orbiting sequence with these huge stone giants floating in the air and then there's this sequence in which Helena gets transformed into a dark princess that is simply amazing. They really did a good job of mixing music with visuals in that sequence. You'll just have to wait and see it to understand how beautiful it is.

This movie wears its influences on its sleaves and has no problems in showing that. There's many similarities between this movie and Labyrinth, Legend and most of all The Never Ending Story. Its the only thing I didn't love about this movie. It felt like they remade The Never Ending Story with elements from Labyrinth and Legend. Take all those movies, shake em together, add a little bit of psychological depth and incredible visuals and you've got Mirrormask. So if there's anything bad to say, its that in its narrative, its similar to a few other films. But on a visual level, its a whole other thing, so that sort of balances its self out.

I liked the fact that Helena wasn't a dumb little girl. She was very head strong and very smart. She wasn't a dumb little girl stumbling across a strange landscape. She was quick and witty and she realizes the situation in which she is in quickly and I liked that about her character which was very well played by Stephanie Leonides.

So in conclusion, this film will blow you away with both its visuals and its story. Its a mixed bag of other films you've seen before story wise, but on a visual level the film will be like nothing you've ever seen before.

Rating: 5 out of 5