The Nutcracker: The Untold Story (2010)

In 1920s Vienna, a young girl receives a magical doll on Christmas Eve.

Director:

Andrey Konchalovskiy (as Andrei Konchalovsky)

Writers:

Andrey Konchalovskiy (screenplay) (as Andrei Konchalovsky), Chris Solimine (screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Philipps, Fernanda Dorogi, Kriszta Dorogi

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Philipps	...	Dr. Freud
Fernanda Dorogi	...	Dr. Freud's Niece
Kriszta Dorogi	...	Dr. Freud's Niece
Dániel Mogács	...	Trolley Bus Orchestra Conductor
Elle Fanning	...	Mary
Stuart Hopps	...	Butler / The Rat Queen's Servant
Aaron Michael Drozin	...	Max
Nathan Lane	...	Uncle Albert
Richard E. Grant	...	Father
Yuliya Vysotskaya	...	Mother / The Snow Fairy (as Yulia Visotskaya)
Frances de la Tour	...	Frau Eva / The Rat Queen
Jonny Coyne	...	Gnomad (as Jonathan Coyne)
Shirley Henderson	...	The Nutcracker (voice)
Peter Elliott	...	Gielgud
Daniel Peacock	...	Gielgud

Storyline

1920s Vienna. Nine-year-old Mary lives in a home filled with lovely things and loneliness. Bothered by bratty brother Max and neglected by well intentioned, but distracted, parents, she yearns for companionship and adventure. On Christmas Eve, Mary's beloved Uncle Albert arrives with the gift of a wooden nutcracker doll. Later that night, Mary's imagination brings the doll to life. Introducing himself as "NC," he takes her on a wondrous journey through a stunning dimension where toys assume human form and everything appears ten times larger. But danger lurks. An army of toothy rat creatures, led by the flamboyant Rat King and his devious mother, has unleashed a plot to overthrow humanity. When NC is captured and placed under a paralytic spell, Mary, Max and a spirited band of toy sidekicks must rescue him from the Rat King's clutches and thwart his wicked plans to 'ratify' the world.

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Plot Keywords:

walking through a mirror | nazi | holocaust | nutcracker | movie flop | 

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Genres:

Action | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material, scary images, action and brief smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

Uncle Albert was hinted throughout the movie to be famous scientist Albert Einstein through references to relativity and even E=mc^2 appearing at one point. This would match up because Albert Einstein was alive at the time of the movie and lived in Germany, very close to Austria.

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Goofs

When the Rat Queen bites the Rat King's ear as a punishment for being whiny, he stumbles away from her, pressing a hand to his ear and crying "You bit me!", looking very pained. However, when the Rat Queen stops yelling at him, you can still see him standing in the same position and with the same pained expression, but in the next shot (a second later), he's standing in a quite normal position, looking angry rather than pained.

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Quotes

The Snow Fairy: [as Mary watches the ballerina snowflakes dancing in the air] Aren't they beautiful?
Mary: Oh, yes.
The Snow Fairy: You can join the dance if you like.
Mary: But I can't fly.
The Snow Fairy: How do you know if you've never tried?

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Connections

Version of Great Performances: Dance in America: San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker (2008)

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Soundtracks

The Nutcracker
(excerpts)
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

User Reviews

Visually spellbinding but charmless family fare

When I first heard of this film, I was both curious and overjoyed. The Nutcracker by ETA Hoffmann is one of my all-time favourite stories you see, and I am deeply in love with the ballet music by Tchaikovsky. However, when I heard there was 3D I wasn't as enthused. So what were my overall thoughts after seeing it? That of bitter disappointment, that's what.

The Nutcracker in 3D isn't without its virtues though. The film is visually spellbinding with wonderful sets and exquisite costumes particularly at the beginning and with the snow fairy. Also Elle Fanning is very good as Mary, instead of being obnoxious and annoying, she is heartfelt and believable.

However, I wasn't so taken with the effects, which brings me to a point I made earlier. I think the 3D was unnecessary to be honest. When I think of The Nutcracker, 3D is the last thing you expect. Sadly, it wasn't that good, it needed more clarity and sharpness and distracted rather than enhanced.

I also had mixed feelings on the songs. The music itself is outstanding, well it is Tchaikovsky what do you expect, with elegant and poignant melodies. The problem lay in the lyrics, even for Tim Rice they were really quite dull and insipid. The only songs that didn't leave me completely cold were My Secret World-while too short the melody based on the beautiful and nostalgic 2nd movement of the 5th symphony was amazing- and The Rat King's song which was quite wacky.

My main problems though with the film were with the story, writing and acting, also with the direction. Andrey Konchalovskiy said he had wanted to do this project for years, somehow that fact didn't come through loud and clear enough. The action is also very clumsy, and the pacing is much too rushed. Consequently the story instead of magical and charming like it promised with a touch of darkness and austerity to emphasize the reality is convoluted and messy particularly when the film's tone shifts, while the script especially with Uncle Albert and the "Nazi rats" is terrible with no sense of wonder or care.

The acting on the whole is pretty dire, which is very disappointing considering how good the cast looked on paper. Fanning of course gives a great performance, which is more than I can say for her co-stars who either give up half-way through or come across as wasted talent. Nathan Lane in particular tries hard but his spirited performance is hampered severely by the film's worst dialogue and the patchy accent. John Tuturo, with a David Bowie-like wig, fares a little better but does verge on overracting. It is not entirely his fault as the script lets him down terribly making him come across as cartoony. Likewise with Frances DeLa Tour. I liked the Snow Fairy though, she was beautiful and suitably mysterious. Shirley Henderson is okay as Nutcracker, but I didn't find Nutcracker heroic enough, and the message seemed to originate from Uncle Albert rather than Nutcracker here. Worst is the Prince, his wooden acting makes marionettes more animated. At the end of the day, I only cared character-wise for Mary.

Also, I think the film is 15 minutes too long. The Nutcracker works better in my view as a 75 minute film, because of the length there was a lot of filler that perhaps didn't need to be there. I wish to say before I am told I am being unfair that I am well aware this was an untold story. Also I didn't mind whether it was the story or not, so long as it stuck with its charm and magic. And that was my main problem with The Nutcracker in 3D, it didn't do that. I didn't think much of the title either, something like Nutcracker:The Untold Story would have been much more fitting.

Overall, in my personal opinion The Nutcracker in 3D is this year's biggest disappointment. It had all the ingredients for a worthwhile Christmas cracker, but it came across as rather charmless family fare with a convoluted story, poor acting on the whole and the unnecessary inclusion of 3D. 3/10 for the production values, Tchaikovsky's music and Elle Fanning, and I also think if Hoffmann or Tchaikovsky were alive to see this they would ask for a letter of apology. Bethany Cox

Details

Country:

UK Hungary

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 December 2011 (Hungary)

Also Known As:

The Nutcracker: The Untold Story

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$65,944, 28 November 2010

Gross USA:

$195,459

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,177,993

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vnesheconombank, Nutcracker Holdings, HCC Media Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1