column “Snow-White and poisoned apple” by Rie Tsukinaga, movie writer

Not just as food, fruit with many sides. Although it is a side role in the story, it gives a strong impression to the viewer. Its presence remains the same on the screen and attract viewers. Rie Tsukinaga spotlighted movies from among many of them at here. Please watch it with the movie.

■”Snow White” story

Speaking of “I’m writing a column about a movie with apples”, everybody says
“An apple in the movie? Is that the movie after all?” once every two times.
A girl who bites a bright red apple.
It’s “Snow White,” which everyone knows well.
Based on the Grimm fairy tale, but generally the image of Disney’s anime movie is famous.
Snow-White, A nasty stepmother aims for her life, eats poisoned apples without knowing it is a plot.
She falls into a state of asphyxia due to the poison, saved safely by meeting the prince.
By the way, Poison apples appears in “Bad teacher” which I introduced it in this column the other day. it would be quotation of “Snow White”.

Actually, there are several movies which use “Snow White” in Grimm’s fairy tales except for Disney’s animated film.
First of all, “Snow White: A Tale of Terror” was produced as TV movie in 1997. (Director: Michael Cohn)
“Snow White: The Fairest of Them All” was also produced as TV movie in 2001.(Director: Caroline Thompson)
“Snow White & the Huntsman” was produced as action movie, was released in 2012.（Director: Rupert Sanders）
“The Huntsman: Winter’s War” was produced as sequel of “Snow White & the Huntsman” in 2016 (Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan), but Snow-white doesn’t appear in this movie.
“Mirror Mirror”, different types of “Snow White”, was produced in 2012 as well.(Director: Tarsem Singh Dhandwar)
Several years ago, though there was news that Disney produced a live-action movie with a sister of snow-white as the main character, the title was “Rose Red”,
but no update as of now.
It’s embarrassing to introduce this famous story again, but I think this is good chance to compare two movies which were produced in 2012 both to check how the poison apple appearing in modern “Snow-White”.

■Poisoned apple appears as memories item in “Snow White & the Huntsman”.

Snow White is depicted as young girl with white skin like snow, jet black hair, red cheeks and lips like blood.
She bites bright red apple with stunning lips that glow red.
The picture itself gives us somehow sensual and sin-making impression.

In the Grimm fairy tale and the anime version, Snow White dies once due to eat deep red apple
which was given by stepmother masquerading as an old woman(or real mother).
While story or setting seem to be a little different depending on version from first edition in the Grimms fairy tale,
Snow White eats the other half of the apple in spite of hesitating to eat it because she is relieved to see old woman eating the half of the apple.
But this is the stepmother’s strategy, just half of the apple was poisoned.
Then Snow White falls down due to bite the poisonous part.
Honestly, Snow White, she eats obediently apples given to an old woman though her life has been targeted by stepmother,
seems to be a little stupid now.
Because of that, some arrangement is made on episodes about poisoned apples in “Snow White & the Huntsman”.

“Snow White & the Huntsman”, Kristen Jaymes Stewart acts snow white and Charlize Theron acts stepmother “Ravenna” who is caught by beauty,
is action type movie which young princess as the savior leads the people and defeat the queen inn a kingdom dominated by the Evil Queen.
Unlike Disney’s anime,snow white is not princess helped by the prince, but saviour and fights with your own weapons
It looks like Jeanne d’Arc.
It is overall dark, gloomy image, and somewhere similar world view like “Game of Thrones” which is popular drama in USA.

Presence of Queen “Ravenna”, the actress is Charlize Theron, is very strong in this movie.
One day, the king who sinks in sadness because of his wife’s death meets mysterious beauty Ravenna,
and gets hooked on her beauty.
However Ravenna kills the king on the first night of marriage and imprisons the daughter of the king in the tower.
Then she rules the kingdom with your younger brother.
10 years after, the kingdom is completely desolate.
Ravenna became the Queen and believes that being beautiful is the only way to gain absolute power,
so she keeps beauty and youth by sucking the living blood of young and beautiful women.
Eventually, as Snow White grows, Ravenna who are threatened with her position tries to kill her,
Snow White escaped into the forest with a close call and are saved by the seven dwarfs who live in the forest…..
The story goes almost according to the original.
The difference is that the prince who will be the savior does not appear.
Childhood friend William and forest hunter Eric appear instead.
Their role are companion to help Snow White and fight together rather than a love partner.

Apples appear as an item with important memories for Snow White.
When my mother was still alive, little she was playing climbing an apple tree with childfood friend William.
William who was good at climbing trees peeled off the apple, gently offered it as “Do you want to eat?”,
he quickly put it in your mouth at the moment Snow White reached out and made her regret.
It’s an innocent play of young children.
Afterwards Snow White escaped from imprisonment in the tower, then she reunited with grown-up William and talk about nostalgic memories.
When William suddenly offered an apple, she bite it with a laugh, “Are you going to deceive me like you used to?”.
Of course this was a poisoned apple.
It was the Queen’s strategy that turned into William.
Of course, Snow White who died from poison she was revived wonderfully, How she was revived, it is going to be surprised.

■Poisoned apples that rarely appear : “Mirror Mirror”

Meanwhile “Mirror Mirror” was released in the same year as “Snow White & the Huntsman”, but the taste is quite different.
Lily Jane Collins acts Snow White and Julia Fiona Roberts acts Queen.
This is the last movie that Eiko Ishioka(Japanese designer) worked on costumes,
the whole movie is surrounded by elaborate costumes and art.
It is a work with a strong comedy color overall, especially it’s quite fun to watch unmanned Julia Roberts.
She is a domineering stepmother since squeeze national finances due to spending much money for a life of luxury while king is absent and locks her unsightly daughter-in-law in a castle.
But it is hard to hate her because she is innocent like a child just to love luxurious and beautiful things.
She plays full scale chess to use her vassals like “Alice in the mirror country”, written by Lewis Carroll.

Snow White has been trapped in the castle by the Queen’s orders.
Her only friends are the little birds that come through the window.
On the table, there are apples that have been cut neatly with a knife.
This is to feed the little birds with apple seeds.
On 18th birthday, Snow White who secretly escaped from the castle when she couldn’t stand any more helps the prince
who was attacked by a group of dwarf robbers in the forest.
A faint sign of love.
But in the next village, Knowing that the people are suffering from heavy taxes and poverty
because of the domineering Queen, She makes her mind to save the country with the help of the prince.
Snow White who saw that determination and bought the queen’s wrath escape to the forest from life even
though it is aimed at life, she asks for a chance to fight back against the Queen While being trained by strange dwarfs
Her love partner, the prince played by Armie Hammer, is certainly cool, but somehow arrogant and childish.
Such a prince is cast by the queen’s magic and made to be a man like a puppy.
It is Snow White who saves the magical prince with the power of a kiss.
Then she declares “I’ll change the fairy tale of saving a princess helped by a prince”.

Snow White who bites on a poisoned apple and falls down to the poison does not appear in this movie.
At the very end, a princess who slowly carries a bright red apple to her mouth is drawn,
the moment she tried to say it, she suddenly noticed something,
and she takes out her father’s keepsake knife from my bosom, then she beautifully cut apples.
The situation corresponds perfectly to the scene of cutting an apple for the little bird at the beginning.
Instead of clinging to a plump apple, who really eats a beautifully cut apple?

■Disney’s movie “Enchanted”

Modern version of “Snow White” created a new style of a princess fighting in each way.
Recently, live-action movies have been created based on “Beauty and the Beast”, “Dumbo”, “Aladdin”.
If Disney produces “Snow White” in live-action movie, I wonder what kind of woman is the princess depicted as.
I’m strongly interested in how the passage of poisoned apple being drawn.
To say the least, I believe that today’s Snow White doesn’t bite poisoned apples in a detour.

Lastly, I introduce Disney’s movie, not “Snow White”.
“Enchanted” was produced in 2007.
It is a fantasy movie that mixes animation and live action,
it adds a self-critical look at anime movies which Disney had produced, so adults can fully enjoy the movie.
The story begins with the animation part.
It is characteristic of Disney, beautiful princess Giselle engage with a handsome prince.
However, Gisele is banished from the fairyland due to Prince’s stepmother’s magic with her jealousy
Suddenly, the movie switches to live-action.
The place where Giselle was thrown out is a modern New York.
The princess in the fairyland in a dress stood stunned at a dirty big city and full of people, without hassle.
Naive Giselle isaAccidentally helped by a single father and his daughter living in New York,
thentThree people start living together.
In this way, the princess who came down to the modern society starts a slapstick comedy that causes a great uproar,
parody for Disney’s film inserts everywhere.
Giselle suddenly started singing in the city and clean and sew with the help of small animals.
It is really comedy itself when viewed in live action.
Still, in the end, it ’s like a love story. It is Disney as expected.
And here to A poisoned apple aiming at a princess appears as well,
then A kiss of the prince who saves her who fell down is also drawn.
But is that person really a prince?
Is there no doubt that the fate of the princess is the prince in the first place?
No, the perfect partner for a prince is not always a cute princesss.

Fairy tales change with the times.
The battle over the bright red poisoned apples is not necessarily due to a cute princess with bright red lips
and an evil witch.
If the princess gets stronger and stronger and the prince disappears,
the standing position of the poisoned apple also changes.
I want to keep watching the birth of the new “Snow White” with making poisoned apple the theme.