Enter a World Where Dreams Are Real…after waiting impatiently for several months I was finally able to do just that. Unlike many things in life, Mirrormask was worth the wait.

Before we get started with the review, here is some

Background:

If you have read this blog for any length of time and you don’t know who Neil Gaiman is, shame on you! Not only is he my favorite living author, his journal has always been the adult blog that my one-year old aspires to be. Before Neil Gaiman was in fact, Neil Gaiman, he hooked up with an equally obscure illustrator named Dave McKean and started working on comics. Their collaboration brought them reknown with the World-Fantasy-Award-Winning, genre-defining comic series The Sandman for which Dave McKean did all the covers. Years go by in which both have much success. Enter Lisa Henson.

Lisa Henson and others in the Henson company had been talking about the fact that 20 years had gone by since their father Jim Henson had made movies like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Despite the fact that they were not box office phenomena, the last two decades have seen continued sales in both video and DVD format and both films garner a dedicated fan base to this day. The Hensons wanted to make a movie of the same tenor while maintaining the innovative spirit of their father. The fly in the ointment was that although Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal had 20 million dollar budgets the Hensons could only afford to dedicate 4 million to this project. Enter Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. More seasoned film makers would have run, not walked, out the door. Neil and Dave, blissfully free from Hollywoodization, took on the challenge with a passion and commitment that would have made Jim Henson smile. Neil wrote the screenplay, Dave threw himself into the director’s chair (and then some) and Mirrormask was born.

The Story:

There is a certain type of story that I cherish above all others. At its heart it is a simple story. It is the tale that is told by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland, by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is told by Jim Henson in Labyrinth. Neil Gaiman does it marvelously in his novel Neverwhere. It is a quest tale, a tale of light and dark, a coming of age tale, a tale of heroism and redemption not set in one world alone but in two worlds that intersect via a rabbit hole, a cyclone, a wish spoken in anger, or contact with someone from the world down below. For Helena Campbell that world is as close as the drawings on her bedroom wall.

Helena is a 15 year old girl who is tired of her unconventional life as part of her family’s circus. She longs for a “real life” and spends her free time daydreaming through her art, creating a world through pictures. After a heated exchange with her mother in which she selfishly wishes for her mother’s death, her world begins to crumble as her mother becomes extremely ill. The night before her mother’s surgery she goes to sleep and wakes up in a dream world. One in which a sleeping White Queen cannot be wakened and in which a Dark Queen has lost her daughter. To right this realm a charm must be found. Thus begins her quest to make right a world that looks suspiciously like Helena’s (and Dave McKean’s) own drawings.

There is a universal appeal to these type of stories because we can all identify with that adolescent struggle of no longer wanting to be a child but not wanting to let go of childish things. I think it is something that we all struggle with long after adolescence for that matter as we go through life balancing our realities against our hopes and dreams, trying to find a way to live in both worlds.

The Look:

Dave McKean has a signature style. He is a mixed media artist and illustrator who over the years has added the use of the computer to his collage style repertoire. Neil Gaiman has written a good script but it is the unique vision of Dave McKean that makes Mirrormask one of the most inventive films in years. Mirrormask is filmed in much the same way that Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was…with few actors, extremely sparse sets and an enormous amount of blue screen, but that is where the similarities end. You may think you have some idea of what the film looks like by seeing pictures or watching the trailer but believe me, you don’t. It takes seeing the movie in its entirety to truly appreciate the wonder of what Dave and his 15 person digital crew have created.

Dave McKean’s art has been described as dreamlike, dark, magical, haunting, whimsical; those qualities are present in Mirrormask in abundance. From the opening credits (which are so great!) on through the end credits Mirrormask is as much a feast for the eyes as it is a feast for the imagination. Dave McKean’s pen and ink drawings are every bit as unique as his mixed media work and it was a stroke of genius to give Helena this drawing ability as a way to showcase more of McKean’s work. Every time I have watched Labyrinth I have noticed something new and one gets the feeling that Mirrormask holds the same opportunity for discovery with each viewing. All told this weekend I have watched it three times, once with the commentary on, and each time I was rewarded with something that I had not seen before. There is no wasted space on the digital canvas of Mirrormask. Symbolism and metaphor are everywhere. Little fun things await the diligent viewer. For example I captured this frame from the library sequence just to see what titles were on the bookshelf.

In addition to the ones featured in the film there is a fun nod to Jim Henson’s most well known creations. And like the Henson creations in Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal nonsensical, whimisical, marvelous creatures abound in Mirrormask. Like:

(the sacrificial chicken)

and

(the orbiting giants)

and

(The monkeybirds)

and

(the spidereyes)

to name but a few. Flying fish, psychotic cat creatures, book people, masked residents and other indescribable entities abound.

The world and its inhabitants created by Dave McKean and his effects crew are truly a wonder to behold. It is even more wondrous when one considers the infinitesimal budget that they had to work with in comparison to other digital effects laden films. I am staggered by the quality, talent and imagination this film displays. I am not doing this film justice, only seeing it can do that.

The Cast:

Being a small budget, largely digital film Mirrormask has an understandably small cast, but man are they effective. As in film versions of The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland the people in the real world make appearances as other characters in the dream world and so each cast member was able to play multiple parts in the film. Despite all the digital wizardry of this film its lasting success depends largely on the person chosen to play the heroine and in the case of Mirrormask they struck gold. Stephanie Leonidas was a little known actress is Britain, completely unknown in the United States, and she was a marvelous choice.

Despite being 19 when filming Mirrormask, Stephanie is able to convincingly pull off being a younger and more naive girl. She is so adorable that you simply fall in love with her character onscreen and, from all accounts, that was also her affect on the set. Her enthusiasm for the project was infectious and shows in her performance. She is so much fun to watch. Keeping in mind that most of what she and the other actors performed to was empty space on the blue screen stage makes all of their performances that much more impressive. Helena’s father is played by Rob Brydon. It is Brydon’s character who runs the circus. It is established early on that the circus is in fact his dream. Brydon does a great job being a born performer who is something of a fish out of water when it comes to dealing with the reality of life outside of the circus tent. Gina McKee is terrific in her three-part role of Helena’s mother, the White Queen, and the Dark Queen.

The Dark Queen is obviously one of the villains of the piece but McKee plays her in such a way that you can sympathize with her dismay over losing her daughter while still loathing her wickedness. Rounding out the main characters is Jason Barry as Helena’s dreamworld guide, Valentine. Despite the fact that he is wearing a mask through 99% of his performance Barry’s voice inflection and physicality transform the character Valentine into the stealer of the show. He is outstanding and mutliple viewings make you appreciate him even more. It is easy to see that he put his whole self into his performance. Dora Bryon has a small role as Helena’s quiz-show-watching aunt and is hysterical (her performance strongly reminds me of the little junk yard woman in Labyrinth).

There other wonderful characters in Mirrormask. Stephen Fry (of Jeeves and Wooster fame, among others) makes an appearance as the dreamworld’s librarian. Although his lips are the only thing you see on screen his voice gives him away long before you can confirm his presence via the credits. (And oh my gosh, that library!!! They could’ve stayed in there forever, I loved it!) Lenny Henry, legendary British comedian, stopped by and lent his voice to the policemen. Dave McKean himself did some voice work and strapped on a motion capture suit to play the porcupine-type character featured towards the end of the film.

The Sound:

Iain Bellamy created an enchanting musical score that enhanced the film quite well. One particular musical piece reminded me greatly of the music in Labyrinth when Sarah is given the poisoned peach to eat. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, either way it gave me a nice feeling of the spirit of connectedness between these two films. There is an ethereal lyricism to the music that gives depth to the digital dreamscape. The sound effects were great as well. I particularly liked the scuttling sounds the spiders made. Another nice sound effect is during the opening sequence of the film where Helena’s father opens the circus curtain and there is an explosive sound followed by the unveiling of the Mirrormask title. The sound that accompanies this is like that of an old rusty gate being opened. That may or may not have been what they were aiming for but I like the gate opening idea as a metaphor of what is about to happen in the film. Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman are no strangers to writing music and Dave wrote the music to the closing credits song and asked Neil to write lyrics for it. The song is “I apologize” and is hauntingly sung by Josefine Cronholm. Melodically and lyrically it is a wonderful end piece for the film.

Spoiler Discussion:

Although I have already written a small novel I want to take some time to discuss things about the film that have the possibility of spoiling it for those who haven’t seen it. Feel free to read on, as the end of these type of films is a foregone conclusion, but be warned that you may want to wait and discover these things for yourself. As a key to let you know when the spoilers are over so you can scroll down quickly thus missing said spoilers, look for the band of fish that follows. Thence starts spoiler discussion. When you see the fish again, spoiler discussion is over. Warning: babbling will likely ensue, now, follow those fish:

I love this movie for everything that it is and everything that it is trying to be. Labyrinth (which I will do a post on soon because I feel the need to) was such a magical experience for me and although Mirrormask doesn’t quite have the same resonance with me it comes very, very, very close. Like Labyrinth the whole fantasy world part of the film is filled with objects that are present in the real world. In both Labyrinth and Mirrormask it is the items in the would-be heroines’ room, tangible reflections of her personality, that make their way into the dream world. Those are the things I like most to discover as I re-watch these films. It took me three viewings to notice that the awesomely cool Get Well Soon card that Helena draws for her mum is a picture of Valentine’s tower that is so important later in the film

and that the sea anemone stuffed animal in her room gets a cameo as Spiney during the early palace sequence.

I saw so many other Labyrinth parallels in this film and am curious if anyone else noticed them. I don’t know if any of these were intentional or not but I would like to think that they were since Mirrormask is an in spirit sequel to Labyrinth. The room thing mentioned above is one. There are two quick moments backstage where circus performers are spinning crystal balls in the exact same way that David Bowie did as Jareth. The talking chicken, most especially her line and its delivery, reminded me of the talking hat worn by the old man Sarah encounters in trying to find the Goblin City. That same man and his slow talking (with the hat trying to finish his sentences for him) mimics that orbiting giants speech pattern and how Valentine tries to hurry them along by finishing their sentences. The “you shall not pass” griffin reminds me of Sir Didymus guarding the bridge over the Bog of Eternal Stench (and Tim from Monty Python and the Holy Grail for that matter). Valentine’s off again, on again friendship with Helena and his obsession with jewels is very familiarly Hoggle-like. When Helena is getting her extreme dark queen makeover the hands brushing across her face remind me of the hands in the chasm that led Sarah to the oubliette. Those are just a few.

I also saw references to the Wizard of Oz (monkey birds anyone?), The Sandman (the fish and the key which looks somewhat like the design to the key to Hell), and several things that reminded me of Neverwhere.

I love the idea that Helena created this world with its light and dark sides just by drawing the various pictures that are hanging on her bedroom wall. (This idea is the basis for a really fun cartoon network show called Chalk Zone too!) And what a fantastic idea to have Helena and Anti-Helena able to view each other through windows that are actually a part of those drawings and the destruction of the dream world being related to Anti-Helena’s destruction of Helena’s pictures. There is so much depth to the idea of one’s good and bad side having a window into the other’s world.

And that’s the thing about this movie, and Labyrinth, and The Dark Crystal, and numerous other similar works: there is an almost endless amount of philosophical, psychological, and spiritual discussion that can be had about what looks on the surface like a very simple plot. There are many and varied interpretations that can be had regarding the story itself and all the various oddments that Dave McKean and his crew littered throughout this fantastical world.

Does anyone else think the black tendrils in the dream world can be representative of whatever cancerous enemy is attacking Helena’s mothers’ brain in the real world? When they tear apart the giant couple and the male gets dragged down while the female floats away doesn’t it seem like foreshadowing of what could happen if the mother’s surgery is not successful? Or it could be representative of Helena’s dad’s seeming ineffectiveness during his wife’s ordeal and his inability to hold on to her and to Helena.

The use of books in Mirrormask really excites me, being the book lover that I am. Like I said, I loved the look of the library. The idea that books that were no longer desired would return themselves to the library was funny and fantastic. I also enjoyed the Really Useful Book and the idea of books having feelings and personalities in the dream world. Wonderful!

I also love the way the movie ended, first with an animated art sequence that looked so very much like McKean’s Wolves in the Walls story art that I found myself wishing they would take this team and immediately make that book into a short film, and then with the hint of romance for Helena at the very end. I also enjoyed how the waiter line played into the ending. That too felt similar to the ending of Labyrinth in that it brought the dream world stuff back into the real world.

To sum up this was indeed everything that I wanted it to be and more. Dave McKean’s art and his teams’ ability to translate that into a three-dimensional form was more than magical, it was miraculous. The film is filled with hundreds of little touches that make multiple viewings a distinct pleasure. There is a Britishness to the humor that makes it even more entertaining to me because I am a big fan of British comedy. The relationships between the characters are wonderful and the top-notch acting talent that Dave and Neil were able to get onboard is amazing. This is a movie that will stay with me a long time. For me it is a nice emotional bookend to the connection I have with Labyrinth. I hope that this is just the first of many Gaiman/McKean film collaborations and I encourage you to see it if you have not already done so and to watch it again if you have.
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And now a few notes on the DVD.

The packaging is okay. I was hoping for something more elaborate but then I remembered the whole small budget thing. There is a really nice picture on the insert inside the jewel case with Helena looking through a keyhole that I like and am glad that they put it in there.

The extras on the DVD range from really good to quite poor.

1. The poor are the parts where Neil and Dave talk. The reason that they are poor to me is that they really don’t do a great deal of talking about this specific project and as such they are way too short. The Q and A from the San Diego Comicon was also poor mainly because it rehashed information that most Gaiman fans already know and the sound quality was quite abysmal.

2. There is an okay short documentary about how the Mirrormask project began which I’ve pretty much summed up for you already.

3. There is a really nice but way too short interview with various cast and crew members. In it you get a glimpse of how much fun it would have been to work with both Stephanie Leonidas and Jason Barry…their enthusiasm is palpable.

4. The Day 16 extra is a really fun time lapse photography bit showing all the various set ups that were done in the blue screen room on day 16 with their corresponding finished shots playing at the same time in a split screen mode. All the while various facts appear on the screen including what was had for lunch that day and how much film was used, etc. Quick and entertaining.

5. The sequences showing the storyboarding of the orbiting giants and the making of the monkeybirds scene are both well worth watching.

6. Lastly there is the ability to watch the film with commentary by both Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. While I found the commentary very good I also wish Neil Gaiman would have done a separate commentary. Neil seemed to be more prone to talking about little elements of the story but Dave would frequently interrupt him to talk about more technical, but interesting aspects of the film. Time was taken way too often to tell who worked on what shots. While this is probably nice for the various members of the digital effects crew this information is also laid out specifically in the credits and so was redundant and unnecessary in the commentary. They both brought up various things that were cut out of the film all primarily due to budgetary restraints that I really wish they could’ve kept in. There was also an interesting and funny line in the Mask Shop indicating that the absence of the shop keeper’s husband may have had something to do with the odd cat creatures that sadly was cut. Despite some complaints this is a very nice commentary and I did learn a great deal more about the film. If you’re a dvd extra geek you should really watch the film with the commentary on. One of the really interesting things for me was learning that a pier seen in the distance when Helena is on the rooftop

is the famous Brighton Pier that has since collapsed into the ocean. Another article about the pier can be seen here.

The sound quality and picture quality are excellent. The DVD is a bargain, pick it up.
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If you have stayed with me this long, bless you. I hope you find Mirrormask as magical as I did. Pleasant dreams everyone.