MirrorMask (2005)

Reminiscent of ALICE IN WONDERLAND and LABYRINTH, MIRRORMASK is a fantasy tale of an intelligent young girl on a journey through a magical world. It is also a visually astounding piece of filmmaking, updating the fairy-tale quest in a coming-of-age story imbued with dark beauty. Written by Neil Gaiman (SANDMAN) and directed by frequent collaborator and illustrator Dave McKean, the film mixes live action and animation, and manages to keep the graphic novelists' aesthetic largely intact: the frames are full of weirdly-skewed perspectives, foggy patches, and mismatched textures that appear grandly decayed. Stephanie...
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Leonidas plays Helena, a young girl who juggles in her father's circus, but longs for a "normal" life. She spends her free time drawing elaborate, fantastical black-and-white pictures which cover every surface of her bedroom. One night, after an argument with her mother (Gina McKee) during which Helena lets fly some rather painful pronouncements, Mom falls ill with an unspecified affliction. As the family waits for news and the circus struggles financially, Helena blames herself for the misfortune. The night before her mother's surgery, Helena is mysteriously transported to a world which bears a strong resemblance to her own drawings, and is populated by strange creatures who follow an even stranger logic. Helena and her traveling companion, fellow juggler Valentine (Jason Barry), sign on to find a mysterious charm which will wake the queen of the city--also played by McKee--from her deep sleep, defeating the forces of darkness and returning Helena home. The film's outstanding art direction is complemented by witty dialogue and some genuinely creepy moments (the words "don't let them see you're afraid" are chill-inducing). Meanwhile, Leonidas's performance is remarkable, maintaining a likeability, charm, and freshness that is all the more amazing considering it was delivered against a green screen, with her special-effect co-stars edited in later.
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Celebrated sci-fi writer Neil Gaiman, who created the Sandman series, scripted this visually adventurous fantasy. Helena (Stephanie Leonidas) is a 15-year-old girl who has spent nearly her entire life on the road, traveling with her parents Joanne and Morris (Gina McKee and Rob Brydon), who make a living as circus performers. One night, Helena wishes for a quieter and more stable life, only to panic when her mother falls seriously ill, ending up in the hospital. Afraid she's caused her mother's illness, Helena slips into an alternate reality known as the Dark Lands, where nearly everything behaves differently and...
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all is ruled by the Queen of Light and the Prime Minister (also played by McKee and Brydon). As it happens, the Queen of Shadows' daughter, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Helena, has gone missing; the Queen of Light has fallen unconscious as a result; and both queens' minders are looking for the child. As Helena struggles to make her way back to her own world to help her own mother, she discovers the Queen of Shadows' daughter has taken her place. Helena is aided in her journey by a gifted juggler named Valentine (Jason Barry), and together they seek to access a magic charm which will return everyone to the land where they belong. MirrorMask was produced by the Jim Henson Company, with most of the sets and many of the characters created using digital-effects technology.
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De 15-jarige Helena woont met haar ouders in een circus, maar droomt van een normaal leven, ver weg van de shows en attracties. Na een heftige ruzie wordt haar moeder plotseling erg ziek, en Helena is ervan overtuigd dat het allemaal haar fout is. Op de avond voor de operatie van haar moeder heeft Helena een nachtmerrie, waarin ze droomt van een land vol met bizarre figuren, geregeerd door twee kibbelende koninginnen.

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A 15-year-old girl named Helena falls into a dream world where two queens are fighting in a bizarre land of fantastical creatures and masked inhabitants. Helena is charged with retrieving the MirrorMask to revive the sickly White Queen, but as she explores the strange world, she finds herself wondering if this is really a dream or something else more dangerous.

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