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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Movies: The Next Fairy Tale Adaptation Should be...... The Blue Light?


Recently, Cinemablend posted an article suggesting three classic tales Hollywood should adapt after Mirror, Mirror and Wrath of the Titans. They list the myth of Prometheus, Paradise Lost, and "The Blue Light."

I was ecstatic when I saw "The Blue Light" as a suggestion, as it is a very obscure, but excellent tale. Yes, it has it's problems, but Cinemablend has some ideas about how to change the story.


ORIGINAL STORY: "The Blue Light" is a grim, Grimm tale of revenge that follows a poor soldier cruelly dismissed from the king's employ after being seriously wounded in battle. Penniless, he wanders upon a witch's home, and does her bidding in exchange for food and shelter. Until he rescues a magical dwarf—who lives within a blue light—from her cunning clutches.
Together they exact revenge on the king by stealing the princess away each night to serve the soldier as a maid. She recounts this to her father as a terrible dream. Suspicious, he instructs her to put peas in her torn pocket so his guards can follow the trail they'll leave. But the clever dwarf covers every street in the kingdom with peas. So the next night the king tells his daughter to leave her slipper behind in the soldier's room. This somehow outwits the dwarf, so the soldier is captured and sent to the gallows. But when allowed one last smoke, he unleashes the blue light dwarf who topples all the king's forces. Finally, the humbled monarch saves himself by giving the soldier his throne and daughter. The End.
THE MOVIE VERSION: Obviously the original story is filled with misogyny and dated attitudes toward little people. Yet a couple of tweaks could make The Blue Light a thrilling romantic adventure in the vein of Stardust.
First off, make the king a power-hungry regent who will rule over the kingdom until the princess comes of age. He's slowly trying to convince her to marry him, to maintain his place, but the willful princess falls for a noble soldier, who encourages her about taking on the crown. The regent hears this and so has the soldier beaten and exiled without the princess's knowledge. From there, the witch and discovery of the magic dwarf play out as before, though making this magical being a dwarf seems unnecessary. Anyhow, having been saved from the witch, the wish-granting being decides to aid the soldier by helping him reclaim his love.
So he uses his magic to steal the princess away at night for romantic trysts. But soon the regent discovers her absence and tries to track her, battling against the cleverness of the dwarf. The soldier is ultimately caught and the regent attempts to kill him, but after much derring do and swashbuckling the princess stands up and strikes down her corrupt adviser. She takes the throne, marries the soldier, and the blue light jettisons to the sky to become a star that shines down on the kingdom from that day forth. (Full Article)
I don't agree with the author that the story cannot stand on its own. I think that if we keep it as is, a lot of fun could be had as the soldier and the princess start out hating each other, but then develop a relationship over the course of the story. THEN, they can save the kingdom from the evil regent. As for the blue light, I don't know that we need it to be corporeal. Having a weird magical servant dwarf seems a bit indelicate, unless the character were amazing. I'm not certain what the solution would be, though. Thoughts? 

How would you adapt "The Blue Light?"


1 comment:

  1. You are aware that this is the same story as Aladin and also The Tinderbox.

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