I think just about everyone has probably seen the original Disney 1950 cartoon movie “Cinderella” or at least know the story of it by now. After all, it’s been portrayed and reimagined so many times through various incarnations over the years, both in film and on television, including some of my personal favorites such as Ella Enchanted and Ever After, that you’d be hard-pressed not to know it nowadays. So I honestly didn’t think it possible to come up with another heartfelt and moving vision of the famed girl named Ella, but team Disney seems to have gone and done it again in creating the 2015 movie titled “Cinderella”, which truly inspired me to be kind and have courage.
This creative re-telling of Ella’s (Lily James) fabled story begins by showing us a little more about the childhood she had growing up. We get introduced to her very caring parents who constantly surrounded her with incredible amounts of unconditional love, which helps us to understand why Ella becomes the person she does.
I believe there are certain moments in each of our lives that very directly shape our futures, and Ella has one of those when her mother (Hayley Atwell) lay dying but still makes sure to remind her to always be kind and have courage in life, which indeed is what Ella strives for from then on. Even when her lonely father (Ben Chaplin) eventually asks for her permission to bring a widowed mother (Cate Blanchett) and her two daughters, Drisella and Anastasia, (Sophie McShera and Holiday Grainger) into their home, Ella remembers her mother’s words and chooses to honor them.
She first decides to give up her bedroom for Drisella and Anastasia when they arrive, and even graciously accepts and embraces her new stepmother’s request for Ella to live in the old and drafty attic while all the bedrooms supposedly get a slight overhaul. Sadly, it’s not too long after this that her father dies during one of his many trips away and it’s then that she begins to see the true wickedness and selfishness her stepmother and her two daughters bring.
During one of their particularly cruel treatments of her, Ella’s heart just can’t take it anymore so she rides off in tears on one of the horses deep into the woods. It’s there she unknowingly meets the Prince (Richard Madden) who’s on a hunting excursion, as he disguises himself under the name Kitt and says he’s only an apprentice. A brief playful and romantic moment is shared between the two and rest of the story is then played out quite similar to the original.
What I was charmed most about in this modern retelling of Cinderella was how she truly did embrace each and every one of life’s situations no matter how difficult they were, with that same kindness and courage. It really was a great reminder for me in life given the health issues I’ve been facing for a while now. Sometimes my ego drives me during my many moments of pain to not be kind and to run away in fear, but I realize Ella’s approach is the one I know my Higher Power would want me to have. Hence the reason why I felt this new movie was exactly what I needed to see the other day in the theater, because it brought about a much-needed inspiration.
So if you’re looking for something that will remind you about the importance of always being kind and having courage in life, no matter what you’re circumstances, I encourage you to see the 2015 remake of Cinderella, because in the end, I’m sure you’ll leave the theater as I did, uplifted and filled with a greater amount of those very things.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
Your review makes me want to see this – and I was most definitely NOT looking to see this before I read this!