The Secret Of Moonacre Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
When 13 year old Maria Merryweather's father dies, leaving her orphaned and homeless, she is forced to leave her luxurious London life to go and live with Sir Benjamin, an eccentric uncle she didn't know she had, at the mysterious Moonacre Manor. Soon Maria finds herself in a crumbling moonlit world torn apart by the hatred of an ancient feud with the dark and sinister De Noir family. Maria discovers that she is the last Moon Princess and, guided by an unlikely mix of allies, she must overcome her family's pride in order to unearth the secrets of the past before the 5000th moon rises and Moonacre disappears into the sea forever.
| Ioan Gruffudd | Sir Benjamin |
| Dakota Blue Richards | Maria |
| Tim Curry | Coeur De Noir |
| Natascha McElhone | Loveday |
| Juliet Stevenson | Miss Heliotrope |
| Augustus Prew | Robin |
| Andy Linden | Marmaduke Scarlet |
| Michael Webber | Digweed |
| Zoltán Barabás Kis | Dulac |
| George Mendel | Priest |
| Sandor Istvan Nagy | Coeur De Noir's Man |
| Oliver Simor | Wedding guest |
| Ferenc Vizes | English Worker |
| Gabor Csupo |
6.60 out of 10 (344 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Thoroughly enjoyable, for adults too (just about)
posted on 23 Jul 2009I have to agree with all the other reviewers here - some very good reviews except for the two who went to premier and seem to have left them starstruck (moonstruck?) and ebullient about the use!! of!! exclamation marks!!!In some ways, like CS Lewis and JK Rowling the narrative in the book (which I only know the story from the film) does seem to have a particular patchwork quality, many elements from old fabrics sewn together. Of course this is how stories have always been written not to mention the inherent structure needed for a story to be successful, a structure that has existed since language. So some of it seemed a bit old but that's what you need to sell something to a sometimes fickle audience. It was so great looking however that it almost made up for it. The sixth star of this review is for costumes, the seventh for set pieces so it's a 5 star really. The metalwork was particularly ornate.The performances were all pretty much architypical regarding the actors previous casting, though it was interesting seeing good old Gruffudd getting grumpy again. It's true that Curry had little screen time though he was very antagonistic - but soon calmed down at the end (it is a children's film after all). The chef and the nanny were great and I liked the young guy who played Robin.The animals (magic ones) were present as always, the obligatory unicorn and the lion from CS Lewis - though this lion was cooler that Aslan, he was BLACK. Having never seen or thought about a black lion before, this is now my favorite animal. Apart from bunnies. And I'm sure he could have kicked Aslan's ass (I've never been keen on CS Lewis and his stories have always annoyed me since I was a child but hey, we gotta live with them cos he was Tolkein's mate and he was well connected to get his rubbish printed and because of its popularity many people think it's actually good).Sorry, rant over.So it you're a parent - definitely get this for your children, you'll probably be able to bare watching it over again unlike horrific Di$ney films &c. If you're and adult ans you liked Stardust and Compass, you'll probably like this too, though it's not quite as good though it's better than Terabithia, which is just a children's film really.I'm glad the fantasy films are back, there was a real dry patch in the nineties. But the key question is - WHEN is someone going to make a proper film of The Wizard of Earthsea? (I know there is a Canadian TV movie - it's awful - and the Ghibli film 'Tales From Earthsea', but it's not a proper telling of any of the books and it's directed by Goro and not Hayao Miyazaki so it's not even that good. Ah well. Read that Wizard of Earthsea if you've not, it's pretty much the foundation for Harry Potter and maybe Pullman's books as well though I'm not sure. Wizard of Earthsea is the greatest magus-topic novel I've come across because it's authentic. The thing is the mass will always desire the crass... *sigh*
Lovely to look at but something missing
posted on 27 Jun 2009I went to the European premiere on Sunday when the film was shown as part of the London Film Festival. Some of the cast were there, also the director and producers who spoke before the screening.I have read the book, The Little White Horse, many times, but was prepared for a lot of changes from the book. I don't think it's really a spoiler to say that the character of Sir Benjamin is VERY different in the film! And there are many characters omitted, including Old Parson. I enjoyed the film - it is absolutely gorgeous to look at - the costumes, the sets, the cinematography - all beautiful and lush. Ioan Gruffedd a bit wooden but all he really has to do for most of the film is look brooding. Juliet Stevenson gets nearly all the comedy. Tim Curry only has to phone in a performance. Dakota thingummy is surprisingly good (I have a prejudice against child actors). She's fine. Most of the film works quite well but I would have liked more scope for some of the characters to develop. You barely see any relationship development between Maria and Robin - they only really meet about twice. The ending was a little abrupt - I would have liked just five minutes more to develop the happy ending a little further, perhaps back at Moonacre Manor. An enjoyable film but doesn't quite hit the mark. I would watch it again just for how lovely it is to look at, not for the plot or the characters.
Went to the World Premiere!!
posted on 23 Jun 2009It was fantastic! 2 of the films stars were there: Dakota Blue Richards and Agustus Prew and Gabor Csupo was there. It was really exciting my first World Premiere! Anyways. The Movie was fantastic! It had Humour and excitement it was just overall a good movie! The characters Miss Heliotrope and The Chef were awesome. they made me laugh so hard! I can't wait for everyone to see this movie its really good! The acting was fantastic by the way! go see this movie Its really good. If you can't see it at the Toronto Film festival go to the theatres when it comes out because it is clearly a fine piece of work. Excellent Cinematography and Screenplay it was just fantastic!
Very little is done beyond this to help Moonacre feel like a tale of its own.
posted on 04 May 2009Fairy tales are movies that either sink or swim when it comes to the silver screen, based upon the merits of their story and the characters that exist to propel the fantasy past the absurd and into the tangibly real. The Secret of Moonacre is unfortunately an example of absurdist fairytale done with little restraint or tact; the story is robust with cliché devices, the characters flat and cursed with banal dialogue, and the backstory, costume designs, production—everything just falls far short of what you may come to expect fro productions of this nature. To be fair, there are certain elements inherent to Csupo's outing here that borders on mildly entertaining if only for the references that they make to other works, yet such moments are far and few between and never truly dispel the sour taste of hackneyed amateurism that permeates the majority of Moonacre's ridiculously generic universe.At its core, The Secret of Moonacre strives to be part adventure fairytale and part whimsy comedy stitched together with undercooked themes of pride, corruption and the power of love to overcome all shadows of the human heart. Ostensibly, this mix has all the elements to make for an enjoyable family feature, yet burdened with a plodding pace and characters that never come off the screen in any manner, the Secret of Moonacre is a dull one. Centring around young teenage girl Maria (Dakota Blue Richards) as she moves into her extravagant and eccentric uncle's mansion in the Middle of Nowhere Forest under the protection of nanny Miss Heliotrope (Juliet Stevenson who serves as a trite source of comic relief every now and then with her biggest character trait being an impromptu belch), Goudge's story is one built upon established ground-works for any old fantasy tale. Sure, fair enough—there's nothing wrong with building upon already tried and tested methods—yet very little is done beyond this to help Moonacre feel like a tale of its own.Perhaps the greatest and most obvious detractive trait inherent to Alborough's adaptation however is simply through its writing which seems to go through the motions at each and every turn. The result is a feature that plods along through countless cliché and predictable contrivances to the point where all fantastical elements are lost within the generic gloop that is the whole backstory and focus point of Moonacre's world. About half way into the movie, it should be no surprise then that the production boils down to one of absurd ridicule—without the feeling of otherworldly mysticism to back up all the theatrical dialogue, sets and costumes, Csupo neglects his feature to being bland and utterly forgettable in spite of its striking visuals and over-the-top performances. In fact, with the exception of perhaps Ioan Gruffudd , the majority of the acting ensemble here feel just as disconnected to the story's fantasy as everything else does. It's not just bad—it's distracting and downright laughable when any sort of tension or conflict is pushed down the throat with little to no tangible reason to believe in it.Yet this neglect to raising the suspension of disbelief is what ultimately stops The Secret of Moonacre from ever truly coming off the screen. Perhaps with a greater budget, some bigger stars and a re-write or two, Csupo could have made something more than a sporadically pretty treat for the senses, yet as it stands nothing of the sort of achieved throughout its bumbling and overly melodramatic runtime. This in turn makes recommending Moonacre a lost cause; young females may be able to enjoy all the unicorns, pretty dresses and coy humour to the extent that everything else is ignored, yet even this assertion serves as a broad test of the imagination—which is ironically more than Csupo manages here through his excruciatingly mundane two hour exercise in creating yet another Pedestrian Fantasy By Numbers.- A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)
A few things good, a few things bad.
posted on 09 Dec 2008The set, and the props, the clothing, they were very well done for this movie. I loved watching some of the beautiful scenery such as the forest...and watching the unique clothes flow. However the only thing that I really didn't like about this movie was the acting and a little on the weak story. I think that Natascha McElhone, made a horrible effort on her part when acting the moon princess at the wedding, when she told them of the curse. It seemed completely off, her voice, even her emotion.But think about it, this is a movie for children, not for adults! Reviews and comments from adults saying how horrible the movie was to them shouldn't really mean all that much, considering the target audience. Girls love unicorns, boys love strong lions, all of these aspects were taken care of, and gives the child imagination & adventure. This movie is good for children.All in all, this movie kept my attention the entire way through, even if there was a few flaws. But for a kids movie, they have done very well.
Well worth watching for the costumes and the sets!
posted on 07 Dec 2008First of all, I am 17 and I absolutely love the book "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge, with its beautiful imagery, memorable characters and above all its magical story, and I do agree the book is better than the film in many ways. In fact, the Little White Horse is probably my favourite book of all time. I think the film Secret of Moonacre is a beautiful film, that unfortunately is undermined by one or two problems with the story, and doesn't quite capture the magic of the book.The film looks absolutely exquisite, with those gorgeous costumes and the lovely sets with the huge menacing moon. The music by Christian Henson is gorgeous and very fitting with the scenery. Gabor Csupo, the director of Bridge of Tarabithia, which is admittedly better, obviously has an eye for art, as he used to be an animator. Other directors that have directed visually stunning fantasy films are Ridley Scott with Legend and Guillermo Del Torro with Pan's Labyrinth.(which is the best foreign language film I have ever seen) Whoever trained the animals, must be told he/she did a truly remarkable job.The acting is very good, an obvious standout is Dakota Blue Richards of Golden Compass fame in a strong central performance as the protagonist Maria Merryweather. Juliet Stevenson and Andy Linden provide the comedy, with the jokes about indigestion, and whizzing quickly around the kitchen. Tim Curry brings a touch of melancholy to an otherwise menacing and complex character, and it made a difference after seeing Curry in over the top roles such as FrankNFurter and Wadsworth. Though, if anything, I wish Curry had more screen time. Natasha McElhone looked lovely as Loveday, with a lovely face that sometimes defies her when she is cursing for instance. Though I will confess I wasn't entirely convinced by Ioan Gruffodd as Sir Benjamin. In the book Sir Benjamin is fat with three chins, which is a far cry from the gorgeous Gruffodd. I am not saying he was bad, he wasn't. He was very brooding at times, but other times when he looked uncomfortable. That I can understand, because since I have participated in operas with similar costumes,(like the Magic Flute) I do know from experience they can be very uncomfortable to wear.The story I do agree takes a while to get going, but the book takes one or two chapters to explain the story, which isn't a problem as it is called character development. The basics are all there, the Moon Princess, the pearls and the battle of good and evil, but a lot was changed from the book, and one or two of the characters were changed, and others like Old Parson were left out entirely. I was prepared for a lot of changes when I saw this film (they do it all the time), and although I was fine with most of them, I was annoyed that Maria and Robin's relationship from the book was virtually eliminated, as that was one of the book's main merits. The ending was a bit rushed, I am putting a huge emphasis on the bit, but I liked the underwater sequence very much.All in all, a flawed but hugely enjoyable film (not the best fantasy I have ever seen but a solid attempt) that is well worth watching for the visuals. 8/10 Bethany Cox
the secret of moonacre
posted on 25 Nov 2008I went to the premiere in London AMAZING film definitely go and see it! People of all ages will love a GREAT family film 10 out of 10!!!!! There are loads of stars in it including Dakota blue Richards and Tim curry and other. Very funny, made me laugh out loud loads of times, also great action/adventure! Basically one of the best films of 2009 so far!!!! GO AND SEE IT! Also you can watch the trailer online. Does not spoil the book at all. great to see with friends or family basically go and see it. I loved it and so did everyone one else I saw it with. all the actors are on top form. Im going to see it when it comes out, even though I have already seen it, thats how good it it. fantastic plot, great script writing and directing and the costumes are fabulous!
It may be a secret, but nobody seems to care
posted on 03 Nov 2008I generally like mystery along the lines of "person goes home after a long absence, just to unlock a sh*tload of village/family secrets". This movie made me think I was up to the usual, and with some fantasy background, it sounded even better.In my opinion it didn't deliver. The beginning was good, setting the atmosphere, creating the secret, placing everything in a nice setting. Let me add also that the costume department did a splendid job too. But then the girl actually arrives at the location where loose ends flew in her face. Okay, so she's supposed to make stuff happen to lift some curse that endangers life in general, cool. You would expect a little help from someone, from either side, good or bad. But no, these people enjoy facing doom, and never did seem too interested in changing the course of events. Not the uncle (emotionless, uncaring, basically not a nice type of guy), not the archenemy (not too bright, inactive), not even the people who might actually know things. Actually, no character is worth my sympathy. Even the girl is your typical annoying child.Acting credit, on the other hand, does go the girl. The rest just plays their role, and I've seen all of them doing much better. Especially Tim Curry, whose proved potential isn't even remotely used.Sour feeling at the end. 5 out of 10 for the setting in general.
Awful - Very bad acting, poor plot, too long, cheap special effects.
posted on 28 Oct 2008We'd read reviews on here and so thought that our six year olds demands to see it were a good idea. Firstly, the film takes a long time to get going. When it does there is some really wooden acting going on - enough to make Roger Moore look deep and meaningful in comparison.Teenager Dakota Blue Richards gives a great performance which is more than can be said for many of her adult colleagues. It feels that many of them give up before the film is half way through.Every so often something happens that makes you feel that this could have been a good movie. But this is a long way from being Stardust and similar fantasy films. Very third rate special effects, a plot you just don't care about and it simply goes on for far too long.Our two eager six year olds seemed to quite like it. Emphasis on the "quite" though. It had all the right ingredients - a princess, a unicorn, baddies etc. If we hadn't bought an insane amount of pop corn and sweets I think the reaction might have been very different though. We really thought this film would be something great. Instead it'll end up being a very cheap DVD by the end of the year.
Poor in terms of story
posted on 30 Sep 2008Imagine, if you will, the Story Warehouse. This is where storytellers collect the various bits and pieces which they then assemble into stories. We go past the Romance and Horror sections and arrive at Magic, where we find the shelves fairly empty. Some items are always in stock - you can always pick up Orphaned Child Sent To Live In Run-Down Old House Where Strange Things Happen With No Explanation, for instance, and there's never any shortage of Slightly Sinister Patriarch Figure Who Flies Into Rage For No Good Reason And Won't Answer Questions, or Quirky Manservant With Fantastic Abilities (I'll take two, please). The Magic Lions section was pretty much cleaned out by CS Lewis for the Narnia stories, of course, although it appears that he didn't have much call for Magic Lion (Black Fur) or Magic Lion (Disguised As Big Dog).And that is the problem with The Secret Of Moonacre - the story has a strong feeling of having been cobbled together from bits and pieces, and those bits and pieces are either overly familiar - Ioan Gruffud's mysterious bad-tempered uncle is no stranger - or else simply not very good (clearly a great deal was left on the Moon shelves - we have Moon Pearls, Moon Princesses, Moonacre itself, the Moon coming down to destroy everything). Much which needs explaining is never explained, and the bits of the story simply don't fit very well together. It's as if by combining the legs from a flat-pack table and the carcase from a flat-pack kitchen unit you can make a sideboard. Well, yes, but I don't think I'd want it in my living room.And this is a shame, because the look of the film is fine, as is Dakota Blue Richards. Gruffud and Tim Curry both deliver their cliché characters perfectly adequately, Juliet Stephenson is given a comedy nanny to play with rather uncomfortably, and Natasha McElhone looks wonderful and acts, at times, embarrassingly badly (she delivers a curse with a complete absence of menace, for instance. Clearly, cheekbones on their own are not enough).I sometimes wonder why film producers still don't seem to understand that a solid story and script is the starting point for a successful movie.
World premiere today!
posted on 18 Aug 2009I just saw the world premiere of Moonacre at the Toronto International Film Festival. Gabor Czupo (the director) was there, as well as Dakota Blue Richards and Augustus Prew.The film was beautiful to watch--the sets were gorgeous and the scenery magical. The huge menacing moon bearing down on Moonacre was an amazing effect. Maria's outfits were worth watching just on their own!There are many changes from the book (The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge). I thought the ending they invented was a lot more effective than the ending in the book. However, I was very disappointed with how they changed Robin's character, and cut way back on Maria and Robin's partnership and completed eliminated their romance. Many subsidiary characters were eliminated as well.Miss Heliotrope provides most of the humour in the film--and Juliet Stevenson has great comedic timing. Tim Curry is just a caricature as Cocq de Noir. Dakota shows lots of spunk and determination and the final underwater scene is very powerful. In a couple of her outfits they let her show some cleavage, which surprised me a bit. But the director didn't allow any sparks to fly between her and Robin (Prew).Children and young teens should enjoy the movie. There's no swearing and the violence is only mildly scary.