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Fairy Tale: A True Story

1997, Movie, PG, 98 mins

Fairy Tale: A True Story: Review

FAIRY TALE: A TRUE STORY
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Subtle material deeply rooted in a specific historical milieu is shoe horned awkwardly into a feature-film format, when it would probably be better-served by a novel or a miniseries. The year is 1917: WWI is raging and new technologies are shaping a future that will wipe away the last vestiges of 19th-century certainties. Peter Pan and American illusionist Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel), outspoken debunker of fake mediums and supernatural hooey, are playing to packed London theaters. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Peter O'Toole) -- creator of quintessential rationalist Sherlock Holmes -- is dabbling publicly in spiritualism. And two young cousins, 8-year-old Frances Griffiths (Elizabeth Earl) and 12-year-old Elsie Wright (Florence Hoath), claim to have photographed fairies frolicking at the foot of their garden in rural Cottingley. Their pictures produce a media frenzy -- if a genteel one, by contemporary standards -- and provide diversion for a nation weary of war and frightened of the brave new world ahead. It's easy to snicker at the credulous public that accepted the patently fake photographs of the Cottingley fairies as genuine. But the words "alien autopsy footage" ought to put a quick stop to that: The story's obvious appeal lies in the fact that cold, hard evidence can't hold a candle to the burning desire to believe. Unfortunately, this handsomely mounted film is forced to gloss over way too many personalities, events and bits of significant backstory in the pursuit of a reasonable running time: The story's subtleties -- which could be enthralling to a mature audience -- are lost, and most kids will still be bored; not a half hour into the screening, loud whispers of "When will it be over?" were being shushed by embarrassed parents. And while the fairy effects are lovely, they undermine the ambiguity that gives the tale resonance. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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