WHAT’S THE STORY?

KENNETH Branagh’s Cinderella is released in the UK tomorrow but has already taken $256 million at the box office since its premiere in February at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Produced by David Barron, Simon Kinberg and Allison Shearmur for Walt Disney Pictures, the story is not a direct remake of Disney’s 1950 animated musical but borrows many of its elements.

Lily James stars as Ella (Cinderella), Cate Blanchett as wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine, Richard Madden as Prince Charming, Sophie McShera as Drizella, Holliday Grainger as Anastasia and Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother.

Made on a budget of $95 million, the film topped the box office during its opening weekend as projected, earning $67.9 million, including a record $5 million from 358 IMAX theatres, and became Disney’s biggest 2D PG-rated opening of all time.

In China it has become the second-highest grossing Disney live-action film and is also very popular in Russia, which is considered impressive as cinema-goers in both countries generally prefer 3D rather than 2D films.

Other high openings were in Mexico, Italy, Germany, Korea, and Argentina.

It is director Kenneth Branagh’s biggest opening of his career (breaking 2011’s Thor record). Branagh took over after the resignation of director Mark Romanek who wanted a darker film than Disney intended.

BACKGROUND

CINDERELLA, or The Little Glass Slipper, is a European folk tale about unjust oppression. Versions were published by Giambattista Basile in his Pentamerone (1634), Charles Perrault in Histoires Ou Contes Du Temps Passé (1697) and by the Brothers Grimm in their folk-tale collection Grimms’ Fairy Tales (1812).

Although the story’s title and main character’s name change in different languages, in English-language folklore, Cinderella is the archetypal name.

The story of Rhodopis, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is considered the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story.

It was published in 7 BC, and many other variants on the story are known throughout the world

WELL RECEIVED?

GENERALLY speaking the new film has been well received by cinema-goers – despite controversy over the tiny size of Ella’s waist.

However actress Lily James has hit back saying children are not interested in her body size and that it was “irrelevant”.

Branagh added that James was naturally thin, although her waist size had been aided by some clever corsetry. “If you pop someone in a corset,’’ he said, “not that Lily James isn’t slim – but in that wide bow of the dress underneath, basically you squeeze things in, things come out at the bottom, you know?’’

“If you look at our ball [scene], it’s full of diversity. It’s full of every kind of shape.’’

Critics shot back that the other characters, who had fuller waists, were not the ones who bagged the prince in the end.

Other reviewers have condemned it as even more conservative than the animated original with some saying they are suprised that a such a film could be made after hit movie Frozen overturned conventional representations of girls and women.

The direction, visuals and performances, particularly those of Cate Blanchett and Lily James, have been praised by other critics.

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, gave the film an 84 per cent approval rating, based on 163 reviews, with a rating average of 7.2/10.

The site’s critical consensus reads: “Refreshingly traditional in a revisionist era, Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella proves Disney hasn’t lost any of its old-fashioned magic.”