EverAfter

Andy Tennant wrote the screenplay with Susannah Grant and Rick Parks and directed it himself. The Cinderella tale is not told straight: Jeanne Moreau, as the Grande Dame, summons the Brothers Grimm in order to correct their version and to set out what she says really happened to her ancestor. With the magic stripped out, the fairy godmother’s job passes to Leonardo da Vinci, who dresses Danielle for the ball, hands the lost slipper to the prince and paints her portrait. The calendar cannot carry it. Leonardo died on 2 May 1519 at Clos Lucé near Amboise, and Henry II of France, the prince of this film, was born on 31 March 1519. The meeting at court is invented from the start. The rescue is inverted as well. By the time Henry reaches Le Pieu’s house, Danielle has already freed herself. At the close the Grande Dame says the couple were her own great great grandparents. At the 25th Saturn Awards Drew Barrymore won best actress and Jenny Beavan won best costumes, with Anjelica Huston and composer George Fenton nominated. Against a budget near 25 million dollars the film took 98 million worldwide. A good fit if you want the tale rebuilt with no enchantment at all. Not for anyone looking for period accuracy in Renaissance France.