The Snow is Queen

City people in Finland have a bad reputation when it comes to winter. The first snow is always an excuse to showcase just how surprised the southerners (Helsinkians) are by this yearly marvel of white. I don't actually think this is true.

In a country where snow covers the land for a third of the year, it can hardly be called a surprise when it finally arrives. This year the snow has been late in coming, making the world dark, grey and sleepy. I, for one, have been looking forward to the snow. For the light it brings and the scent of freshly frozen sky.

Last night I watched the new Disney movie “Frozen”, loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen book Snow Queen.

The movie itself is quite refreshing, although the plot moves so fast it is hard to emphathise with the characters. This could be a script problem or the fact that I am getting old and no longer have the ability to accept spoon fed characterisations. 

There is a lot of good in this movie, but it feels disjointed. The story circles around two sisters Elsa and Ana (princesses), who are estranged after Elsa's gift almost kills her little sister Ana. Their parents die very early on in a ship wreck, after which the gates to their kingdom are shut, until Elsa turns 18 and takes the throne. At the coronation party Elsa and Ana begin to reconnect, but it is short lived.  The sisters fight after Ana wants to get married and Elsa refuses her blessing for the match. She then plunges the whole kingdom into an eternal winter and runs away. Ana goes after her and the story begins in earnest with a talking snowman, a reindeer and, for some reason pungent male lead, Christof. This movie is essentially a love story, but instead of portraying romantic love, the love is sisterly in nature. 

The real hero of this movie is Elsa, the original “evil” character until the writers decided to change her in to a protagonist in the film. Showing a conflicted and confused character in a Disney film is something I applaud! It is therefore unfortunate that as the most compelling character within the movie, she is sidelined almost completely by the eager and overly optimistic little sister Ana, voiced by Kirsten Bell. The song “Let it Go”, sung by Idina Menzel (Elsa) is by far the musical highlight of the movie. It is annoying though, that this coming of age song visually transforms Elsa in to a sexualised, swaying her hips, recluse. 

What are you trying to say Disney? 
The climax is satisfying, with a refreshing twist in plot for Disney. It is only a shame that the rest of the movie was not as well put together.