Book vs Film: Ella Enchanted
Do you ever read a book and wish that a film studio picked it up to make it a movie? Or, have you ever watched a movie and found out that it was a book?
Well, we've all been there and this year I wanted to start writing about it! I consider myself to be an avid reader and film watcher, so why not combine both of the things that I love to do?
Plot Overview
Ella of Frell is a girl from a land of fairies, ogres, and giants. In this land, all newborn babies are given a gift from a fairy godmother (much like the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale). But Ella's fairy godmother gives her the gift of obedience, which may seem like a gift but its more like a curse. Throughout the story Ella is trying to break the spell while traveling all over the land fighting ogres, finding princes and sneaking around her stepsisters.
Book
The book that started it all was written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. Intended for young teens this was a fairytale story that had notes of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella but with the whole premise of Ella being her own hero.
A truly inspiring and empowering story it was a good read. Levine had a good sense of the characters and her use of imagery throughout the book really kept the notion of the book being set in a fairy tale land alive.
The book does a good job of outlining Ella's childhood and her struggles with having to be forcefully obedient. It also depicts the hurt that she feels when her mother dies and when her family dynamic changes as her father marries another. Her stepmother sends her away to finishing school but Ella then escapes to try and break the curse.
The book is more of a heroic journey and also a story about self-discovery because even though Ella was under this spell she tries to live her life not letting it define who she is.
Movie
The movie was produced by Miramax film company in 2004 by the same name as the book written by Levine. Although the claim of the movie is that is based on the book, the only thing that is the same are the characters names and the overarching plot of the spell and trying to break it.
The movie begins with a quick montage of Ella's life that transitions into an all too familiar Cinderella-esc sequence of introducing the stepsisters, being moved and becoming the housemaid. It shows small snippets of her life and how she lives with the spell. The rest of the film
outlines Ella's journey through a series of tough situations that will help her break the spell.
The movie was light-hearted and fun with its comedic lines, playful scenes, and musical numbers but it wasn't anything like the book. There was no depth to the story or real emotion. As a whole, I enjoyed the movie in the sense that it had the typical romantic-comedy outline but in relation to the book it was sub-par.
Final Thoughts
I 10/10 would recommend this book to anyone. Although the reading level is on the younger side it doesn't detract from this being a well-written novel. But as far as the movie goes it is good for what it is but I would say that it is loosely based on the book.
