I’ve always been drawn by the idea of telling stories from the point of view of the bad guy. I remember reading a Harry Potter fanfic told from the point of view of Draco Malfoy and it was so stunning. Since then, I’ve been wondering about how stories would’ve turned out if the bad guy was the main character. When I first heard about Maleficent, I knew that it would be interesting. And the character would be played by Angelina Jolie!
After waiting for months, I had to wait for five more days to see this movie since it’s just premiered today in my country. I must admit that I should’ve known that if a story is told through the bad guy’s point of view, we will easily fall in love with them. This is what happened to me when I watched this. Maleficent is just a poor girl who is mistreated by a man she loves who betrays her for power and throne. He takes away her wings and leaves her. She shuts herself and turns the beautiful kingdom of Moors into a dark forest surrounded by high thorny plants. A few years later (or months? I didn’t really pay attention.), the man–who is now king–and the queen have a daughter named Aurora. The king and queen throw a christening party at the castle, but Maleficent is not invited. Together with her new alley, Diaval the raven, she comes anyway. The famous scene in which Maleficent puts her curse on Aurora happens and then she flees, leaving the whole castle in horror. The story then goes as it was told in Sleeping Beauty: the king destroys all the spinning wheels in the kingdom and sends his daughter away for her protection. Maleficent and Diaval continue monitoring Aurora and keeping her alive so the curse can be fullfilled.
However, problems arise as Maleficent finds herself grow more and more fond of Aurora. The girl thinks that Maleficent is her fairy godmother, knowing that she’s always been there since she was little. The relationship goes deeper and deeper that one day Maleficent tries to take back the curse but fails. Then Aurora’s 16th birthday comes and the curse is fullfilled, leaving Maleficent devastated.
Compared to the films I’ve seen lately, Maleficent is very short. It’s only about 90 minutes (or 97 according to Wikipedia). It leaves several things unexplained, like what really happens at the castle in the end or the thing that’s bugging my mind: “Doesn’t Aurora feel sad about the death of the father she’s only known for a day (or two)?” But the question put aside, I think Maleficent is good. It resembles Frozen in which the phrase ‘true love’ isn’t interpreted as romance. Maybe Disney wants to change the perception that’s been planted by a lot of fairy tales that in order to get a ‘happy ever after’, a girl needs a boy who can save her from desperation? I don’t know. But they’ve surely done good things with these two movies.
Also, let’s talk about these cheekbones. Irene Adler could cut herself slapping Maleficent’s face (and then get her own sleeping curse.)