Conference noted::sf

734.0. "The Land of Faraway [a film]" by FLASH9::KALLIS (Anger's no replacement for reason.) Tue Jan 17 1989 18:14

                      -<A film of some discussability>-
                      
    This film may have hit theaters, but it didn't make much of an
    impression of it did.  It's an international effort, and stars actors
    from several countries.  It was produced in Sweden with the aid
    of some agency of the USSR.
    
    The story is simple, and while it probably won't hurt, in case anyone
    wants to see it, I'll put plotline  on the other side of a "spoiler"
    formfeed.  If you don't want to know more about it, hit NEXT/UNSEEN.
    
    <spoiler>
    
    The story: once upon a time, there was an orphan who lived with
    his (unappreciative) adoptive parents in Stockholm.  When he hears
    his "parents" discussing the character of his _real_ father, he
    resolves to run away, and _find_ that father, just to prove that
    the father's not a bum.
    
    He stops off at a shop, where a very pretty lady gives him an apple
    and a postcard to mail.  On the postcard, addressed to the king
    of the Land of Faraway, she writes that the prince has been found,
    and is coming, bearing a golden apple.  When the boy reads it, just
    before mailing it, he discovers the beautiful red apple he'd been
    holding now was gold!  He sat at a bench, and he discovered that
    the bottle next to him has something in it.  Opening the bottle,
    a spirit comes out that transports him to the Land of Faraway.
     He discovers his father's the king, and that his name is "Mio."
    He has a best friend who looks like his best-friend chum at school,
    but the name is now Jum-Jum (pronounced "yum yum"; shades of _The
    Mikado_!).  They lead an idyllic life, but the king is troubled,
    because there's this wicked knight (played by Christopher Lee) with
    magical powers, who's caught children.  The only one who can kill
    him is a prince ....  Mio says he'll go; in the process, he gets
    bread that feeds you, no matter how hungry you are, and a cloak
    that Mio (discovers belatedly) turns inside out to render the wearer
    invisible.  With an invincible sword, he faces the knight and prevails.
    
    Now, the point here is that the story's a _classic_ fairy tale.
    The Spirit of the Bottle, though powerful, is used _once_.  The
    cloak with the Lining of Invisibility is used once.  And so on.
    
    This can be contrasted to other non-fairy_tale forms of fantasy,
    where things like the cloak would be used repeatedly.
    
    The purpose of this note, is to discuss the whole spectrum of fantasy
    _types_, if a Fantasy notesfile conference isn't established.  
    
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr. 

    Sounds a bit corny.  If so, does it detract?
    
    							Don
    
    "...an apple and a postcard to mail."  Did the postage increase
    accordingly when the apple turned to gold?

    Re .1 (Don):
    
    If you're a child, particularly a subteen, then the film works fairly
    well.  My wife's four-year-old nephew, Ryan, _loved_ it and asked
    me to make him a sword immediatyely after seeing is (I made him
    one out of art mounting board; stiff but harmless material).  To
    an adult, it's slow and fairly stogy (the special effects are okay,
    but nothing really noteworthy).
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    re: .0
    
    That's an interesting distinction: a fairy tale only uses a 
    magical device once whereas a fantasy uses it many times.  I've 
    always thought that a fairy tale was just an older form of 
    children's fantasy, but I can see how your distinction works.  
    Any ideas on why that's the case?
    
    /jlr

    Re .3 (jlr):
    
    >Any ideas on why that's the case?
    
    I suspect that for smaller children, the idea of multiple uses of
    a resource might be a bit confusing.  
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    
    >Any ideas on why that's the case?
    
    I suspect that for smaller children, the idea of multiple uses of
    a resource might be a bit confusing.  
    
	----------------------------------------------------------

	I believe it has more to do with teaching a lesson. You
	are granted a power and must use it responsibly i.e. once,
	correctly. Life does not give you an infinite amount of
	chances to do a particular thing right. Usually it's one
	shot. I think that is a veiled lesson of fairy tales,
	and there are many.

	Fantasy doesn't necessarily have to teach anything to young
	children. Rather, it usually serves as escapist material
	for young (and not-so-young) adults.