灰姑娘：魔力依舊

Few people aren’t familiar with the Brothers Grimm’s Cinderella， a fairy tale about a kind-hearted country girl who endures mistreatment at the hands of her cruel and jealous stepmother. The girl never loses hope or becomes jaded by her circumstances， and eventually she wins the heart of a dashing prince. Now this classic story has returned to the big screen.

Disney has a history of targeting female audiences with stories that elicit the nostalgia of their childhood years. With dazzling costumes and lavish set design， everything in this latest live-action version of Cinderella is accomplished with this goal in mind.

How many girls can resist the story of a young servant who transforms into a beautiful princess， complete with an extravagant blue ball gown and shining crystal glass slippers， all designed through the magic of a charming fairy godmother？

Movies adapted from fairy tales are nothing new. But in recent years， many of these stories have been revised to appeal to modern audiences. The 2014 musical drama Into the Woods， for example， combined the stories of Jack and the Beanstalk， Cinderella， Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood to create an ironic tale that would appeal to adults. Starring American actress Angelina Jolie， 3D dark fantasy film Maleficent （2014） portrayed the Sleeping Beauty story through the perspective of the villain rather than the cursed princess.

Cinderella， however， stays true to its source material. There isn’t much time invested in creating new plot elements. Instead the creators focus on details that make the story more convincing and logical.

This time， Cinderella and her prince don’t fall in love at first sight at the royal ball—they develop a familiarity with each other after meeting by chance in a forest.

We even feel a sense of pity for the malicious stepmother（Cate Blanchett） who overhears her husband pouring his heart out about his love for his ex-wife. Two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett’s elegance and formidable acting skills heighten the stepmother’s devilishness.

If this new Cinderella didn’t update its formula for modern times， it’s quite possible that audiences would reject it. Today people prefer to see heroines make the bad guy pay rather than easily forgive them. Women with venomous tongues， like Max in 2 Broke Girls， always outshine their more forgiving counterparts.

Cinderella mostly aims to satisfy traditional fairytale lovers， and in this endeavor it succeeds. In the film’s simple world， it’s appearance， goodness and honesty that count most. In fact， no matter what situation we’re in， it’s never wrong to follow this adage from Cinderella： “Have courage and be kind.”

《格林童話》中灰姑娘的故事可謂無人不知無人不曉：善良的鄉下姑娘慘遭妒忌心強、性情殘暴的后媽虐待，卻并未因此對生活失去希望，最終，她贏得了英俊王子的心。如今，這部經典童話再一次登上了銀幕。

用童年時代的故事吸引有懷舊情結的女性觀眾一直是迪士尼的傳統。這部最新的真人版《灰姑娘》也不例外：華麗的服飾、奢華的背景設計無不顯露在這部電影里。

“女仆”灰姑娘在仙女教母的魔法下，穿上奢華的藍色禮服長裙、熠熠奪目的水晶鞋，變成了美麗公主。這樣夢幻的場景，哪個姑娘能抗拒呢？

童話改編電影并不新鮮。近年來，很多童話故事都被搬上銀幕。但是為了迎合現代觀眾，這些故事的情節都被大大改動過。2014年的音樂劇《魔法黑森林》就是由《杰克與豆莖》《灰姑娘》《長發姑娘》，以及《小紅帽》四個故事匯集而成的諷刺成人童話。還有美國女星安吉麗娜·朱莉主演的3D黑色魔幻電影《沉睡魔咒》（2014），雖然根據《睡美人》改編而來，但卻拋棄了原著中的女主角——被詛咒的公主，而選擇了惡毒女巫的視角來作為故事的切入點。

相比之下，電影《灰姑娘》更加忠實原著。制片人們并沒有在創造情節上花費過多時間，而是將重點放在了刻畫細節上，力求故事更有邏輯、更加可信。

這一次，灰姑娘不再與王子在舞會上一見鐘情，而是在那之前就已在森林偶遇、相互熟悉。

對于電影中惡毒的繼母（凱特·布蘭切特飾），我們似乎都要心生憐憫了，因為她無意中聽到她的丈夫傾訴對前妻的愛意。而兩獲奧斯卡獎的凱特·布蘭切特氣質優雅、演技精湛，更是將后媽的惡毒表現得淋漓盡致。

這一版《灰姑娘》還與時俱進地升級了故事的“配方”，否則觀眾也許并不會買單。當今時代，相比輕易的原諒，人們更喜歡看到主人公“惡有惡報”的結局。而毒舌女相比于溫柔的女角色通常更容易出彩，就像《破產姐妹》的主角麥克斯。

如其所愿，電影《灰姑娘》成功迎合了傳統童話故事愛好者的口味。在電影中的簡單世界里，外表、善良和誠實最為重要。而在現實中，不論我們身處怎樣的境地，灰姑娘的名言也總不會錯：“勇往直前、心懷善意。”