once.upon.dream
My favourite fairytale came to life through the perspective of the scariest Disney villain, Maleficent.
Now, I am always keen to read the villain’s story. After all, we are not born villainous, villainy is the product of circumstance (debatable but go with it). Maleficent, the new film, transforms the fairytale land to a visual feast of stunning forests resting on the border of a torrid castle and its equally appalling inhabitants. I remember Maleficent living in a mountain but I guess, a mountain can also be a wonderland of magnificent creatures (who actually meet me in height! (i am quite quite petite)) and trolls and gross creatures are actually crows who can do the job placed on their shoulders.
The new film has a beautiful cast but it really is a visual demonstration of how every story has two sides. Two sides of a coin etc. Maleficent is transformed into a girl whose heart is broken by her lover’s lust and greed. Yet, she shelters her lover’s child, offering the innocent the boon of her company and her care which her fairy godmothers are unable to provide. Aurora actually has a story in this film. In the animated original, Aurora dances in the forest with an owl, and ends up dancing and singing a song with the stranger of Prince Phillip. And they fall in love.
When I was younger, I loved that scene. It’s cliché and ridiculous and very foolish on both parts but it was lovely. The song in particular, sung by young Aurora, and currently Lana del Ray. It felt resonant of my dreams and fantasies of falling madly in love. It goes like this:
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you’ll do
You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream
But if I know you, I know what you’ll do
You’ll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you’ll do
You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream
