
DATE: Tuesday, October 28, 1997             TAG: 9710280048

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   73 lines

``FAIRYTALE'' ISN'T A KID FLICK BUT SHOULD BE

THE ``TRUE'' is the most interesting aspect of ``FairyTale - a True Story.'' This is a richly atmospheric and unusually erudite family movie that refuses to become cute or sentimental about its subject matter - two young girls who claim to have seen and photographed fairies in their West Yorkshire, England, garden in 1917. The photographs they took became the subject of international debate that continues today.

The film is something of a surprise in that it attempts a complex balancing act between ``believing'' and not believing, between skepticism and faith.

Director Charles Sturridge is clearly not going to pander to just a child audience, but at the same time, he wants them present. Ernie Contreras' intelligent script is rooted in the horrors of World War I - a time when society was eager to believe in other-worldly fantasies to escape the horrendous casualty reports from the trenches.

Surprisingly little is seen of the fairies. For the most part, they are pictured, unspeaking, as a fluttering, gossamer mix of hummingbird and dragonfly. They are kept mystical. One can only imagine what the Disney studio would have done with this subject matter. It would not have been either quiet or complex, but it would have been a good deal more commercial.

It is doubtful children will sit still for this film, but they should be encouraged to do so. They have to learn about drama and character development someday, and this is as good a film as any to teach them.

One suspects, though, that adults are going to like it a good deal more - particularly middle-aged adults who have a literary background on which to build.

When her mother dies, young Frances Griffiths is brought from Africa to live with her cousin Elsie Wright's family in West Yorkshire, England. With her father missing in action, the shadow of the war hangs over her. The Wright family, too, has suffered a tragedy - the death of Elsie's brother from pneumonia. It is a ripe time for adults as well as children to escape to a fantasy world.

The photographs are avidly supported by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, who makes them famous in his magazine in 1920. Famed magician Harry Houdini is more skeptical.

Florence Hoath and Elizabeth Earl are fine as the girls, foregoing the precocious nature of usual child actors. Peter O'Toole is a sadly aristocratic Doyle, suggesting the tragedy of the man's own loss of a son. Harvey Keitel, for once, keeps on his clothes and is low-key, although he brings a properly caustic questioning to Houdini, a man who was, himself, anxious to reach his dead mother in the spirit world.

The film's ultimate message of ``BELIEVE,'' which is plastered across its posters in the lobby, is somewhat questionable because the fact that four of the five photographs were proven to be fake is revealed. The premise seems to wander uncertainly when it switches from the specific to the general - urging us, at any age, to believe in something; to choose our own fantasy.

One suspects that ``FairyTale'' will suffer the same fate as ``A Little Princess,'' a well-done movie that had trouble finding a family audience because it treated children intelligently. In trying to have it both ways, the film is flawed but still a great deal better than any other ``family'' flick to open in a long while. ILLUSTRATION: PARAMOUNT

Elsie Wright (Florence Hoath) is visited by the fairy Queen Mab in

``FairyTale - A True Story.''

MOVIE REVIEW

``FairyTale - A True Story''

Cast: Peter O'Toole, Harvey Keitel, Florence Hoath, Elizabeth

Earl, Paul McGann, Phoebe Nicholls

Director: Charles Sturridge

Screenplay: Ernie Contreras

Music: Zbigniew Preisner

MPAA rating: PG (some references to war and death)

Mal's rating: **1/2