(Film) Stardust

Stardust is a film remake of Neil Gaiman's novel, Stardust. I don't remember if I ever wrote a review of the book, but when I was reading, I remember thinking "This would make a better movie". Well... I was right. Gaiman wrote Stradust to see if he could write a fable. He could, but that's where it ends. The book was completely void of any exceptional characteristic other than the fact that it was a fable. I remember thinking that some scenes would be pretty cinematic if it weren't for the completely dry writing style and bad pacing, which is why I thought it might make a better movie.

But the movie had more going for it than visual appeal. Every character was better fleshed out than they were in the book, which almost never happens in a movie-book remake.

They were pretty liberal with making changes. It would almost be better to say it's "inspired" by the book than based on it. Almost every change was for the better, but they kind of screwed up near the end. They have Tristran (or "Tristan" as they renamed him for the film) go off and start a sequence of events that never occur in the book. It's almost like, if they're just making improvements to what Gaiman wrote, then they're really competent writers, but when they try to do something without any outside influence, then it comes off as really cliched and forced.

The sequence I'm thinking of is when Tristan goes off to see his village love, Victoria. He cuts off a lock of Yvaine's hair to bring to her, and leaves the doorman with a messaage for Yvaine, that he is off to be with his love. Turns out, though, that Tristan just came back to deliver a massive "Screw you, I'm awesome now, and you can't have me" to Victoria, and knock his old bully around a bit with his new fencing skill.

This doesn't work, because going so far out of his way to make that petty play doesn't seem very heroic. Also, if he didn't want to marry Victoria, why did he bother cutting off a lock of Yvaine's hair, to fulfil his promise for Victoria's hand in marriage, and why did he not tell Yvaine what he was doing, and why did he tell the doorman to lie to Yvaine?!

The ending of the movie is way better, though. In the book, Tristran and Yvaine marry, but Tristran ages and dies, while Yvaine rules over the kingdom eternally. She's really sad for a while, but life moves on, and she is a fair and just ruler. Sometimes, though, she goes off to be alone, thinking of Tristran, and is sad.

Nobody's going to be happy with that ending! The movie even seems to acknowledge that change and fakes out watchers who've read the book by starting to go down that path before making their swap-up, "Tristan and Yvaine live their lives happily, but as all know, no man can live forever.................. No man can live forever, except one who possesses the heart of a star, which Tristran had."

They have kids, while they couldn't, in the book. And they don't rule over the kingdom forever, eventually they fly off into the sky and become stars.

Although, that does open up a new issue. In the book, they got rid of that sadistic tradition of the emperor's children killing one another until only one remains, by having someone who is infertile and lives forever take over. In the movie, they have children and leave... Which means that Tristan and Yvaine's children are going to murder each other, and the kingdom didn't really benefit in any way through the story.

Oh well, in a story, I feel it's more important to have closure with the relevant characters than it is to have closure with some kind of political/cultural issue.

All in all, it was very enjoyable. Good characterisation, great humour, visually appealing. A few cramps here and there, but nothing unforgivable.