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So...instead of watching the FMA movie and seeing if the sub's any good, I finished The Tenth Kingdom miniseries. ((Just so you know, though... I can't speak to the translation quality yet but I did peak at the first few minutes and the [PsyKe] fansub of The Conqueror of Shambala does have large, pretty image quality. Mmm...FMA prettiness...!))

I couldn't help it! I hadn't seen it since it aired on tv and I loved it back then. And now, rewatching with all the parts I'd missed before... I love it even more. The depth of detail with which the fairy tales were interwoven into the plotline was amazing. They could have made it shorter and passed with half the stuff they managed to include, yet it never felt too busy. It was long and lush and thoroughly enjoyable. Each fairy tale /myth subplot had a character-developing purpose, and it pushed along the overall plotline, which was a wonderful and ultimately very moving story about the dark themes that underlie all fairy tales beneath the glitter: murder, lust, vengeance, fear, parental abandonment, betrayal, and loss. At first it's just a happy adventure ride but the dark side of fairy tales is there too, waiting to spring out at you and cut your heart.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Tony and Virginia react to the abusrdities present and prevalent in the fairy tale-ish Nine Kingdoms. Two doors, one that leads to a horrible death?
"WHO DECIDES THIS CRAZY STUFF? WHAT IS THE POINT IN HAVING A DOOR THAT LEADS TO HORRIBLE DEATH?" Word up, Tony. Word.

Random other things:

I forgot how much I enjoyed the main actress of Virginia's character-- she was very good. And very pretty in a Snow-White way, though not an annoying way.

Actually, all the acting for the five main characters was fabulous.

What's her name as the queen was good. But then, I like almost every movie or show I've ever seen that actress do, now that I think about it. And this was quite an interesting turnaround for her-- instead of being sweet and matronly and huggable she was Evil with a capital E. The truth about the Queen and Virginia's backstory... god it's so sad. The scene where Tony is confessing to Virginia about how her mother almost killed her as a child... that scene is so painful. That's what made this miniseries really work for me-- that underneath the fluff were real emotions and real normal, human drama. The Nine Kingdoms, like fairy tales, are an allegory made real, where Virginia and her mother's true conflict can be played out in a fantastical realm...but in the end the magic doesn't matter, it's just down to the two of them. I also liked it for how it broke down the one-dimensional image of Tony the buffoon into something much deeper and much more realistic...and it did the same thing to The Queen/Chrisitine's character. Suddenly, it's not funny or cheesy-- it's real.

And Wolf! He's both insanely annoying and insanely endearing at the same time. And then the next minute he's really sexy, especially when he's being sinister. The whole kitchen outfit (white shirt, red vest) in the second-to-last hour was SO HOT. Oh, and that moment when he picks a nut or raisin whatever off the table in the queen's mirror room and tosses it into the air and catches it perfectly in his mouth? HOT. I remember when I first watched it I was heartbroken over his "betrayal", especially considering he had just had sex with Virginia like 6 hours beforehand. This time around, I was paying a lot more attention to his character development, and I noticed the places where you could see his indecision. I think he really did go back to the queen after Virginia rejected him, but he either decided on his plan in the days before he caught up to the trio again, or he made his decision on the spot when Virginia told him she might love him. I have this suspicion that he wanted to be with her before the final battle because he wasn't sure he would live through the multiple levels of betrayal he was about to embark on. Still, it was pretty assholeish of him, to instigate advancing their relationship to a physical level when he planned on breaking her heart (if only for pretend.)

Ultimately, I adored their love story. I liked that he was constantly telling her he believed in her. Of course he was also telling her how much he was attracted to her all the time, but even stronger than that was his unshakable belief that she was good and strong. And that's what Virginia needed so badly in a partner-- someone who believed in her. I'm not sure what her love does for him, except inspire him to be better in the courtly tradition... we see Virginia fall in love but Wolf is just *in love* right off the bat for no particular reason. Then again, maybe it's hard to pinpoint exactly his half of the relationship because it's literally happening right in front of the audience, and we're tempted not to take it at face value when he explains right out of his mouth how much just being around her has made him different. He starts off as a criminal (wrongfully or rightfully imprisoned, we don't know?) and not a terribly bashful one, but as soon as he sees Virginia and falls in love at first sight, he immediately gives her his allegience. Maybe it's hard to take that at face value because it's so fairy-tale like? But he is a magical person from a magical world, where love really can happen at first sight, and be as earthshattering as if it'd been simmering for years.

Oh... THE SINGING RING. Dear god, I would not have that thing on my finger. Did they have to make it so annoying?

Prince Wendell... I didn't like him much the first time I saw the miniseries, and he's still not my favorite character, but he did grow on me this time around. His sarcastic side comments about Wolf and Virginia in the kissing town were hilarious and made his entire presense in the film worthwhile. Anyway, I don't think we were supposed to like him in the beginning-- he wasn't very likeable. He had to grow up along the journey too, as he comes to realize.

The script was something I also really enjoyed. Most of the jokes worked for me, both spoken and acted/unspoken. The dramatic lines carried real emotional impact. A few parts were over the top embarrassing, but not like a Jim Carrey movie or anything... I just have a very low tolerance for embarrassment squick on film.

I'm really pleased I found this again. I have to burn it to DVD and keep it for a long while. I'm just sad there was never a sequel! ...And man, I need ICONS! Does anyone have any good 10thKingdom icons?