Charlotte Gothique: December 2020

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Hello all! I've recently been seeing a lot of talks and hints towards "sequels" and "remakes" of popular and beloved movies. Some I've received with mixed feelings. Can you truly make another Labyrinth without the iconic David Bowie? It made me think what about the originals made me love them so much in the first place, so I decided to share those that I loved the most as a young lass!

The Secret Garden (1993)

Based on the similarly titled book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the story follows young Mary Lenox, recently orphaned in India to very self-centered parents. She travels back to England to the dismal and wintery Misselthwaite Manor, home of her uncle Lord Craven. Whilst adjusting to life in the manor, she discovers her cousin, hidden away out of sight. She also discovers the closed-up gardens that once belonged to her Aunt, her Mothers twin sister, which she brings back to life with the help of Dickon, her maid's brother and her cousin. Together, they help break the melancholic spell that holds over the Manor and the deep mourning still gripping tight to Uncle Craven.

I remember when I first saw this movie and how I came to own it. It used to be the common thing for me and my Father to pop to town on a Saturday and he would get me a video to watch from W.H Smiths, to keep me entertained on a Saturday afternoon. I remember picking this movie out and watching it and absolutely loving it! I recalled reading the book in primary school too. The story was beautiful, the music was beautiful. It was one of the movies that got me loving period/costume dramas so much and it's a movie I still enjoy to this day without getting bored of it. I also think it was the first movie, other than Hook, that I saw with Dame Maggie Smith.

The Glass Virgin (1995)

Set in 1870s Northern England, young Annabella has no idea her family hides a terrible secret that must be kept from her and everyone outside the family estate; even the servants are threatened into silence. When the secret comes out as Annabella grows into a young woman, she runs away from home, aided by her Fathers exotic Spanish/Irish groomsman, Manuel Mendoza (Brendal Coyle). Now living as a worker, Annabella must learn to put all her education and lady-like upbringing aside, fighting for survival amongst the poor class. Nobody truly understands her but Manuel and soon nothing would ever keep them apart.

This was the very first Catherine Cookson movie I ever saw and from there I watched them all and even collected almost all her books. Catherine Cookson is a local favorite, writing about the lives of the Lower and Higher classes in Northern England in different eras; victorian, the swinging 60's and the terrors of the first world war. Catherine Cookson would boast close to 100 titles before her sad passing in 1998.

Willow (1988)

Evil Queen Bavmorda seeks to kill a newborn girl bearing a certain birthmark which would been the sign of her undoing. The child that has the mark would be the new Queen and overthrow the evil sorceress and dispel all her tyranny throughout the kingdom. When a captured peasant woman gives birth to a beautiful red-haired baby girl with the birthmark, she finds a way to get the baby to safety and unwittingly the baby is found by Willow, a halfling or "peck", floating down the river by his village. The halfling villagers, being spooked by the baby of the "tall people" and what her presence might cause, decide that Willow, with the help of the village's bravest warriors, would seek to find a place for the baby amongst her own kind. Things of course do not go according to plan and Willow, now accompanied by the rogue Madmartigan and two clumsy brownies, battle to keep the baby safe from those trying to take her back to Bavmorda.

This has been a family favorite for years, I simply love it, again it is another movie I can watch over and over and never tire of it, even with its early CGI and technology. The actors were iconic and I love to see them in other movies. It was a movie my parents would put on for us at family gatherings, like Christmas or Birthday teas. It was recently reported that a second movie was in the works, featuring the loveable Willow, played by Warwick Davis. I am unsure how I feel about the news. Where I would love to see the Characters again, I hope it is not ruined.

Labyrinth (1986)

Sarah feels stifled at home, especially now she has a baby half-brother. She escapes her feelings by delving into fantasy, reciting extracts from books and plays and dressing up. When she is asked to babysit her brother, she discovers her parents went into her room to take one of her collection teddys to give to her brother which really upsets her. Toby, in the meantime, constantly cries and under frustration she recites an extract from a book she had read which begs a Goblin King to take the child away from her. Suddenly there is silence, Toby is gone and the Goblin King (played by David Bowie), seemingly real, appears and tells Sarah he has her brother and that he is being kept in his Castle, deep within the Goblin City. Realizing the horrible mistake she had made, she asks for her brother's return, but it is not that easy. Jareth gives her 13 hours to solve the dangerous labyrinth that surrounds his castle, however, if she fails, he would keep her brother forever and turn him into one of the Goblins.

With how Iconic this treasured 80's movie is, I'd be very shocked and surprised if you did not know it, especially the well-known song "Magic Dance". The movie features songs performed by David Bowie himself and intentionally romanticizes the bad guy vibe, hinting that there is an attraction to the characters. This is another movie that was watched by my whole family over the years and kept young me very entertained. The songs from the movie are still popular to this day.

The Amazing Mr Blunden (1972)

Set in 1917 England, mysterious Mr Blunder visits Mrs Allenn and her three children in their run-down basement flat in London, offering them the opportunity to live and work at Langley Park, a derelict crumbling manor house. He tells them to visit the Solicitors office but when there, they are informed that Mr Blunden has been ill in bed and was senile and had been so for some time. They also discover a painting which the clerk informs them is the Great Grandfather of the current Mr Blunder; the living image of the old man who visited them. So who came to their house? Despite this strange circumstance, they accept the job and move to the small cottage which adjoins the manor house. The two eldest children Benjamine and Lucy hear local gossip from Villagers about how the Manor came to be so ruined and then, one day, they are met by the ghosts of two children, Georgie and Sara. Georgie and Sara inform them they are not ghosts but came from the past and explained how the Mother of their Uncle's Wife plotted their death, for young Georgie would inherit a vast amount of money on his coming of age. They ask Lucy and Bejamine to prevent their deaths and change the past, so the pair go back in time and meet old Mr Blunden, but will they change the past?

My Mother loved this movie as a girl so naturally, she introduced us kids to the movie too over the years. It's a beautiful story and was made in the same style/era as The Railway Children (1970). It's a family movie/story based on the novel "The Ghosts" by Antonia Barber. The movie has loveable and comical characters without feeling too much hatred for the protagonists. The twist at the ending is lovely and pulls the whole movie together.

The Crow (City of Angels) (1996)

Following in the same footsteps from the 1994's The Crow, featuring Brandon Lee (Son of Bruce Lee), another soul is brought back to life to seek revenge before his soul can rest. Sarah has seen this happen before, so when she feels it is about to happen again, she finds Ash. Ash was killed with his Son for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessing a crime. With the crow always close by, Ash, with the help of Sarah from the first movie, seek out all those who aided in his and his Sons death, rising up the chain of command till he can kill Judah, only then can his soul rest.
Unlike many other people, the first movie in the franchise I saw was not the first movie with Brandon Lee, but in fact the second. My brother had City of Angels on VHS and I remember, at my young age, being told I could never watch it due to the contents but of course I watched it and this was my very first introduction to the "goth" aesthetics. I remember being so captivated by the style and beauty of Sarah. I loved the soundtrack and I still listen to the music to this day and its is always part of my playlists.

Batman Returns (1992)

Batman, played by Michael Keaton, is back and this time he is joined by Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), Oswald Cobblepot (Dany DeVito) and the Red Triangle Circus Gang. Abandoned as a baby due to his unusual appearance, Oswald (Penguin) grows up full of resentment and a keen ambition for revenge on all of Gotham. Meanwhile, Selena is "killed" by Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) for accidentally uncovering his corruption. However, she does not die. The fall to her supposed death actually results in her transition into Catwoman and her change from shy stuttering push-over to a confident and beguiling woman with mixed motives. Oswald becomes Mayor of Gotham, playing on the sympathy of his upbringing and abandonment, but this is all a ploy in order to enact his revenge and kill all of Gotham's children.
This was the first Batman movie I saw, not including the TV shows/Cartoons others in my family would watch. It was my first introduction to the caped hero style of movies, as I had not seen the likes of Superman yet. It was also the first movie I saw Directed by Tim Burton, for shortly after I was shown Nightmare Before Christmas and then Beetlejuice, also featuring Michael Keaton. This is my favorite version of Catwoman and one which I think is true to form and character. The same could be said of Penguin, no other could play the icon baddie so well.

Fairytale (A True Story) (1997)

With her father away fighting in the first world war, young Frances goes to stay with her Aunt, Uncle and Cousin in their West Yorkshire home, deep in the countryside. Her Aunt and Uncle are still mourning over the death of their ten your old Son who died of Pneumonia and who was a gifted artist in his life. Her Cousin Elsie seems reserved and tries her best to keep her cousin from learning the knowledge that Fairies live at the bottom of their garden, in the streams and woods near their home. Talked into it by her cousin, they take the Uncles Camera and when he processes the negatives, the images of the fairies can be seen dancing and flying. Knowing her Son talked about the fairies before his passing, the aunt gives the negatives to Mr Gardener, a member of the Theosophical Society who had that day given a lecture on the question "Do Angels Exist?" Shocked by the images, he has them authenticated and then shows them to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, well known for his dabbling in seances and "the other side". Sir Arthur then shows the famous Harry Houdini. Before the family could blink, their village is invaded by newspapers, magazines, nosey-parkers and the fairies disappear, but did they really leave and were the pictures real or not?
Based on the true story, the Cottingley Fairies, this conspiracy continued all the way till Frances' death in 1986 and Elsie' death in 1988, wherein 1983, the cousins finally admitted that the Photographs had been forged using copies of artwork from a book, making still cutouts of fairies situated around them near the home. The two cousins admitted to being too embarrassed to say the truth and felt bad for fooling Sir Arthur for so long. However, the cousins maintained that fairies did truly exist and that they had seen them, only admitting that the images themselves were fake. France's Daughter appeared on the TV show Antiques Roadshow in 2009, where the original images were estimated to be worth over £25,000.

Like The Secret Garden (See Above), this was a movie my Father bought me on VHS on one of our weekly Saturday jaunts in town, to help pass away the afternoon. I live in the North, close to the Yorkshire Dales, so as a child I could imagine seeing places like those in the movie. I knew about Sir Arthur as my Father loves Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. It was a lovely movie to watch and the fact it was based on true events really captured me.

Reference Sources

Wikipedia
IMDB

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