“Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid” (2012) – Hindi “Mermaid” Drama/ Suspense

Our month long celebration of all things mermaid, “Frolicking Under The Sea: Mermaid Fantasy Film Festival – August 2016” continues! This time out, a perhaps odd little choice, the 2012 Hindi Social Drama film, “Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid”. Not reeeeaaallly a “mermaid” movie per se… but still an excellent lil’ film that Yours Truly wanted to include.

The synopsis? But of course! “Two city-bred kids, fearless tomboy Shreya and her little brother Sam travel to their dusty Haryana village for a vacation with their parents. What happens there is an adventure, which comes packed with significant life lessons. It’s not the idyllic village of their dreams but a problem-ridden place with dried up ponds, unfriendly villagers, unspoken secrets, out-of-bounds spaces, a child-eating witch and no girls, a reason why wives are imported from other states. In the backdrop of this engrossing adventure the social issue of female foeticide is subtly interwoven without being preachy and melodramatic.”

Ummmm? So this one isn’t actually a “mermaid” movie? “But… but… Neko” you ask“What about that witch in the synopsis? There is gonna be a witch, right?” Ummmm. Yeah… Gotta admit, this one sorta fooled yours truly when I was first tracking it down. It definitely didn’t turn out to be the movie I thought it was going to be. But guess what? It still turned out to be a really, really good movie that I ended up liking a whole lot. Wanna find out why? Then just “Read On”, o’ Gentle Visitors and find out! 🙂

“Maleficent” (2014) – American Fairy Tale Fantasy

Time for another Review, and this time out, I’m taking a peek at a fairly mainstream choice with the Disney live action fairytale reworking of 1959’s animated classic “Sleeping Beauty”,  2014’s “Maleficent”. Fairy tale? Why certainly!! Your favorite Catgirl loves fairy tales…. and luckily for me, so does my sweetie, so this one was a no-brainer pick to give her a “Movie Nite” she’d like filled with magic and wonder and that proverbial “happily ever after” ending that leaves you feeling warm inside. 🙂 Mind you though…. this one promised to be a wee bit darker… a wee bit more wicked… but c’mon… it’s a Disney film, so there’s gonna be a happy ending…

Our synopsis? How’s this? “A beautiful, pure-hearted young fairy princess, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom of the Faefolk, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a most ruthless betrayal at the hands of her one true love – an act that shatters her spirit, destroys her belief in love, and turns her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent wraps herself in hatred and evil and battles with the invading king’s successor, her unfaithful lover, and as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom – and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.”

Yep. This time out it’s not Sleeping Beauty who is center stage, but the Evil Queen…. who maybe isn’t as irredeemably evil after all. With my years of watching melodramatic Asian films where villains can be just as honorable and heroic as the heroes of a story, this certainly sounds like a story this wee Catgirl can get behind. Sound intriguing to you too? Then let’s get right to it shall we? 😉