GamerTab That was an excellent one.

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Iain Gardiner Sometimes in life we need to believe in something beyond ourselves. Something that plays with our imagination and allows us venture into worlds that go beyond what we can reach out and touch easily. The line in the movie regarding what it's like to be grown up 'that it feels like being someone that isn't 'you'' is pretty accurate. This movie made me feel I'd reconnected with that 'anything is possible' aspect of myself, which is pretty magickal!! I Believe... what you believe is up to you.

Julesecosse I loved it. It is a fairy tale in every sense of the phrase. Thoroughly enjoyable.It is a charming tale of innocence with the horrific backdrop of the First World War. Like all fairy tales is not a totally happy story; but has several tragic elements.I was not keen on the fairies being shown; I thought that that part of the story could have been left to the imagination and would have made the story more interesting.I can't imagine many people disliking this movie as it has much to offer; but probably not one for the young.

david-sarkies When I watched this movie I was so tired that I slept through a part of it and didn't take in much of the other but from what I saw and from listening to others I picked up enough to comment on it. From what I heard this movie is based on some photographs taken in 1915 of some fairies. The photos could not be proved that they were faked and baffled a lot of people. What this movie has done is made the fairies real so as to create a child's movie.The plot is very thin but it is about people believing in fairies. The end comes with everybody seeing the evidence of the existence of fairies and believing in them. The thing is that the fairies play very little part in this movie and it is more focused on the children. The fairies never speak and interact with the children very rarely.This also seems to be an excuse to parade famous identities in the movie. We have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini as major characters in the movie and even show Houdini performing some of his escapes. Doyle is said to have written a book on fairies which my friend wanted to look for. He also said that the soundtrack was relaxing. They liked it but I slept and really had little interest in this movie. These fairies were the beautiful children fairies which I do not like, when it comes to fairies I like Faeries. What is the difference? Faeries are the more adult versions and appear in Mid-summer Night's Dream and Faerie Tale. These are much more vicious and hostile, especially Titania and Oberon in Midsummer Night's Dream. Those I love, Fairy Tale I don't. Oh well, each to his own.

aimless-46 "Masters of illusion never reveal their secrets" says Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel) in the lyrical fantasy ''Fairytale--A True Story'' (1997). And pay attention to the things Houdini says like: "Never try to fool children. They expect nothing and therefore see everything", because his character exists to articulate the film's themes. These revolve around the need for many people to believe in the existence of spiritual concepts, the wisdom of not challenging these beliefs if they give sustenance, and how loss of the ability to see much that is hidden goes along with our loss of innocence. The innocence is stressed early in the film when an 8 year-old girl fearlessly seeks out a horribly scarred veteran on the train and gets "her corporal's" help to play a game of cat's cradle. In its best montage the film moves between, Houdini's fabled "The Chinese Water Torture Cell" illusion, a chess match, and the first-hand spiritual education of an investigative reporter. The film loosely documents the "Cottingley fairies" incident in 1917 when two English girls produced photographs that showed themselves in the presence of fairies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (insert Sherlock Holmes here) published the photographs when he and various experts became convinced they were authentic. Many years later the girls would confess that they had faked all but one of the photos, but they continued to claim that their fairies actually exist. 12-year-old Elsie Wright (Florence Hoath) and 8-year-old Frances Griffiths (Elizabeth Earl) are the girls. It is late in WW1 and Francis has come to live with her Aunt and Uncle because her father is missing in action on the front lines. The Wright's too are dealing with a recent loss as Elsie's brother has passed away. So both children and Mrs. Wright (Phoebe Nicholls) are primed for belief in the other world. Yes there are fairies, the viewer sees them when no people are around and we see them leaving the area when Doyle's revelations cause the property to be trampled by a hoard of both believers and skeptics. The production design and the special effects are impressive and the film is absorbing from scene to scene. The target audience is a little hard to pin down as the subject is geared to children but much of the story a bit confusing if you are not already familiar with historical figures like Houdini and Doyle. The film utilizes the tried and true device for connecting with children by giving them a story about young people who know stuff is real, even though adults don't get it. In the film the age gap between the two girls is slightly less than it was in real life, which gives their relationship a bit more believability. Even more impressive is how successful the director was in the subtle creation two very distinct personalities. Elsie is shy and artistic. Frances is confident and social. Their interplay is the film's real strength; apparently the director sensed this dynamic and worked very hard in his acting for the camera direction of the two young actresses. He kept them in character and added behavioral elements they give their characters considerable depth and dimensionality. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.