maleficent

i watched maleficent last night with bee. and i must say it was such a nice and magical show! i really loved how the whole "sleeping beauty" story was embedded into the show, almost untouched. i said "almost" becos there were little bits changed to accommodate the extension of the story, both pre- and post-sleeping beauty. for example, in the sleeping beauty story, maleficent appeared and cast the curse after the second fairy's blessings. and it was the last fairy that reduced the intensity of the curse. but in the movie, it was maleficent (angelina jolie) instead, after the king pleaded with her.

and after watching "frozen" i kinda expected the sudden twist of the story at the end. anyway, what made this show interesting was the fact that maleficent, though a good person at heart, was painted and dressed in colours that reminded one of a witch and all things evil, as was how she was portrayed in the original story of "sleepy beauty". and i particularly enjoyed the whole magical feel and where dragons, elves, fairies, etc were all brought to life, especially during last part of the show where maleficent had to do battle with the evil king.

kudos to angelina jolie for pulling off such a fine and flawless performance. thought she balanced all the emotions very well throughout the show, like how she was blinded by love, suffered injustice, consumed by hatred, and the way she grew to love aurora, and how she tried to save aurora from the very curse she laid during the christening. anyway, shan't go further except that to a buddhist like me, i was constantly reminded throughout the show of the 3 poisons - greed (attachment), hatred (aversion) and ignorance (delusion) - and how they were the cause of sufferings that was the basis of show. poisons that everyone possess at some point in time, that even maleficent herself cannot escape.

great show to watch, and to reflect.