Snow White and the Huntsman
I have been training in medieval swordfighting for several years, and I am female. I write medieval romance novels that feature sword-wielding heroines. So I was absolutely thrilled to see the trailers for Snow White and the Huntsman. I went to see it on opening night. Here are my thoughts on the story.Note that there will be spoilers in here, as I cover actual scenes in the movie.
Snow White doesn't start out as a sword wielding Joan of Arc. Rather, she starts as a sweet young girl who is adored by her parents and also by William, a boy she grows up with. Of course, disaster hits. Her mother dies, her father remarries a beautiful blonde, and in short order he is dead as well. The new Queen locks Snow White up in a tower until she comes of age. So Snow White spends at least ten years within a tiny cell.
When she escapes, the Queen calls for a Huntsman to go into the dark woods and fetch the wayward girl home. I had greatly enjoyed the movie up until this point, and this is where I hit my first hurdle. The Huntsman (he never gets a name) is a widower whose wife was slain by the Queen for being too pretty. The Queen promises to bring the wife back to life as his payment for getting Snow White. So far so good. But for some completely baffling reason, when the Huntsman finds Snow White in about 0.2 seconds, the Queen's brother promptly laughs in his face and says "ha ha well you won't get your wife back, but be a good drone and bring this girl back to death anyway, just like your wife was killed." What?? Why would a conniving man like the Queen's brother even remotely do that? He instead would say "Of course you will get your wife back! You love your wife! She was beautiful! Now just come along with us back to the castle for your reward." It made no sense at all for the brother to screw everything up in the middle of the dark forest.
Which then leads me to the second huge issue. Part of this is personal. I adore the Huntsman's leather outfit, his skill with weapons, and his attentive protection of Snow White. But I absolutely cannot stand - and this baffles me - his hair style.
Normally I am completely oblivious to hair styles. I wear my own hair long and straight and don't do anything with it. But for whatever reason, the way his hair is pulled back from his face makes him seem like a "comic figure" to me. And I had all sorts of problems taking him seriously. If they could have plunked another wig on his body it would have made so many scenes shine. This "goofy face" (in my mind) kept distracting me.
On top of that, though, was a larger issue. I was rooting for William to come back and save her. And sure enough when William does have his entrance into the film he is a noble, skilled, honorable Robin Hood type of character. He is everything Snow White should have dreamed of in a man. But SOLELY DUE TO BEING LATE in getting to her side, suddenly he doesn't count. The Huntsman only has maybe a day "head start" on getting into Snow White's presence - and even so Snow White has already turned her heart completely over to the Huntsman. That upset me greatly.
And not only that, but they diminish William in numerous ways. Remember, this is the guy that THE VERY SECOND he finds out Snow White is alive, he goes riding out to be at her side. Nothing will stand in his way. He goes right up to the Queen's brother and infiltrates their group. He quickly gets to Snow White. He has done everything humanly possible.
So he finally gets to her. The three of them are standing by a stream and William clearly adores her. He would have fought through fire to rescue her and be at her side, where the Huntsman only gradually warmed to her. But even so, she turns her back on William and it is the Huntsman who puts out his hand to help her walk across the stream. In another scene, William - who is a skilled scout and ranger! - is obliviously sleeping and it's Huntsman who has to rouse him when something is wrong. And then, in the key battle, Joan of Arc - oops I mean Snow White - goes running off away from everyone. Somehow it's only the Huntsman who realizes she's gone and who calls William to accompany him to go up after her.
And then the final scene. She's being coronated. Everyone is around her praising her. But somehow the Huntsman is hiding in the back of the room! Surely as her "star knight" - Lancelot - he would have been in a position of honor. But they had to put him back there to have the classic "Sam and Frodo's Eyes Meeting at the End" scene, where they give each other that look that says they have something nobody else will ever understand. And then the screen goes to black. So now she's going to have both guys? A noble, loyal husband for daytime events and a commoner, passionate ranger for nighttime lust?
It's also a bit iffy to me that a girl who was locked in a cell for ten long years suddenly can ride a horse while wearing full plate armor. At a gallop! Through trebuchet fire! What made it worse was in the stuntswomen scenes she was riding brilliantly. And then in close-ups she was riding really awfully. So it was jarring in many ways.
Scenes which should have been superb get diluted. When Joan/Bella/Snow kills the evil queen, I like the touch that she does it with the Huntsman's dagger. But he gave her explicit instructions. Plunge it to the hilt, wait until the glimmer of soul in the eyes dies. But she doesn't do it that way. If they were going to provide those heart-felt, key instructions, they should have then done what he said.
In the end I do still like the movie, but the denigrating of William reduces its rewatchability for me. In most movies / books, if there are two contenders for a woman both are exceptional men. Both are "great choices" and that's what makes the competition so powerful. If they are going to make this between a "perfect at-your-side strong, skilled man" and a "boy who is clearly lacking in many ways" - and then at the same time they make the boy the one with the honor and loyalty - it grates. There was no need to put the constant jibes in against William. If they had made BOTH men strong, loyal, and right by her side, then the movie would have truly shone for me.
As a comparison, in the King Arthur and Lancelot stories, both men were amazing. Both were fully worthy. They simply were amazing in different ways.
Another comparison. William was very much like Faramir in Lord of the Rings. He was a bowman, he did hit-and-run attacks and he was very good at what he did. In Lord of the Rings, Boromir and Faramir existed side by side, each equally strong in their own way. There was no need to ridicule Faramir, and the movie would have suffered if they had. Instead, Faramir was just as strong, just in his own style.
As a final side-note, for all the heavy pagan influence, it seemed bizarre for them to interject an entire Lord's Prayer at the beginning. If this was Christianity vs Dark Forces, they lost that very quickly. It quickly became fully pagan. They should either have had a religious theme or not. Tossing in random bits and then forgetting about it was nonsensical.
Movies with Medieval Swordswomen
Medieval Romance Basics
Medieval Romance for Villagers
Medieval Romance for Nobles
Medieval Romance for Men
Medieval Romance for Women
Life in Medieval Days
Lisa's Medieval Romances
Seeking the Truth
Knowing Yourself
A Sense of Duty
Online Literary Magazines
Lisa Shea Website Main Page