In terms of its impact on cinema, The Little Prince may well have been named The Little Engine That Could. From “The Aviator” to “The Lego Movie” and “The English Patient,” this children’s book about the interplanetary travels of a solitary boy on a solitary asteroid has been influencing films since its release in 1943 – the year before its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, disappeared in a fighter plane. Inspired by his crash in the Sahara Desert during an international flight race, the story was always tinged with melancholy about the collateral damage of growing up.
But the writer and aviator may not have anticipated how this collateral damage could extend to the adaptation of his book, which has been butchered in such far-ranging forms as an anime series and a 1974 Hollywood musical. (To be fair, that latter project is at least a fascinating disaster, listing no less than Bob Fosse in its credits.) While a new, computer stop-motion animation adaptation by Mark Osborne (“Kung Fu Panda”) is actually good, even its trajectory has been fraught. Premiering at the 2015 Cannes Festival, it was delayed for U.S. release and dropped by a distributor before finally landing in the happy home of Netflix Studios, which is releasing it on a streaming platform as well as in theaters this month. Something about the purity of this story – of the prince’s clear little voice and features – has seemed to confound Hollywood, which, though itself founded on no shortage of childlike imagination, has a hard time embracing simplicity, let alone sidestepping bombast. But Osbourne and his team have devised a take that’s quite ingenious. Continue Reading →
About a pair of sisters struggling after the breakdown of the national grid, “Into the Forest” may get lost in the glut of post-apocalyptic films we’ve seen since 2001. If that’s the case, it’ll be a shame, for this adaptation of Jean Hegland’s gently sci-fi novel is a more intimate film than many of those zombie-busters and doomsday thrillers. It also is more finely hewn, which makes sense as it’s the latest offering from Patricia Rozema, who has directed such thoughtful fare as “Mansfield Park” (1999) and the oft-overlooked “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing” (1987). (If you’ve not seen that sweetly oddball coming-out film, do yourself a favor and track it down.)
From “The Human Stain” to “The Humbling,” Philip Roth adaptations are a tough sell. Brooding, yet devoid of the author’s rich insights, these films often die on the vine. “Indignation” is a rare exception, partly because the eponymous 2008 novel is an unusually lean, plot-driven effort for Roth. (It’s no coincidence that “Goodbye, Columbus,” his most successful adaptation, is also uncharacteristically plot-driven.) Partly too, this is the first feature by writer/director James Schamus, who wrote the screenplays for “The Ice Storm” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and, as the CEO of Focus Pictures, was responsible for such elegant indies as “Far From Heaven” and “A Serious Man.” In watching this meticulously crafted film, I get the sense Schamus would have waited forever for the perfect project for his debut. This is not to say this film is perfect – it is too dour to qualify as perfection – but every frame speaks of an unflagging, ultimately winning dedication.