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The Criterion Channel Presents: Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)


It’s the festive season, which means it’s time to revisit those classic holiday specials that make the rounds on cable reruns or more likely now streaming pushes every year. For us in the west it means such overplayed hits as A Christmas Story, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Home Alone, Elf, or now Die Hard. But many of these don’t translate the same in non-English speaking countries -which often have their own catalogues to work with. And a major one for several nations in central Europe is Three Wishes for Cinderella, a Czech movie from 1973 that is a winter wonderland retelling of the classic fairy tale done with a remarkable degree of charm and affable whimsy.
In the hands of director Václav Vorlíček, it transposes the ornate setting and imagery of the Disney film for a seemingly humble medieval village awaiting the arrival of the king and queen. Cinderella’s stepmother (Carola Braunbock) eagerly wants to put her own daughter Dora (Daniela Hlaváčová) forward as a bride for the eligible prince. Cinderella of course, played by an appropriately pretty Libuše Šafránková, is consigned to menial tasks -specifically her stepmothers’ favourite punishment of separating lentils and ashes. It’s the typical set-up, but for a few curious points. Her love of all animals seems carried over from the Disney film -it is her doves who do the work for her, and she is friendly with a cat, a dog, and an adorable little owl. Most of all she has her beloved white horse, whom she used to ride when her late father took her on hunting trips -but which she is no longer allowed to do.
This Cinderella is more of an active rebel to her mothers’ demands -sneaking out of her chores, stealing away her horse and going riding in a meadow where of course she comes upon the young Prince (Pavel Trávníček) and his friends -himself under the disappointing auspices of his father. Their encounter begins in mischief, she distracts him from shooting a deer and then steals his horse. Perhaps the major plot distinction though concerns a servant Vincek (Vladimír Menšík), who sees Cinderella’s troubles and decides to reward her with a gift: a twig of three chestnuts that hit him in the face. And it’s out of these that the magic of the tale comes -each nut revealing to her a costume. First a hunter’s uniform that she might meet the prince again disguised as a boy, then a ball gown complete with veil, and finally a wedding dress.
That this should come about due to the actions of a peasant is no accident, this version of the story seems particularly interested in the kinship Cinderella has with the lower-class. That she sees the value in the gift in spite of her stepmothers’ mocking is no doubt meant to account in some part for its’ magic. She is seen to be a kind and generous soul -she takes the blame for a poor apprentice cook’s shattering of a dish, and her kindness towards all the servants is keenly emphasized. The Prince also, though not this courteous, is drawn with more character than often permitted him. He is an impatient teenager, exasperated by his fathers’ expectations. He also gets to be shown up and humbled several times by Cinderella before he falls for her at the ball and connects her with these same figures.
Vorlíček fully embraces the fantasy of this story, not just in aesthetic but sensibility. This is a wonderful innocent fantasy for young girls, who can see in Cinderella’s beauty, nature, determination, and tenacity their own ideal. And the Prince even has that boyish handsomeness of many a teen idol. The whole movie beams with a cute energy and wholesome charm, and the wintry atmosphere goes a long ways towards accentuating that. Three Wishes for Cinderella may not feature Christmas directly, but it’s no wonder it has become such a staple as it makes a show of the village’s decorations in honour of the king and basks in the immaculate white backdrops (without much hint of cold) and exceptionally attractive winter outfits. Each piece of costuming, especially for Cinderella and the Prince, is finely crafted and remarkably characterful –that hunting costume especially. They are richly coloured too so that at times the movie looks like a romantic winter painting. Credit also to the music, which is impeccably sweet and serene, composed by Karel Svoboda, lending an air of magical grace to the films’ world.
Three Wishes for Cinderella is an abundantly lovely holiday special that has few airs to its own importance. Much like A Charlie Brown Christmas it seems perfectly contented in its’ humility. Apparently in Norway, one of the countries where it is a legacy rerun, in 2021 a remake was made (featuring Kristofer Hivju of Game of Thrones), and that’s how you know it is special. What better way to validate its’ status than with a drive to cynically capitalize on it in the twenty-first century. It might as well be The Grinch!
 
Criterion Recommendation: Daughters of the Dust (1991)
With the latest Sight & Sound list of the greatest movies recently unveiled and Julie Dash’s black masterpiece Daughters of the Dust ranking at #60, it begs again the question of why this movie hasn’t yet been inducted into the Criterion Collection. I’m sure there are legitimate reasons, but this is one of the movies that is most overdue for that honour. I discussed its’ significance as a cultural artefact in depth earlier this year: a movie that immerses itself in, educates on and celebrates the Gullah people off the Georgia coast, and their unique traditions built on fragments of pre-slavery Africana. The movie, which tells the story of three generations of an extended family at the dawn of the twentieth century and the choices to either stay in their home or migrate and acclimate to the mainland -it’s related almost entirely in Gullah Creole, making no concessions to white linguistic standards and forcing the audience to engage with this culture. A cast of non-actors bring to life relatable and formidable characters, most of all Cora Lee Day as the withered but still powerful family matriarch. And the movie is full of lush images, composed of beautiful contrasts that stick in the mind’s eye forever. It is one of the most important black films, Criterion has a duty to honour that.

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