By Beth Nugent, Second Year Film and Television
As soon as Rachel Zegler uttered the sentence 'it’s no longer 1937...she’s not going to be saved by the prince', it feels like Snow White has suffered controversy after controversy spanning from conversations surrounding dwarfism to Gal Gadot's acting. The live action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), starring Rachel Zegler, seemed to be doomed before it even hit theatres—but was it actually that bad?
The short answer is yes. Starting with the most prevalent issue: Gal Gadot’s acting. It was false, unbelievable and overall laughable, her songs had auto tune cranked to the highest level and rather than evil and menacing—it was just a little weird. The lines with the most emotional weight were delivered with a flat tone and a tiny flare of the eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn’t on my screen. Whatever you’re imagining right now, times it by 50 and you’re halfway there to understanding how bad it was.
This adaptation was flimsy at best, unrecognisable at worst. Snow White's original sweet operatic notes were forgone in favour of belting crescendos and I struggled to find a reason why. Without that through line, the whimsy nature of the film felt completely flat. There was no magic and nothing enchanting about this film. In previous Disney live action films, each one had made subtle changes to enhance but not erase the original message of the movie. Cinderella (2015) was a gorgeous adaptation that still held onto that Disney magic. The Little Mermaid (2023) added songs and changed details of the plot but it retained that spark that makes Disney so loveable. But here it felt like they were scrambling for something they never had. After three sets of reshoots, with principle photography starting in March 2022 ending in June of that same year, then reshooting over the next two summers and overall sinking a rumoured $300 million, Disney was trying to please everyone and no one at the same time, resulting in a disjointed and clunky movie.
However, Rachel Zegler is truly phenomenal. Her angelic, flawless voice proves how much she belongs on the big screen amidst all the flowers. Acting with CGI props is no small feat and yet somehow, with her micro expressions in that repetitive close-up shot, I almost believed what she was seeing was real—which brings me onto yet another frustration I had with this film. There was so much CGI that it made the world feel empty and false. In recent years films have opted for green screens over real sets and this movie was a culmination of this growing culture over the years. Great production design can enhance the overall aesthetic of the film tenfold and give the viewer a tangible world to immerse themselves in. Snow White didn’t allow for any immersive viewing, and the world it built felt empty, with the kingdom seemingly only spanning one tiny village and a cottage in the woods.
But right as I was about to tear my eyes out in frustration and anger I heard a little girl next to me say to her mum, “Look! She’s got the whole kingdom behind her.” And immediately all my anger melted away, because sure: as a film student I was upset, as a theatre kid I was repulsed, but maybe it’s never supposed to be for us. Maybe this film is for that little girl sitting next to you in the cinema, who sees Snow White leading a kingdom of people. This film was doomed to fail in the eyes of the hypocritical modern-day Internet, but it takes one glance at the little girls in Snow White dresses to figure out that it's a Disney movie. It was never going to win an Oscar, so shouldn't we just let it be?
What did you think of Snow White?
