Cinderella (2015)

Cate Blanchett as: Lady Tremaine

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Selected Cast: Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Derek Jacobi, Helena Bonham Carter
Written by: Chris Weitz (Based on Disney’s Cinderella, Cendrillon by Charles Perrault)
Release Year: 2015
Genre: Romance | Drama | Fantasy
MPAA Rating: PG-13

IMDb | Photos | Videos | Official Site

Following the tragic death of her mother, Ella’s father remarries. When he also dies, Ella is left at the mercy of the caprices and cruelties of her stepmother and her daughters. She is demoted to being a servant and renamed “Cinder-ella”. Ella appears to find a soulmate in a good-looking stranger whom she assumes to be an attendant at the royal palace. When the court throws a grand ball, Ella is forbidden to attend but gains unexpected help from a good fairy

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Behind the scenes; RehearsalRelated Videos

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Quotes from Cate Blanchett

“So many stories that children are told now make them feel that they are heroes who can overcome anything and that the world is a perfect place. But the classic tales, like ‘Cinderella,’ remind us that the world can be a nasty place and require a good deal of courage and resilience to survive.” (Film’s Production Notes)
“This is a story where kindness is a super power, which is something Ken [Branagh] and I talked about early on that I found really exciting. Plus, I have three boys, so I’m aware of all the films out there that have male superheroes at the fore, so I was thrilled to be part of the telling of a female-centric story.”
“No one is purely evil…everyone’s got a motivation. The stepmother is what happens when good is perverted: It often turns wicked. I was interested in exploring what makes someone wicked. Through little vignettes in the film, you get a glimpse that this is a woman who has tried to start her life again, and becomes intensely jealous of the deep affection that her new husband has for his daughter. She’s not as beautiful and not as kind and as good as her. And when Ella’s father dies, the financial pressures, the panic and the jealousy grow…that is what makes her wicked.”
“What interested me was thinking about things like ‘What makes people ugly? What makes them cruel? What makes them wicked?’ It’s obviously not the stepmother’s story, but she’s dealt with hardship and trauma in an entirely different way in her life, and that’s a big part of what’s made her the way she is — and how she treats Cinderella.”
“When Richard [Madden] and Lily [James] began to dance, it made me just want to weep. You just don’t see that! You don’t see those grand, romantic moments where you say, ‘Yes!’ There’s a couple of beautiful, really difficult lifts. Everyone just erupted into applause, naturally, when it happened because it was so beautiful and because I think you’re really, genuinely rooting for her.” (E!, September 2015)
On the ballroom scene: “When I walked onto the set of the ballroom, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor…it was like an MGM Technicolor moment, and in terms of cinema I felt like I was transported back in time. When Cinderella and the Prince took to the floor to dance, it was profoundly moving.”
On the costumes: “Sandy [Powell] and I drew inspiration from images taken in the 1940s of screen legends like Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford—women that we still admire today—who had a tremendous sense of danger and mystery about them, especially the dramatic way they were lit.”
On her favourite costume: “My favorite, well, uh, there was a lot of green my school uniform was green, so I tend not to wear a lot of green in everyday life, and I call that, that dress that I wore at the, um, the ball, the gherkin, you know, that was my least favorite, but everyone seems to like that one. Um, I like the blue one. There’s a scene where the stepmother goes to see the archduke, and yeah, the poppy gloves and, um, uh, and a blue hat. It was sort of, I think for memory, it had a bird on it. I mean, the detail in Sandy’s costumes are just extraordinary.”

Quotes from Others

Kenneth Branagh
— On the film: “I was captivated by the power of the story and felt I was in sync with the visual ar? stry that was being developed,”
Branagh says. “It’s a classic piece of storytelling where the central character goes on a journey that we can really identify with, so the texture and landscape of a great story was wonderful to play with as a director.”
— On Lily James: “It was extremely diffi cult to fi nd someone who could be witty and smart, sharp but not cruel, has a twinkle in her eye and who has an inner beauty as well as a physical beauty, but Lily James’ Cinderella encapsulates all of those quali? es. You have to root for Cinderella, you have to like her, you have to be on her side, and so an innate likeability was important. Lily brought all that the first time she came in to read for the part. She’s a very beautiful girl, and her warmth also allows it to be a very approachable beauty, and somehow we feel that she could be our friend as dazzling as she is.”
— On Cate Blanchett:
“With a truly great actress like Cate, we get to see dimension in the Stepmother, a complex and detailed humanity. She carries herself with such aplomb and she’s so beautiful and there’s so much going on behind her eyes. Cate’s Stepmother is scary, passionate and intelligent, and she’s dangerous. Being able to provide her character with these kind of back-stories and to have it played with such lightness and effortless ease by someone like Cate, is one of the ways this film distinguishes itself from other versions of similar fairy tales, and I think modern audiences will appreciate that.”
— “When she [Cate Blanchett] walked on set for the first time in Sandy Powell’s costume, with that strong silhouette, with those strong colors, such an amazing hat, the veil, the gloves, the cat on a leash — her friend Lucifer — I was spellbound. All those things offered great fun just to be around.”
David Barron:
— “In a way, Cinderella’s journey mirrors that of the Stepmother, in that both endure loss and heartbreak, but it’s the choices they make which differentiates them. She could easily have become bitter and angry like her Stepmother, for which she has ample cause, but she chooses goodness, which further infuriates her Stepmother all the more.”
Lily James:
— “I liked the fact that Ken [Branagh] wanted to keep it light and magical, much like a fairy tale. And in addition to the fact that Cinderella is so special and kind and unique, we also had a great opportunity to create a whole life beyond the fairy tale, making it richer and giving each character their own specific backstories. The heart of the story is Ella’s strength and how, even under the cruelest of circumstances, she manages to maintain goodness, purity and positivity.”
Allison Shearmur on Cate Blanchett:
— “What’s incredible about Cate’s performance is that even in those tiny moments of repose and contemplation, she allows the Stepmother to give the impression that she is carrying a whole life with a series of broken dreams of her own.”
Sandy Powell
— “I wanted to make her look intimidating more than anything, and Cate [Blanchett] has such incredible poise. She wears every outfit beautifully. It’s a designer’s dream really, because she is one of the greatest people there is to dress. There are only a handful of actors that you can throw anything on and they look fabulous, and she is one of them.”

Trivia & Facts

Filmed in UK.
The film premiered Out of Competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on 13 February 2015.
Sandy Powell was nominated for Best Costume Design for her work in this film and Carol (2015) where Cate Blanchett also starred in, more accolades here.
Release in two versions, a general worldwide theatrical version, and one especially edited for China. Runtimes are, respectively, “1h 45m (105 min)” and “1h 54m (114 min) (Taiwan).”
The film had its world premiere at the 65th Berlin Internation Film Festival on 13 February 2015, 64 years after the animated version premiered at the first edition of the festival in 1951.
Saoirse Ronan, Alicia Vikander, Gabriella Wilde, Imogen Poots, Emma Watson, Bella Heathcote and Margot Robbie were considered to play Cinderella before Lily James landed the role. James also originally auditioned for the role of one of the evil step-sisters, Anastasia.
The film grossed $542.4 million at the box office, it also lands within the top 3 of the best Disney live-action remakes by several publications.
Cate Blanchett is the first actor to join the film, and according to the late producer Allison Shearmur she’s the only choice for Lady Tremaine.
For the film nine different versions of Cinderella’s ball gown were created, each featuring more than 270 yards of fabric, numerous petticoats, more than 10,000 Swarovski crystals and more than 3 miles of hems.
Sandy Powell designed the glass shoe and since glass does not sparkle, they decided to use crystal instead. Swarovski partnered with Disney to make the famous shoe. She also designed the footwear worn by the stepmother which were made by Salvatore Ferragamo.
The fairy godmother’s white gown was s made up of 131 yards of fabric, 10,000 Swarovski crystals and 400 little LED lights, which were stitched throughout the material and lit up when she cast a spell.