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Odd movie: Roddy McDowell's Tam Lin AKA The Ballad of Tam Lin AKA The Devil's Widow
So after working on the Tam Lin story I googled around to see all the various versions, and in addition to Pamela Dean's wonderful first novel, the Fairport Convention song, Jane Yolen's novel, and many others, found this weird movie. Glad I didn't find it before writing, as it's also set in the 60's--but in England and Scotland, so quite different from mine.
It's Roddy McDowell's only directing effort, and one can see why--not great cinema, but at the same time so strange in some ways that I didn't regret the time and money it took. I suspect Ava Gardner (one of my favorite actresses) wished this hadn't been her last leading role--Night of the Iguana was a much more fitting swan song for her--but she was perfect, and the very strange, Timothy Dalton-looking Ian McShane made a great Tam Lin. Some of the dialog is horrendous, some of the shots too hokey to watch, but the whole thing is intriguing, esp. the scenes with Ava, of course, and the shape/shifting ending. And some of the shots really work well, for me, at least. Martin Scorcese liked it enough to revive it--that's something.
McDowell and/or the writers chose to make it all realistically plausible, which works OK for them, but not my choice. Nor is the idea of the Faerie Queen as the Older Woman (Mrs Robinson and then some) what I did, but now I contemplate telling the story from her POV, though after Valente's Ice Puzzle and all the Wicked hoopla, I guess the whole witch-view thing has been pre-empted.
So after working on the Tam Lin story I googled around to see all the various versions, and in addition to Pamela Dean's wonderful first novel, the Fairport Convention song, Jane Yolen's novel, and many others, found this weird movie. Glad I didn't find it before writing, as it's also set in the 60's--but in England and Scotland, so quite different from mine.
It's Roddy McDowell's only directing effort, and one can see why--not great cinema, but at the same time so strange in some ways that I didn't regret the time and money it took. I suspect Ava Gardner (one of my favorite actresses) wished this hadn't been her last leading role--Night of the Iguana was a much more fitting swan song for her--but she was perfect, and the very strange, Timothy Dalton-looking Ian McShane made a great Tam Lin. Some of the dialog is horrendous, some of the shots too hokey to watch, but the whole thing is intriguing, esp. the scenes with Ava, of course, and the shape/shifting ending. And some of the shots really work well, for me, at least. Martin Scorcese liked it enough to revive it--that's something.
McDowell and/or the writers chose to make it all realistically plausible, which works OK for them, but not my choice. Nor is the idea of the Faerie Queen as the Older Woman (Mrs Robinson and then some) what I did, but now I contemplate telling the story from her POV, though after Valente's Ice Puzzle and all the Wicked hoopla, I guess the whole witch-view thing has been pre-empted.
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Two classic Fairport songs will play a role in ANGEL 6.13. You're gonna love it. Really.
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Thanks for the rec. I hadn't heard of this.
McDowell and/or the writers chose to make it all realistically plausible, which works OK for them, but not my choice. Nor is the idea of the Faerie Queen as the Older Woman (Mrs Robinson and then some)
For me personally, I mean aside from various authors' takes, she is ageless, other, and from our perspective, amoral. An older woman reading could be valid because the morality is so different; but, I could even more easily see the this as the call of the muse to Tamlin, and is transfomations those of an artist. I think the tale lends itself to many different types of readings and that's why I like it so well. I do think it is that faith intransformation and true seeing at the end that sets it apart for me a little. Funny, I am thinking of Beauty and the Beast now and also Cinderella along these lines.
what I did, but now I contemplate telling the story from her POV, though after Valente's Ice Puzzle and all the Wicked hoopla, I guess the whole witch-view thing has been preempted.
I feel pretty strongly that this story is keyed in deep enough that nothing about it is really pre-empted. And I would love to read that if you wrote it.
But, linking this into what I wrote above, and then reaching out a bit, look at any of the fairy tales across time and communities, or even broader different religions, and archetypes.. we are constantly retelling the strories against and framed by our lives and times.
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we are constantly retelling the strories against and framed by our lives and times.
Yes, I really think that's why the stories are retold so often and why they work so well in different contexts. We're telling them to ourselves, even in our dreams. And the change of POV is truly amazing. I'd thought for a long time of writing a story of the Snow Queen from the traditional (Greta) POV--but seeing Catherine Valente's amazing tale from the queen's angle just amazed me. Of course V. is great poet and also brought in many other tales as well, including vampires. But it made me want to go back and rewrite so many stories.
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Never a problem, really!
>we are constantly retelling the stories >against and framed by our lives and times.
Yes, I really think that's why the stories are retold so often and why they work so well in different contexts. We're telling them to ourselves, even in our dreams.
I think the Tam Lin story is one that resonates particularly for me because of the change aspect and true seeing. There is also something about faith. I wonder if we each those types of tales. Aside from Tam Lin do you have any? And have you read McKillip's _Winter Rose_?
And the change of POV is truly amazing. I'd thought for a long time of writing a story of the Snow Queen from the traditional (Greta) POV--but seeing Catherine Valente's amazing tale from the queen's angle just amazed me.
I am thinking now too of some of Gregory Maguire's stories. That is just the first one to come to mind. From what I know of the tales it seems they were a ype of hidden language so to speak, a way of approaching difficult things, one that was acceptable. What I feel now is rewritings against Grimm or HCA or Disney. Versions about how Happily Ever wasn't and other POV characters.
I have been enjoying _Fables_ most recently. And, then, the Morrison's work on X-men was very much in that light, Bujold's books.. these last two are more retakes on "hero."
And in my own work, mulling the beauty and joy in trolls, and the personal connection to mermaids which has more to do with Inanna, and Leviathan, breaking of chains, so those too are very much responses to stories.
Of course V. is great poet and also brought in many other tales as well, including vampires. But it made me want to go back and rewrite so many stories.
Elise* said several times over the course of the last weeks how art is so cool in that it can have this phenomenal ripple effect, responses to and riffs off of, and that is one of those things like knowing good people that just has me feeling quite glowy floaty.
Links:
http://pub25.ezboard.com/fsurlalunefairytalesfrm1 fairy tale discussion
http://www.livejournal.com/users/elisem/ Elise I have been wearing her "Sorcerous Alice" for a while now. http://lioness.net/LIONESS/by%20name/L&tS/L&tS-Pages/Image1.html
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I haven't printed it out and read it as a whole yet, though. Maybe tonight's project.
I love all the water spirit stories--all the versions of Undine, the Rusalka, (but not the Disney Mermaid, yuck). The image of change, but also the questions of loyalty and betrayal. I think that's what I see in the Snow Queen and Tam Lin, too. And yes, I love Maguire. I hope to see the stage version of Wicked soon, but fear it won't live up to his writing (I haven't read that one yet, but really loved Mirror, Mirror)
What is _Fables_? I don't think it's the LJ user of that name, somehow.
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And she did it for Blogathon, so you may or may not want to get involved.