G3 Magazine/movies/ Maleficent
ISSUE 3
The movie had me thinking back to my childhood days when sleeping
beauty was still an animation film; When Maleficent was a villain only to
be mentioned once in each chapter of the book. But in this movie you get
to really connect with her on a whole new level, where one gets to see what
happens behind the scenes.
A
n elderly narrator tells
the story of Maleficent, a
very strong and powerful faerie living in the Moors, a
magical realm bordering a human
kingdom. As the story begins, we
see Maleficent fall in love with
a human peasant boy named
Stefan. But his mutual affection
for Maleficent is overshadowed by
his ambition to become king. And
as they grow older, Stefan see less
of her and eventually stops to see
her all together.
As they grow older, Stefan stops
seeing Maleficent. After Maleficent defeats the current king in
battle when he attempts to invade
the Moors, he offers to name
whoever kills her as his successor.
Stefan overhears the conversation
and goes to see maleficent deceiving her into thinking that he
has come to warn her against the
king’s plot. Drugging her he tries
to kill her, but can’t get himself to
do so. But instead he burns her
wings off with hot Iron, a lethal
substance to fairies, and decides
to present them to the king as
proof of her death. Maleficent
rescues a raven named Diaval to
serve as her informant and he
reports to her that Stefan has been
crowned king. The realization that
Stefan betrayed her to gain the
throne devastates Maleficent and
in retaliation, she declares herself
queen of the Moors, forming a
dark oppressive kingdom with
Diaval as her one companion and
confidant. Diaval informs Maleficent that the king, Stefan is is
hosting a christening for his newborn daughter, Aurora. Maleficent decides to arrive at the event
uninvited to curse the new born
baby with the following: “on her
sixteenth birthday, she will prick
her finger on the spindle of a
spinning wheel, which will cause
her to fall into a death-like sleep.”
After Stefan is forced by Maleficent to beg for his daughter, she
offers a caveat: the curse can be
broken by true love’s kiss. Terrified of Maleficent’s vengeance,
Stefan sends Aurora to live with
three pixies until the day after her
sixteenth birthday. He sends out
his armies to find and kill Maleficent, but she surrounds her kingdom with an impenetrable shield
of thorns. But a part of Maleficent
starts to care for Aurora despite
her initial dislike for the Princess. After a short meeting with
the Princess Maleficent decides
to watch over Aurora from afar.
Once the princess reached the age
of 15, she sees Maleficent for the
first time and starts to call her
fairy godmother. Maleficent
attempts to revoke the curse, but
cannot as she herself had declared
nothing could stop it. Aurora later
falls in love with Prince Philip.
On the day before Aurora’s 16th
birthday, Maleficent, hoping to
avoid the curse, allows the girl to
live in the Moors, far away from
any spindles. The pixies, however,
G3 Magazine
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