Blu-ray Review: THE FAIRY Is An Adorable Romp Through A Magical Reality

I've been sitting on this Blu-ray for several weeks now, and every time I looked at it I would think, "Eh, I'm in the mood for something more exciting", and move on to the next thing. However, this past week I started a new full time job, the first one I've had in over a year, and I've been coming home absolutely exhausted every night and last night I was in the mood for something upbeat, and The Fairy finally seemed to be the right film. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I couldn't have made a better choice. The Fairy is an absolutely soul-warming joy from start to finish, and Kino's Blu-ray, though not packed with bonus material, does the material justice and makes for an easy recommendation.

One day the night manager of a small hotel is visited by a fairy who promises to grant him three wishes. Though he is rightfully suspicious at first, eventually is becomes apparent that she is the real deal. Not only does she grant his wishes, but he grants hers as well and a charmingly magical romance begins. The Fairy mixes influences from some of the finest cinematic minds of the past to create something of a slapstick mumblecore masterpiece, if there is such a thing.

The Fairy is largely without dialogue, which allows the filmmakers (lead actors Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy also co-wrote and co-directed the film) to explore their own cinematic influences, from Buster Keaton to Jacques Tati to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, at an amiable pace. The set pieces, while not quite done on the same scale as the mentioned influences, are nonetheless quite impressive, and done in a remarkably witty and clever way.

This story of outsiders, people who are not only invisible to the world they live in but also not the type of beautiful people we are used to seeing on cinema screens, feels even more genuine by its lack of beautification. Dom, the hotel employee, and Fiona, the fairy, are not traditionally beautiful people, but they are real, and it is that joy that is found in these two regular folks finding each other that propels this emotional joyride. My heart swells at the idea, however romantic is may be, that there is someone out there for everyone, and few films illustrate that idea as well as The Fairy.

I love it for the dry humor, I love it for the ambitious set pieces, I love it for the delicate emotional stirring that it inspired in me, but most of all I love it because it is about love. The Fairy is a film that doesn't fit in with our usual coverage, but I just couldn't help wanting to share this remarkable film that really helped me when I needed proof that the world isn't all about stress and anxiety. The Fairy was able to wrench me from a deep funk and make me smile continuously for ninety-eight minutes, and sometimes that's all I need.

The Disc:

As I mentioned above, The Fairy isn't Kino's most impressive release in terms of bonus content, but the A/V is perfectly adequate, though I would guess that the Blu-ray is only necessary if you're the same kind of obsessive that I am and you don't buy DVDs anymore. Frankly, I was too absorbed by the film to pay a whole lot of attention to the nit-picky things I usually try to notice, however, perhaps the fact that nothing jumped out at me as being a problem could be considered as recommendation enough. It looks and sounds great, but really, it's all about the film in this case. There are no fancy visuals or audio tricks, just a great film that I recommend wholeheartedly.