Hit Counter

13 Jun 2009

Turn back time

The Spiderwick Chronicles. I watched it twice last week. Three kids & their mother kill a monster 'Mulgarath' and find happiness for their Aunt Lucida. Whereas the movie is all about magical creatures or their quest to destroy 'the book', written by a man who has discovered their secrets, what really touched me in this movie is something else.

Aunt Lucida - 86 years old. Daughter of Arthur Spiderwick, the author of the Spiderwick Chronicles, referred to as 'The Book', in the movie.

The story behind the story of The Spiderwick Chronicles goes like this. Arthur Spiderwick & his daughter Lucy stumble upon a world of magical creatures. While Arthur is fascinated by his findings of these life-forms, chasing and stumbling upon all their secrets one by one, he forgets his 6 year old daughter Lucy who patiently waits for her father! Further and further he goes from his child as he gets busy digging deeper into the life of these bewitched creatures.

As all secrets go, some of Arthur's discoveries could lead to serious destruction! To safeguard their little-known world and protect themselves, fairies take Arthur away into their world and hold him captive in time. Eighty years pass. Lucy spends these years of her life waiting for her father to come back and hold her in his arms.

Cut to the present, Helen Grace moves into her Aunt Lucinda's house, with her children - twins Jared & Simon and their sister Mallory. The kids chance upon the magical world of these little creatures, find the book and stir up the goblins, led by Mulgarath, who is out to learn the secrets and take control of the enchanted world. When Arthur meets Jared and learns of his "Aunt Lucinda", he says, 'Aunt Lucinda? That cannot be! Lucy is only 6 years old. I just spoke with her this morning! Or was it yesterday?' Alas! While Arthur chased after the mystical world, time has moved on, taking with it the 6 year old daughter he loved so much! As Jared puts it, he has spent 80 years unaware of the real world while his daughter waited for him, all because of his book!

Later in the movie, when the children finally destroy Mulgarath, they bring Aunt Lucinda back to the house. In the garden, who does she see but the "daddy" she has waited all her life for! Arthur walks towards her, trapped in the spell of the fairies. He still looks the young father she remembered, whereas she is all of 86 years. "My child" he says when he sees Aunt Lucinda. My heart tore when I watched this scene... it brought tears to my eyes!

Lucy wants her daddy to stay, she doesn't want him to leave her ever again. Arthur cannot come back into the real world for if he does, all his years will return to him and he will turn to dust. So she pleads, "Daddy, this time take me with you!". Her papa's hand reaches out to her and she steps into the charmed circle of the fairies. She turns 6 again and in the beautiful world of goblins and fairies, daddy and 6 year old Lucy start again.. where they left off!

Often we move so far away from our loved ones in the quest for something that when we finally find it, we are alone! Time does not give us a second chance like it did for Lucy and her papa. What a pity that we cannot break away for a while, to chase our dreams, and come back to start where we left off...

1 comment: