Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
2004 · Directed by Brad Silberling
Original language: English
- adventure
- comedy
- family
The story
Three wealthy children's parents are killed in a fire. When they are sent to a distant relative, they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.
What it’s like
Storybook gothic in deliberately artificial color: saturated greens and mustard yellows, mansions that look painted rather than built, and a palette that keeps tipping into storybook whimsy even when things turn grim. Director Brad Silberling frames many scenes symmetrically and holds wide shots of crooked Victorian interiors and snowbound roads, with quick cuts and comic inserts that tilt the camera off-kilter, while the score by Thomas Newman runs on mischievous strings and a fussy, music-box lightness. The vibe is dark-whimsical and mock-ominous, a comfort-gothic bedtime story for a rainy afternoon or a family movie night. Pacing is brisk and episodic, with a narrator stepping in to explain the grim events in dry, arch asides. Emotionally it stays wry and affectionate: three resourceful siblings stick together against a theatrically villainous guardian. Intensity is moderate: a parental death by fire opens the film and there are threats of murder, peril and some slapstick menace, but the violence is cartoonish and almost always offscreen, with no gore. It suits viewers who want playful, stylised darkness for children and adults who enjoy deadpan humour and bold production design.
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