|
This topic contains:
- overall comments and recommendations
- details about
Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events' classification and consumer advice
lines
- a review of
Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events completed
by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 17 December 2004.
Overall comments and recommendations
Based on the first three novels in the series by Daniel
Handler, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate
Events is a dark modern fairytale that will appeal
to children over 8 years and adults alike. The foreboding
settings and storyline may be a little frightening for
younger children. However, for older audiences, there
is much to enjoy in the well acted and developed characters,
spectacular (albeit gloomy) production design and the
twisted plot.
| Children under 8 |
Children under eight may find many aspects of
the film scary or disturbing, including the deaths
of the children's parents and guardians, and children's
life-threatening experiences. The dialogue and plot
may also be confusing to younger children. |
| Children over the age of 8 |
Children over 8 years should be able to watch
this film with or without parental guidance. |
About the movie
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification
by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the
associated consumer advice lines.
|
Name of movie
|
Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate
Events |
|
Rating
|
PG
|
|
Consumer advice lines
|
Mature themes, Some scenes may frighten young
children |
|
Length
|
108 minutes
|
YMA review
This review of the movie Lemony Snicket's: A Series
of Unfortunate Events contains the following information:
A synopsis of the story
We are warned by a shadowed narrator, Lemony Snicket's,
that the following tale is not a happy one.
After a mysterious fire destroys their home and leaves
them orphaned, Violet (an inventor), Klaus (with a photographic
memory) and Sunny (who enjoys biting things!) Baudelaire
are left with a large inheritance and in the care of
their guardian, Count Olaf. Count Olaf, using his skills
as an actor, master of disguise and evil genius, plots
to secure the inheritance for himself, placing the children
in situations of great danger.
The children, using their
own considerable abilities, courage and cooperation,
manage to foil his plans. They are then moved into
the care of their kindly Uncle Monty and anxious Aunty
Josephine respectively, however after more unfortunate
and distressing events (at the hands of a thinly disguised
Count Olaf), the children again fall into the clutches
of their dastardly guardian. They must use their combined
skills one final time to escape from Count Olaf and reveal
his true character to the world. In the process they
learn what truly makes a family and a home.
Use of violence
Research shows that children are at risk of learning
that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution
when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive
hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is
set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated
by male characters with female victims, or by one race
against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce
the message that violence is an acceptable means of
conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases
the risks that children will become desensitised to
the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated
view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence
in their own world
There are few scenes of physical violence:
- An angry Count Olaf strikes Klaus in
the face, causing him to fall down.
- Sunny is then heard to bite Count Olaf
on the leg and we hear and see his response to this.
This is treated as comical event in the film.
- While trying to rescue Sunny, Klaus
is attacked (but not harmed) by one of Count Olaf's
acting troupe, who wields a hook in his hand.
Material that may scare children
Under eight
Children under eight are most likely to be frightened
by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations,
the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated
from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened
and / or natural disasters.
There are multiple scenes in this movie that would be
scary for younger children:
- A number of characters die (their deaths
are never shown) e.g. Mr and Mrs Baudelaire; Uncle
Monty (we are shown his limp hand resting over a chair
under blue lighting); Aunty Josephine (we see her being
left on a boat that is being attacked by swarming leeches);
Uncle Monty's assistant is shown screaming while
tied to the front of a fast moving train (although
this treated as comical).
- Many of the scenes and sets are dark
and gloomy. Most of the characters are dressed in black.
The adult characters are often exaggerated, unattractive
or menacing.
- The children are often intimidated by,
yelled at, locked up or forced to work by Count Olaf.
He appears to enjoy this. The children, however,
do not appear very frightened by him and many of his
threats or requests are shown in a comical fashion.
- Count Olaf and his acting troupe don a
few disguises e.g. Uncle Monty's replacement assistant
/ Captain Sham with a wooden leg – only the children
can see through the disguises.
- Count Olaf traps the children in a locked
car over railway tracks. Although they are able to
save themselves from the fast approaching train, it
is somewhat suspenseful. Also Count Olaf is shown to
ignore their pleas for help and in fact, laughs at
their misfortune.
- Scenes with snakes (Uncle Monty is a herpetologist),
particularly the ‘killer python'. We learn that the
killer python isn't actually harmful and there is a
scene in which Sunny is happily playing with the hissing
snake. Count Olaf's kitchen is filled with bugs, worms,
bats. The children themselves are not afraid any of
these animals/insect.
- The children are alone in their aunt's
home when the house is hit by a realistically fierce
hurricane, with lots of flying debris, falling objects
and ovens on fire. At the end of the storm they are
trapped upon a small precipice at a great height.
- The children go looking for their aunt
in a dark echoing cave. Eerie music plays over the
scene.
- A scene in which the children and their
aunt are attacked by a swarm of leeches, while stuck
on a small boat at sea. They are rescued by the looming
shadow of Count Olaf.
- Violet is forced into a marriage ceremony
with Count Olaf (for the inheritance). Both Violet
and Klaus are shown to be upset about this and all
seems hopeless.
- Sunny is trapped in a cage which is
hanging out of a tower window. Count Olaf threatens
to drop it if Violet doesn't go through with the wedding
play.
- While trying to rescue Sunny from the
tower, Klaus is attacked from the shadows by one of
Count Olaf's troupe. This man wields a hook in his
hand. (Klaus is unharmed).
- As part of his punishment, Count Olaf has
to endure the ‘unfortunate events' he created e.g.
being trapped in a car on railway tracks. Although
he is alarmed, the scenes are comical.
Over the age of eight
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be
frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence
or threat of violence and / or stories in which children
are hurt or threatened
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to
be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats,
molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens
or the occult.
In general, most children over the age of eight would
not be frightened by this movie.
Sexual references
There are no sexual references in this movie.
Nudity and sexual activity
There is no nudity or sexual activity
Use of substances
Although there are no scenes depicting substance or
alcohol use, Count Olaf's kitchen contains many empty
wine bottles.
Coarse language
Count Olaf utters “Damn it” in the presence of the children
and when disguised as Captain Sham, likens his face to
a “hen's arse”.
The movie's message
The take home messages from this film are that:
- although there are good and bad people
in this world, good wins out over evil,
- the orphaned children need only have
each other to have a family, home and create a sanctuary.
Values to encourage are that:
- the siblings are always kind, complimentary,
caring and cooperative with each other.
- despite all the dire events around them,
the children never give up and make the best of the
circumstances they are in.
- the children show good imagination,
courage and independence.
- they do not require violent methods
to save themselves from their predicaments.
- all the children have strengths that
are not gender dependent and contribute equally no
matter what their age.
The following content could be used by parents to discuss
with their children what their own family's values are,
and what the real life consequences can be of some actions
and attitudes:
- Count Olaf only employs devious methods
to get what he wants, harming many people on the
way.
- the movie suggests that adults are reluctant
to believe what children tell them.
|
