So the Film begins with some guys singing about cutting ice. I know the film's not about them but I love the theme setting going on. Like the intro during 'The Prince of Egypt'. It tells you what the film is going to be about.
And then moves to these two girls - Elsa and Anna - playing. Elsa can use magic, and then Anna gets hurt. These trolls save them, but remove Anna's memories. Not sure why? But it kind of fits in with the whole isolation theme that follows. The parents decide to separate the girls, thereby ensuring a fearful Elsa, which is exactly what the trolls warn them against (*sigh*). The following exposition through song sequence sets a sad mood. OK, so the girls grow up apart. Anna wants her sister back. And Elsa is living in fear. The parents really screwed things up, with help from the trolls. Tragic. But wait, were the girls separated completely during all these years? How does that affect their relationship? The film gives us nothing.
Then there's the big beautiful song where Elsa comes into her own. It begins with sadness as she realises she's failed to hide or control her powers, and failed to be what 'they' wanted her to be. And with her secret out, there's nothing she can do now but flaunt it? She lets her magic lose, first tentatively, then with confidence, creating a new home. She's happy. And it's more than happiness. It's self-realisation, finding her spot in the world. Embracing who she is, with honesty, something she couldn't do earlier. She's free. As beautiful as this moment it, this is a part I don't get completely. Why is this transformation happening? Why is she using her powers, and why the happiness? Who exactly is Elsa? A daughter, sister, queen, ice queen?
Till now, we've seen Elsa as an obedient daughter, reluctant monarch, distant sister, an individual trying to be responsible, shutting people out, hiding her powers and trying to control them so as not to hurt people. But now that her secret's out and she has fled in fear, and she's far away from people, why does she use her powers anyway? How do they help her? Here's where we realise that her powers have been tied in to her identity more than we thought. Her powers are not an accessory or means of pleasure. She is her powers. Elsa was not merely afraid of an extra ability or a minor talent. She was afraid of a core part of who she is, she was afraid of herself.
By using her powers now, she's not doing anything unusual, she's simply being herself for the first time in her life since she was a child. OK, I get this, but why is she so happy? Granted her earlier self was part facade, but not all of it. She still has a kingdom, a sister. She's still leaving them behind out of fear, not out of self-realisation. Shouldn't that reflect in the film? Nope. We just see happiness. Apparently being happy at her newfound freedom overrides the loss of family. Weird. Does this mean Elsa's previous life didn't mean all that much to her? The film has no answer.
Also, this is the first we get to see of Elsa as an independent character, and not a character portrayed solely in the context of her sister. Also, this is the first real character development we get to see in her. Till now it's only been about Anna pining for her sister and then being excited at the party and pining for love. And here's where you really realise how much you like Elsa. At this moment, you're happy that she's finally getting her moment of happiness after years of tragedy, sadness and fear. You're rooting for her, you want to see her happy, you're enjoying the transformation, you're emotionally invested in it, in her. Also, this is a huge (and risky) transformation in a character that has played second fiddle till now. Hopefully, the story knows where it's going.
We finally see Elsa again (it has been over 20 minutes since we last saw the film's most interesting character). Her fear is still present, despite her transformation. A fear of letting people close because she might hurt them. Anna, despite seeing her new transformed sister, blindly and happily accepts Elsa's change and even apologises for setting it off (seriously?).
I expected a lot more conflict during this meeting. I was hoping the sisters would discuss the past, Elsa talking about who she really is, the years of repression, having a go at Anna, sharing her side of the story she's been hiding all these years, letting Anna know how much more difficult it was for her. And probably have Anna get angry at Elsa's lack of trust in her, all the unnecessary secrecy, and having to bury their parents alone. But no. We get nothing. Anna is still selfless (but wants her sister back) and Elsa is still afraid. Pretty much the same thing we've been seeing for the whole film.
Anyway, Elsa throws Anna out of her castle when she refuses to leave, accidentally fatally injuring her. This would have been a perfect time to let the viewers know what the point of the film is. We know by now that Anna is uni-dimensional, so the rest of the plot has to be about Elsa learning to control her powers, and Anna's journey continuing till her goal is reached and she gets her sister back.
Anna meets the trolls, who tell her how to get cured. There's an irritating unnecessary song. Neither the trolls nor Kristoff tell Anna about her past and her memories being wiped, which is weird as that would let Anna know why her sister wants to be alone, and maybe make their eventual reunion tougher to achieve. And the focus now shifts away from her relationship with her sister to her love triangle (this story is jinxed). In the meantime, Elsa is captured and brought back home, but she's still scared and wants to run away (surprise!).
Then Anna realises it's Kristoff who's going to save her, which is by far the most pointless arc in this film. The film can't expect an audience to buy in to true love happening between Anna and Kristoff in the one and a half days that they've been together as friends, when the film has already mocked the true love between Anna and Hans happening in the less than one day that they've been together.
Anyway, Elsa has run away again (yup) and we finally hear some concern for her sister. In the process of finding Kristoff, Anna sees Elsa in danger, wherein she sacrifices herself for Elsa, thereby saving her own life as well. I get the 'self sacrifice as the ultimate act of true love' part, I just don't know why they had to create a love triangle to make it happen. Surely there could have been less confusing ways?
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This is one of the few films I've seen that have left me disturbed and emotionally unfulfilled. Usually when I see a poor or mediocre film, I just move on, but this one is different. And I'm not sure why. The first thing I felt after watching the film was that I had to hear 'Let it Go' again, and then I thought about what an incredible character Elsa is, and how the film needs more of her, particularly towards the end.
Elsa might not be repressed anymore alone in her ice castle, but she's still afraid. Physically, she's free, but in her mind, she's still in a cage. So the best part of Elsa in the film is actually one of her worst parts, where she's still living in fear. But this isn't a bad thing as long as what follows in the film manages to do better than the song. The funny thing is, nothing does. Nothing following 'Let it Go' comes close to matching it in entertainment value. This was the high point of the film, and everything else is downhill from here. This wasn't even the end of Elsa's character arc. So you would expect the actual end to be better. Which it isn't. I'll get to that later. But this is one of the reasons the film doesn't work for me.
I just don't get this transformation. How exactly is she different now compared to at the beginning of the film? She isn't. She's back to square one. Both girls are. Anna has her sister back. And Elsa not only has her sister back can also use her magic again without fear.
Second, Elsa has gone 13 years without being able to control her powers and then learns to control them in a second with 'love'. This quick transformation isn't explained. Elsa's fear disappearing doesn't feel explained. Is this only a temporary phase? How do you undo 13 years of fear? What if Elsa accidentally hurts someone again? Will she be afraid again? It's not like she has the power to heal people.
All we get to see is "Oh, love will thaw" and then Elsa is not scared anymore and the film ends. I think it's all too convenient. We're supposed to take Elsa's final change for granted. There doesn't seem to be a lot of closure for the audience. Elsa's ending is simply incomplete. A little more explanation would have been great instead of making the audience infer or guess at what might have happened in her mind.
It's been said elsewhere, but Elsa's story is more interesting, because her conflict is internal - coping with fear. Anna's conflict is mostly external - her relationship with Elsa - which is less interesting. Sure Anna resolves her conflict, but she doesn't have to change to do so, so it's less interesting. Cued by Anna's resolve, Elsa's change is more interesting and major, but we don't get to see much of that. She seems more of a plot device rather than the complex protagonist that 'Let it Go' and the rest of the film try to make her out to be.
Third, Elsa's final transformation isn't as impressive as 'Let it Go', leaving the film imbalanced.
Fourth, Elsa's realisation of this transformation, of her change, and of the implications, her parents were wrong, the guilt, all those years of unnecessarily shutting people out and living in fear, find no mention at the end of the film. Also, there must be a lot of stuff she needs to talk about with her sister. Apologise. Tell her about her wiped memories maybe.
As a kid, Anna loses a sister. But Elsa not only loses a sister but also knows why, and has to keep this a secret for 13 years. I imagine this is even more frustrating and tragic. The only people who share her secret are her parents, and they're really her only emotional support for 10 years. When they die, we get to see Anna sing about being alone, but we have to infer that Elsa's situation is now even more difficult, lonely and tragic, because she's lost her only crutch. Which is what makes her transformation in 'Let it Go' so satisfying to watch. It's been Anna's journey till now, but we finally get to see a bit of who Elsa is. And when that transformation doesn't work either, and when Elsa finally learns not to be afraid after all the running away and shutting people out, imagine the kind of emotional baggage she has left over. We really need some of that to be portrayed.
Fifth, the sister's reunion seems incomplete and one-sided. We're shown Anna's longing for her sister. That's her want. That's one part of Anna's journey. To get her sister back. The journey is her need. This is clear. But we're never explicitly shown a first person account of Elsa's longing for her sister. Elsa doesn't talk to anyone about this, her situation during the initial exposition through song is more about sadness at living in fear than reuniting with her sister, and her situation during and after 'Let It Go' is about being free and embracing her inner self than reuniting with her sister. She's never shown to desire a normal relationship with her sister, the viewer has to infer that she does. Which is a long shot.
We can infer that Elsa wants to not be afraid, but we aren't shown her need i.e. how that might happen, so when Anna's arc crosses over with Elsa's, and Anna 'heals' Elsa, we're just supposed to accept it, without having anticipated it. This works for Anna's story arc (in retrospect we understand that Anna's only power is love, and that this was the answer to Elsa's question to her at the ice palace - 'what power do you have to stop me?') but it doesn't work for Elsa's arc, because we have no idea if this is what she needs. We're just shown that it works.
Which is why the film's end i.e. Elsa being reunited with her sister, is incomplete, because we can't appreciate her happiness at being reunited with her sister because we haven't been shown any of her frustration at being separated from her sister. We're constantly shown Elsa being afraid and running away, we aren't really shown what she wants, what her desires or motivations are that might lead to a resolution. Sure, Elsa needed love, but we only see that in hindsight. There was no context, no foreshadowing indicating that this is what she needed all along. So when she's finally happy, what does that really mean for the viewers? More of a blank face than an 'aha' moment.
I understand that the director Jennifer Lee wanted the film to told through Anna's journey. She called it Shawshaky at one point. Where Elsa and Anna are both protagonists but you're watching Elsa's story through Anna's journey. Now this isn't a problem if it's done well. But Anna doesn't seem to have much of a character arc, even though she's extremely adorable and likeable. And that's OK too.
But Jennifer Lee says at one point, "Yeah and we knew her journey, we knew that Anna was an ordinary girl that’s got love as her only “superpower”, really. And that her journey is going to go from not understanding love (because like all of us at eighteen, growing up, we don’t), to mature love and the ultimate kind of understanding which is, you know, the sacrifice you’re willing to do for love."
But Jennifer Lee says at one point, "Yeah and we knew her journey, we knew that Anna was an ordinary girl that’s got love as her only “superpower”, really. And that her journey is going to go from not understanding love (because like all of us at eighteen, growing up, we don’t), to mature love and the ultimate kind of understanding which is, you know, the sacrifice you’re willing to do for love."
Even if this is part of Anna's journey, it's not exactly a part of her personal growth. There's nothing in the film that indicates that Anna wouldn't sacrifice herself for her sister if her other love options were non-existent. Indeed, Anna seems constantly selfless. So the love triangle seems like more of a plot of convenience to falsely show Anna maturing by moving from A to B and then C.
Elsa does nothing remarkable in the film w.r.t self healing. All she does is propel Anna's journey forward, which isn't even all that interesting given Anna doesn't change, and her only goal seems to be reuniting with her sister, a concept whose meaning the audience has had very little idea about since it's not really dealt with in the film.
We're shown part of Elsa's change about 1/3rd into the film, at which point you empathise most with her, but everything from then on is mostly Anna's love triangle with Elsa relegated to the background. This misdirection was done to make the sisterly true love bit a surprise, but this twist only works if you give the sisters' relationship more depth to begin with. So it doesn't work.
The characters are extremely likeable. Anna is adorable. Elsa is captivating. The animation with snow and ice is beautiful. The humorous sidekick is good, despite a misleading trailer. The music is fun. But the plot just doesn't work. The viewers are always one step behind. The story is just lazy and meanders. There's at least one unnecessary song. You don't really know why things are happening with these characters you love, specially at the end of the second act and most of the third act up to the final resolution. And the payoff doesn't feel earned. When the sisters finally find happiness, you're not sure what to feel. They should have just made Elsa less interesting, or broaden her character arc, giving her more context. I can forgive everything else, the trolls, the misdirection, everything, for just a little more Elsa in the film.
