The Glade Of Ardet Lili

If you go down to the woods today you're in for a big surprise. At least Ester (Barr) and Mabel (Jenson) are, as sometime in what looks like the early 19th Century in the New World, they head out to gather mushrooms and other yummy goodies from nature's bounty.

There's a strong classical score that accompanies the girls as they tramp through the undergrowth, letting us know that something of note is afoot within the spaces between the trees. It's not long before the girls take a short break to sample some of what they have collected and the forest begins to take on the semblance of an ethereal garden with magic filling the air.

Heading out into a small glade on her own, Ester wants to touch the magic and begins to pick more mushrooms from a dark patch of soil that also contains a small spiral formation of stones. Each mushroom picked releases a dark cloud of spores which herald an ominous portent, but that's not enough for Ester and she nabs one of the stones too, bringing forth a dark spirit who wishes her natural habitat to remain untouched by unclean human hands.

When the spirit, Ardet Lili (Warner) first appears she is a marvel to behold; a malevolent woodland sprite as dark as shadow who delights in having new playthings to unleash her inner demons upon. She quickly takes possession of Ester's feeble human body and ascribes pain gleefully throughout the mind of her puppet. Mabel then rushes to get help from the nearby local priest (Stevens).

Up until now the young girls' tale has been told entirely through music, as composer Christopher Doucet's evocative score channels the soul of the forest and its otherworldly inhabitants beautifully. Even when they speak to one another their words cannot be heard but now, suddenly, Ester's screams echo into the trees and the priest begins to recite his incantations to his own higher power.

The way the sound and the visuals match up in Matthew Webb's dark fairy-tale, The Glade Of Ardet Lili is nothing short of spellbinding. There is a real sense of maleficence which abounds amongst the scenes and the physicality of both Warner and Barr's performances also really add to that. Unfortunately the words of the priest take you out from the magic somewhat but not enough to ruin the blackness and intrigue of the story being told. Both Stevens and Jenson support the narrative well and fit their performances into the feel of the film as best they can.

The way that Webb has crafted his film feels like he has taken every effort to pour his own magic into it. The chapter headings are in pictures rather than words, each identifying the theme of the scene without needing to say a thing. The special effects remain wispy and light, even if not entirely convincing, but still giving the feel of an ethereal realm. Then the depiction of Ardet Lili herself, so graceful yet so dark, fully turns the tale into a morbid horror show that asks questions of the viewer as to where the evil really lies.

The Glade Of Ardet Lili peeks out from the undergrowth and jumps out at you from behind the stumps of fallen trees. It is a beautiful creation depicting a magical world which allows just a sliver of sparkling fairy dust to seep through into the lives of its audience.