Mirror Mirror. 2012. USA. Directed by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar. Screenplay by Marc Klein, Jason Keller, based on “Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm. With Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer, Nathan Lane. Costume design by Eiko Ishioka. DCP courtesy of Relativity Media. 106 min.
Tarsem’s audaciously stylized reimagining of the Snow White tale transforms familiar fairy tale terrain into a baroque visual fantasia. Rejecting naturalism entirely, the film constructs a hermetically sealed storybook world where Eiko Ishioka’s final creations—from the Queen’s magnificent peacock gown to the dwarfs’ stilted marionette disguises—become architectural elements in their own right. The legendary costume designer’s work (for which she was posthumously nominated for an Oscar) here represents the culmination of her collaboration with Tarsem, pushing beyond even their visionary partnership on The Cell and The Fall. The director’s background in music videos and commercials informs every frame, creating a heightened aesthetic that polarized critics but demonstrated Tarsem’s commitment to pure visual cinema over narrative convention. Released opposite a competing Snow White adaptation, the film stands as the director’s most uncompromising exploration of production design as a primary storytelling tool.