Swirls of Magic (film)

Swirls of Magic is a 1991 family film from Kerlile which won the award for Best Classic IDU Film at the 2020 IDU Film Festival. Swirls of Magic was marketed as a family film in Kerlile, and enjoyed an initial run where it became very popular in the first several months. However, during the Kerlian Civil War, its writers and directors openly supported Democratic Kerlian State (DKS), leading to all their films being outlawed indefinitely, a law only overturned recently by the Reformist government. During the Kerlian Civil War, while safely in DKS territory, the producers confirmed that Swirls of Magic contained subversive anti-government messages.

Contemporary critics view the film as a masterpiece in clandestine Kerlian subversion, viewing the spider as an instrument of the state, whispering messages to lead the lives of Kerlians on the road favoured by them. There are continual messages that the society they live in is full of chaos and illogical, and the cats chasing the dogs is said to represent the way that Kerlian gender relations are not an improvement, but rather are just a switch of those under a patriarchal system. The most prominent male character, Evil, is given his name by the village (a representation of the state), because of what he is, with no real reason to judge his morality.

The fact that the producers managed to get Swirls of Magic past the Kerlian Censorship Board in 1991 is considered an exceptionally clever way of manipulating the Kerlian system, and the film is incredibly popular in Kerlian refugee communities. Of those who worked on the film, a number were executed in 2003, however some continue to live outside of Kerlile. The film has been re-released in Kerlile in 2020, following a review by the KCB in light of new reformist policies.

Plot

Set in another world, where the laws of gravity change depending on their mood, humans reproduce by laying eggs and spiders can talk, Swirls of Magic follows the tale of two teenage sisters, Katy and Lucy, and their pet spider Webster, who decide to enter a competition in order to win infinite ice cream for their little sister so she cries less at night. They must traverse their world, to the Valley of Evil and rescue the Fox of Fortune, who can bring wealth and happiness to everyone it blesses and has been kidnapped by Evil.

But the journey is not without its hazards, and the sisters have to contend with a multitude of obstacles, including a race to a destination one can never reach in a car that never starts, playing a game with no rules where breaking the rules is punished by tickling, and navigating an invisible maze. The worst of all is the land where all who enter are magically transformed into dogs, and hunted by evil cats. The sisters manage to succeed on all their challenges, by understanding that logic is illogical, and chaos reigns supreme, helped by the spider, which whispers suggestions in their ears which save them.

When they reach the Valley of Evil, they meet Evil, a normal looking man, who is sitting at a table writing letters with the Fox at his feet. The sisters confront him, and he tells them the Fox came to the Valley willingly, and will not go back with them. The Fox, which can talk, agrees with Evil, and tells the sisters that the man was given the name Evil by the people of their village, and that he only became evil because they thought him so, and so many people thinking the same thing made it true. The spider tells Evil that if he wants the village to think he’s anything other than evil, he must give back the Fox.

The Fox and Evil converse for a while, and then the Fox decides to go back with the sisters. The Fox magically grows larger, and the two sisters get on top of it, and ride it back, arriving in the village in no time at all. The villagers are overjoyed and give the sisters their unlimited ice cream. They forget all about the man called Evil, away in his valley, and they party until the sunset.

Cast

• Dina Mercier as Katy
• Natalia Bullock as Lucy
• Josefine Keys as the Mayor
• Darin Sheenan as Evil
• Priscilla Aust as the voice of Webster the spider
• Rose Ridge as the voice of the Fox of Fortune