Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Peter O'Toole, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Ian McKellen (narrator)
Rating: PG-13 for some fantasy violence and some risqué humor

By Gregg Tubbs

(UMC.org)—Myths, fairy tales and legends have always had the power to help both young and old make sense of a complex world, and no terrain is more complex than the human heart. Stardust is a delightful modern fairy tale that explores the ancient and most complex mystery of the nature of true love. In it, a charming, but naïve, boy leaves the safety of his English village to venture into a magical land to retrieve a precious object guaranteed to win the heart of his beloved. But this quest proves to be more than the boy bargained for, requiring his transformation from boy to man and man to hero. Along the way, he discovers more than true love; he learns the truth about himself.

One part The Princess Bride, one part Beetlejuice, and a hearty dash of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Stardust is an imaginative amalgam that doesn’t hide its inspirations, yet also succeeds at becoming something entirely new. Filled with humor, whimsy and plenty of thrills, Stardust continually gains momentum from a slightly creaky start, drawing the audience in and completely winning them over in this epic battle of good triumphing over evil.

The fallen "star" proves to be a ethereally beautiful maiden named Yvaine (Claire Danes) who was forcibly pulled from the sky by Stormhold’s dying King (Peter O’Toole) to be the bearer of an enchanted ruby, the key to his crown. Copyright © 2007
Paramount Pictures.

Young Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) will do anything to win the hand of his sweetheart Victoria (Sienna Miller), the most beautiful lass in the little village of Wall. Unfortunately, Victoria is also callow and vain and is more amused than seduced by scruffy Tristan’s affections. For her, Tristan's devotion only serves the purpose of making her other richer, higher-born suitors jealous. Spotting a dazzling falling star, Tristan pledges to cross over the ancient stone wall that separates his village from the mysterious land of Stormhold beyond and bring the fallen star back to her as a prize. Almost teasingly, Victoria pledges that if he does, she will grant him her hand in marriage.

Once over the wall, Tristan discovers an amazing world of both peril and delight, where almost nothing is what it seems. The "star" proves to be a ethereally beautiful maiden named Yvaine (Claire Danes). She was forcibly pulled from the sky by Stormhold’s dying King (Peter O’Toole) to be the bearer of an enchanted ruby, the key to his crown, and therefore desperately sought after by his cut-throat sons. The treacherous witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), and her three sisters also seek Yvaine, whose heart holds the key to eternal youth. Along the way, Tristan and Yvaine also encounter a rag-tag group of sky pirates who trade in captured lightening bolts, unicorns, talking goats and a mysterious princess who has been transformed into a bird.

Tristan’s quest to capture the "star" soon becomes a mission to protect Yvaine, and the pair’s initial mutual loathing turns first into necessary dependence, and then blossoms into love. Tristan begins to question those things he always believed to be true, including his love for Victoria. While the quest for true love supplies the plot’s main engine, its twin theme is the discovery of the deeper truth that always lies below the surface. Nearly every character wears an outward mask. Some masks—like the beautiful exterior of the wicked old crone, Lamia, and the pirate's bravado that hides the decidely far less macho Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro) beneath— are obvious. Even Tristan's quest enables him to peel away the veneer of the naïve country boy, uncovering the true dashing hero underneath.

Tristan’s (Charlie Cox) quest to capture the "star" soon becomes a mission to protect Yvaine (Claire Danes), and the pair’s initial mutual loathing turns first into necessary dependence, and then blossoms into love. Copyright © 2007 Paramount Pictures.

Joseph Campbell, the modern master of comparative myth, once said, "Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human life." Stardust is just such a myth. Each character undergoes a transformation that reveals his or her hidden, truer self, and potential for both good and for evil. Some characters, like Shakespeare and Tristan, are set free and ennobled by casting off their masks and becoming true to their real selves. Others, like Lamia and the greedy princes are exposed and unmasked by the harsh light of truth, robbed of the power to deceive again. Stardust reminds us that we may all possess deeper strengths, hidden courage, greater goodness, or—as Campbell put it—"spiritual potentiality" just waiting to be released.

Stardust is an enchanting piece of summer entertainment, filled with humor, romance and enough magic to please the whole family. While many big stars grace the cast, the film's real star is the sense of wonder and boundless possibility that it this magical world creates: there even a country boy can become a dashing hero and find true love with a fallen star.

Study Questions:

The film opens with the question "Do we gaze at the stars because we are human, or are we human because we gaze at the stars?" What do you think this question means?
How can we learn about life from fairy tales and myths? What fairy tale did you learned a valuable lesson from as a child?
Jesus told stories called parables. What were the purpose of these stories?
What parable told by Jesus means the most to you? What did you learn from it?
Tristan’s name means "sadness." Why would our hero have such a name?
Victoria felt Tristan was not good enough for her. Was she right? What does such an attitude reveal about her?
When did you suspect the true identity of the enchanted Princess? What about Tristan’s destiny?
Discuss how we often have a "true" self that may be different from our "public" self. Why is this the case? What does it protect and what does it distort? To whom do you show your "true" self? What effect does this dichotomy between public and private self have on our relationships with others and with God?
How does Jesus’ story about the hypocritical Pharisees (Matt. 23:1-12, 25-29) relate to the film’s theme of "real truth" versus false, outward truth?
What does the film say about true love? Can it be earned or "bought" by prizes or feats? Or is true love unconditional? What does the gift of Grace say about God’s love? Discuss how human love is a reflection of, and is even enabled by, God's unconditional love for us.