Thursday, October 15, 1998
I put a spell on you
FILM: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman charm their way into the
hearts
of men in "Practical Magic"
By Stephanie Sheh
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The behind the scenes account seemed too good to be true –
almost a case of life imitating art. A story spread stating that
while filming the upcoming Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman witch
movie "Practical Magic," mysterious occurrences took place – namely
that during a scene in which a coven of women are chanting, a door
started eerily slamming.
Director Griffin Dunne laughs, "I realized the door slammed
because we had a special effects guy in the other side, slamming
the door. That was part of the bit."
Alas, another Hollywood myth shattered. But the anecdote is
actually quite appropriate. For "Practical Magic," which opens
today, is not your typical witch movie. It isn’t a sinister,
gothic, only-shot-at-night type of portrayal of witches steeped in
brooms, hats, toads and spiders.
The film is about enchanting sisters Sally (Bullock) and Gillian
Owens (Kidman) who are tormented by a family curse. The curse
condemns any man that falls in love with an Owens woman to an
unfortunate death. So Sally grows up yearning for a magic-free life
and hoping to never fall in love. Gillian, however, takes the
opposite route, loving the attention and running wildly and
recklessly.
"The approach that this movie has to magic is like its title –
very practical," Dunne explains. "The characters grow stuff in
their garden that they use for love spells. It’s all in their
kitchen. Whatever they need is in the pantry based on the herbs
they grow. It is almost a holistic approach. And I like that earthy
aspect of it."
While none of the cast members admit to believing in
incantations and hexes, they acknowledge the bits of magic they see
in life.
"There are so many different levels of what they call
witchcraft. I believe in karma. I believe in destiny," says
Bullock, who read up on witchcraft in preparation for her role.
"How can I explain that I have a dream about a friend of mine
who I’ve known all my life, and he’s always had long hair? I have a
dream that I’m having a hard time and he cuts off all his hair in
the dream. And the next day I called and said, ‘I dreamt that you
cut off your hair.’ He says, ‘You think I would do something like
that?’ And I said, ‘No.’ He came to visit me that day. He cut his
hair the night before and I didn’t know. How do you know those
things? I hadn’t talked to him in months.
"It’s weird things like that that happen to me all the time that
I try to explain. I can’t. And I like the idea of not knowing,
believing in something more magical because it gives you hope," the
actress says. Dressed in a sleek black skirt and grey Alberto
Ferreti sweater with silver trim, Bullock reflects on the
unexplainable everyday occurrences.
"Why do you fall in love with a certain person? Why this person
and not someone else? What is it that makes you feel like you’ve
known each other? Why do you get things that no one else gets?"
Co-star Aidan Quinn, who plays Bullock’s love-interest (Officer
Gary), has his own definition of magic.
"Magic can be just controlled, focused energy," Quinn says.
"I’ve learned things in survival wilderness class that are
magical but they’re not necessarily magic. And what is hunting?
It’s disguising your spirit or slowing down your heartbeat so the
animals won’t know you’re there. I mean all these things are
magical. We have so many magical things."
Definitions aside, there is something intriguing and appealing
about magic. And Bullock says the attraction to the unanswerable is
one of the things that attracted her to the film.
"I love the belief in things that we really can’t logically
explain, because I can’t explain so many things that happen in my
life and why they happen," Bullock says. "And there really is a
higher connection. But we’re jaded and we want a scientific
explanation for everything that we’re not comfortable enough to
say, ‘You know what? This is something that goes beyond what I can
explain.’ And I love that aspect of it."
And the magic in the film concerns perhaps the most
unexplainable yet common experience – love.
"The theme is that love is the most powerful form of magic,"
explains producer Denise Di Novi. "The title ‘Practical Magic’,
what it says to me that I find so delightful, is that life is
magic. That everyday things are as magical as these supernatural
things, extraordinary things that we’re fascinated by. Whether
people are psychic, crystal balls, these sort of things.
"That a mother’s instincts about her children, or love at first
sight or having prescient dreams, that these things that everybody
has are what magic is. That’s what magic is about."
FILM: "Practical Magic" opens Friday.Photos courtesy of Warner
Bros.
"Practical Magic" is a romantic comedy about a pair of sisters
who are witches cursed in love.
Gillian Owens, played by Nicole Kidman, continues to date Jimmy,
played by Goran Visnjic, even though she knows he is cursed to
die.
Sandra Bullock plays a witch who is reluctant to find love.
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