The Fairy Faith

Pixies, elves, fairies, Michael Jackson: the actual existence of these exotic ethereal creatures has been debated for centuries. In this National Film Board of Canada production, filmmaker John Walker travels to Ireland, Scotland, England and Cape Breton to meet with "experts" and common folk who've had close encounters of the diminutive kind. In Devon, England, for instance, Walker visits with Peter Aziz, who--in turn--stands visiting with the wee folk (the camera, of course, records nothing beyond the natural landscape graced by a man who is apparently talking to himself). Of course, this is still more to the point than the subsequent interview with harpist Elizabeth Jane Baldry who recalls seeing fairies as a kid and…well…plays the harp very beautifully. Although nicely lensed, The Fairy Faith, aping its topic, flits about from here to there, following no narrative arc, and blithely juxtaposing the ramblings of the slightly tetched with more coherent commentary from the likes of, say, Brian Froud (whose illustrations for the '80s best-selling coffee table book Faeries are seen here). While viewers will hear bits and pieces of lore about fairies (who are believed to inhabit some intermediate third world between imagination and reality, and are therefore beyond the boundaries of hard science), more often than not the authoritatively delivered facts and myths or do's and don'ts regarding fairy behavior strikes (at least this viewer) as on-the-spot hokum (such as the wizened codger with the divining rod who swings his stick around when he encounters fairy "vibes" and then looks at the camera as if he's got a live one). And yet…there's just enough interesting stuff here (and one extraordinary interview with a man whose tale about fairies who cut away his shadow sounds remarkably convincing) to make this very affordable and sure to be popular entry a strong, optional purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)