Le Miroir

Le Miroir is a dark fairy tale/fantasy about superstition and fateful circumstances which empower the mute heroine to find her voice.

Mathilde, a mute French orphan, helps to protect Madame B, the most superstitious lady in the world, from all bad luck. When Mathilde breaks Madame B’s most prized possession, a magical mirror, she goes on a life-changing journey to fix it.

The film is narrated by Australian legend Michael Caton and also stars Noah Wiseman (The Babadook). The original score was produced by Guy Gross (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).

Crew
Writer/Director/Producer: Leila Murton Poole
Co-Producer: Jara Gonzales
First AD: Christian Ready
DOP: Byron Luckey
Composer: Guy Gross
Production Designer: Ziggy Taylor
Editor: Leila Murton Poole

Cast
Mathilde: Rachel Giddens
Madame B: Vivienne Powell
Tobias: Noah Wiseman
The Narrator: Michael Caton

The idea for “Le Miroir” came from an image of a woman carrying a broken mirror down a street during the Spanish Civil War. In fact, it features in a certain Tarvosky film which goes by the same name; The Mirror. At its core, “Le Miroir” is a story about finding your voice and, more importantly, not being afraid to use it – an important universal message. The film is about superstition and fateful circumstances but also empowerment as we follow the mute heroine on her journey to find her own voice.
The relationship between luck and belief really fascinates me and the dynamic and balance between the two is explored throughout the film. Design was particularly important for the picture book style of the film.
“Le Miroir” is visually rich but the characters have the depth to carry the images in a way where the visual complexity adds rather than distracts. Achieving the tone was a difficult balance; light-hearted at face value but with real grief and loss at its core. This is especially true for the female characters who have developed their own coping mechanisms to deal with extreme loss. It was a pleasure to both write and direct these complex characters and to watch them be brought to life so beautifully by the extremely talented cast.
Creating this distinctly European film in Australia was a delightful challenge. In many ways, the film is both timeless and placeless and I hope that this is one of the reasons that it can resonate with audiences worldwide.