Words from me:
This was and is still my all time favorite film. Although i don't remember when was the first time i actually saw this film... (high school i think?) A movie that was produced in 1998, It is one of those films that when i grow old, i would definitely consider this as a classic. My heart was so touched by the story. Drew and Dougray was just wonderful in this film. I have watched this movie countless times and i really never get tired of it. Da vinci was also one of my favorite characters in this film, specially when one of the maids made a comment because they have been trying to open the door for Danielle but to no avail, then Da Vinci came and he was able to open the door. The maid exclaimed to him (with an english accent), "My! sir... That was pure genius!" Da Vinci answered back with, "And i shall be recorded in history as THE MAN WHO OPENED THE DOOR."

Right now i have so many lines in my head that it would be too much if i put it here.. hehe... I would definitely recommend this film and grade this as A++++++. (^_^)v


Summary: Spoiler (excerpted from wikipedia)
The movie begins with the Grimm Brothers visiting an elderly woman who claims to know the actual Cinderella story. They are enthralled when she produces an elegant slipper from a box, saying that it was the actual 'Cinderella' slipper. She proceeds to tell the story of Danielle de Barbarac.

Danielle de Barbarac is a precocious eight-year-old raised by her father in a small manor in rural Renaissance France. Her mother died early in Danielle's life, and as a result Danielle and her father are very close. Her father remarries to a baroness with two young daughters near Danielle's age. Shortly after bringing them home, he dies of a heart attack, leaving Danielle with a stepmother and stepsisters she barely knows.
Marguerite and Jacqueline
Marguerite and Jacqueline

The Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent (Anjelica Huston) resents Danielle, as she is envious of the love Danielle's father felt for his daughter. By the time Danielle is eighteen, the Baroness has forced her into servitude and driven the home into financial difficulty. Danielle now has very few possessions to call her own: her father's copy of Utopia, by Thomas More, a beautiful gown and slippers that had belonged to her mother, and the loyalty of the manor's three remaining servants. The Baroness' elder daughter, Marguerite (Megan Dodds), is as cruel and arrogant as her mother, while the second daughter, Jacqueline (Melanie Lynskey), is sweet-tempered but too weak to stand up to her mother and sister.

One morning Danielle has a chance meeting with Henry, the Prince of France (Dougray Scott), when he steals a horse from the de Barbarac residence while running away. After bribing Danielle for her silence, Henry rides off with the horse and comes across an artist's caravan waylaid by Gypsies, and recovers a stolen painting, which turns out to be the Mona Lisa. The aged artist who asked for help is Leonardo da Vinci (Patrick Godfrey), on his way to the French court to see the king.

Danielle wants to use the bribe money to ensure the return of Maurice, an aged servant whom the Baroness sold to pay off her growing debts. She borrows a courtier's gown from her friend Gustave (Lee Ingleby) and poses as a countess to visit the castle. Henry has a second chance meeting with Danielle when she is arguing for Maurice's release, unaware that she is the same person he met earlier in the day. Henry is charmed by Danielle's passionate and contrary nature and orders Maurice's freedom. He begs Danielle for her name. A flustered Danielle gives Henry her mother's name, Nicole de Lancrét.

It is revealed that the reason Henry was attempting to flee is because he refuses to go through an arranged marriage with the Princess of Spain. King Francis, Henry's father, is frustrated with his son's stubbornness, but agrees to give Henry five days choose his own bride. The King will announce Henry's engagement at a masquerade ball, either to a girl of Henry's choice or to the Spanish princess. Invitations to the ball are sent out to 'eligible' ladies, including Danielle, her stepmother and her two stepsisters. The Baroness and Marguerite realize they have an opportunity for Marguerite to become Henry's wife, and scheme accordingly.

Henry and Danielle have another chance meeting, further realizing their affections for one another. A series of secret rendezvous follow as the plot progresses. Danielle eventually realizes that Henry doesn't deserve her deception as 'Nicole', and resolves to inform him of her true identity. She is also in a compromising position as her absences from home are noticed by the Baroness de Ghent. The Baroness and Marguerite punish Danielle for her growing insubordination by whipping her, burning her father’s book, and stealing her mother’s gown and slippers. Jacqueline doesn’t take part in this abuse and tends to her stepsister’s wounds in secret.

The Baroness eventually figures out that the mysterious courtier Henry has fallen for, 'Nicole', is really Danielle. She attempts to sabotage the union by informing Queen Marie that 'Nicole' has left France to marry another man, which the Queen then relays to a devastated Henry. In reality, the Baroness locks Danielle in the manor's pantry on the evening of the ball to keep her from the event. The servants rally together and get Gustave to find da Vinci, who helps free Danielle and get her ready for the ball.

Danielle arrives wearing the gown and slippers that her friends had stolen back for her, but she is exposed as a servant by the Baroness before Henry and the entire court. After Henry publicly rejects Danielle, she runs from the scene humiliated, stumbles, and leaves behind one of her ornate slippers. The slipper is found by da Vinci. Da Vinci later reprimands Henry for abandoning Danielle when she had come against all odds to confess to him who she really was.

The Baroness sells Danielle to a man named Monsieur Pierre Le Pieu (Richard O'Brien); it is revealed that 'missing' items that the Baroness had claimed had been stolen earlier in the film were in fact sold to Monsieur Le Pieu. Le Pieu gladly trades the items for Danielle, but Danielle later turns the tables on him with sword skills that she learned from her father.

Henry and the Spanish Princess Gabriella are shown in a wedding ceremony, where the princess is sobbing uncontrollably. Henry realizes she is just as miserable in marrying someone she doesn't love and stops the ceremony. Still in love with Danielle, he learns of her whereabouts from Jacqueline sets out to Monsieur Le Pieu’s to rescue her. Danielle meets Henry as she exits the Le Pieu residence. Henry asks for her forgiveness as well as her hand in marriage, presenting to her the slipper she left behind on the night of the ball. The two are presumably married in a secret ceremony to prevent the Baroness and Marguerite from finding out.

It is eventually revealed that the Baroness committed treason in lying to Queen Marie; she is stripped of her title, and she and Marguerite are condemned to be shipped to the Americas, "unless someone here will speak for you." All of the courtiers were, evidently, ordered to remain silent, as not one of them speaks a word to defend the Baroness and her daughter. Finally, someone speaks, and all of the courtiers bow as Danielle -- rather, Princess Danielle -- enters, crowned and beautiful. She asks the King and Queen to show her stepmother the same courtesy that the Baroness bestowed upon Danielle. Thus, instead of being sent to the Americas, mother and daughter are sentenced to a life of servitude in the palace as punishment. Jacqueline, meanwhile, is rewarded for her kindnesses toward Danielle by being allowed to live at the palace; she had fallen in love with the captain of the royal guard at the masquerade ball, and it may be assumed that they are later married. The de Barbarac servants are also brought to live at the palace. Danielle and Henry are presumed to live happily ever after after da Vinci unveils her portrait.

At the final shot, the Grimm Brothers leave the aged woman's castle, and it is revealed that the woman is Danielle's great great granddaughter.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ever_After)