Into the Woods, the
Disney interpretation of
Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical, brings new perception of well-known fairy tales. Once upon a time in a far away when
the Baker was just a child, his father was caught stealing magic beans from the vegetable garden of
the Witch (
Meryl Streep) next door. As punishment for losing the precious beans,
the Witch was placed under a curse which made her look like an old ugly lady.
The Witch puts a spell on the Baker’s household, saying that
the Baker and his
Wife would forever be incapable of having a child.
Years later, when the
Baker and his
Wife found out about the curse, they forced to go into
the Woods to seek out the ingredients which will both reverse the spell and restore the Witch’s beauty. By the time the blue moon rises in three days’ time, they must return with four items: a cow as white as milk, hair as yellow as corn, a cape as red as blood and a slipper as pure as gold.
I did not see the musical so I cannot compare to the movie, but when I started watching the movie I was impressed how smoothly the characters switch between singing and speaking to take you into the events unfold in the story. You can easily understand that all characters in the movie are connected to each other, and like in a famous song everybody looking for something and everybody is wishing for something.
Cinderella wants to attend
King’s festival;
Jack wishes that his cow would give milk,
the Baker with his wife wish for having a baby,
the Wolf wishes to fill his hungry stomach, the Witch to get back her beauty and so on.
While following the adventures and making the wishes come true, the characters come to the end point and then ask themselves if they really need what they were wishing for. When
Prince says:
“ I was raised to be charming, not sincere” and
Cinderella in return :
” Wanting a ball is not wanting a prince” gives an idea that the characters wishes may be not what they really want. They do not realize that until all the wishes come true, until they are done. So what do we finally come to? Life goes on and the heroes of the story need find the ways to live and move on.
Overall, I think the movie is amazing introducing the adventures of our favorite fairy tale characters but with realistic twists in that imaginary
Kingdom with true feelings and wishes but where the heroes questioning if they really need them to be happy. The singing makes me feel so much into it plus when
Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp and
Chris Pine playing in the movie. They bring funny and sad moments with their characters. While I think blind
Cinderella’s step sisters are too much for a scary tale, and
the Giant Woman which ruined the whole
Kingdom looks more like a victim than a villain, the movie is fantastic to see and more than once.
Into the Woods opens in theaters this week.
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