emilovestheatre

[emilovestheatre]

this video never fails to make me cry

[emilovestheatre]

My birthday. It's my birthday. Do you know you had me scared to death? I was just about to run out of this place like nobody's business. I was. I mean, I didn't know- I mean, what kind of friends would surprise you on your thirty-fifth birthday? Mine.

Bobby, Company (1970)

[emilovestheatre]

sideshow has not left my mind recently

[emilovestheatre]

into the woods (the movie)

i have to start this by saying that i do like this movie! it has gorgeous cinematography and exciting costuming! it’s a nice watch!

however…. 

in comparison to the work of art that is the original stage version,,, it is just simply not as good! the source material of the film is one of my favourite pieces of theatre, so of course i am going to be critical! 

firstly, into the woods is a musical with dark themes and symbolism that deeply reflect the world we live in,,, and it is also absolutely hilarious!! so many of the really funny jokes in the musical, were played straight and seriously in the movie. for example, when rapunzel’s tears cure her prince of his blindness, she jerks forward comically. but in the movie, she dramatically cries and the scene moves on, but its so much heavier than the musical. all of these moments make the movie would make the second half of the movie not feel like its dragging the rest of the show. these moments keep the show from just being dark and dreary. into the woods is so much more than just the serious parts.

secondly, they cut out so many songs!!! all of these cut songs (though some are short songs) add so much to the show!! i understand having to change and adapt it for the screen, with overall movie length, but as an avid lover of the musical, it was disappointing. even if they did have to cut all of those songs for time, i wish they could have saved no more from being cut. no more is such a powerful song. the baker finds (the spirit of??) his father in the woods as he has abandoned the group and his newborn son, just like his father did to him, and convinces him that its wrong and he needs to go back to them. this number is so emotional and cutting it takes away so much. and having james corden cry while the instrumental version of it plays was just a disappointing tease and i wish they just used to song instead.

thirdly, i actually really loved the costumes! all of them! but cinderella’s ball dress. i know it could be to make it easier for anna kendrick to run around the woods in but they do the same running in the musical and the dress is infinitely more gorgeous and dreamy. 

fourthly, i think jack should have been played by a teenager/young man. with jack being played by a child, most of the comedy and his character is gone. this made his mother seem borderline abusive rather than tired of his childish behaviours. the whole point of jack’s character is to be this man-child who needs to grow up (like many other characters), and with him being played by a child, it leaves his character dull. jack in the musical is so hilariously oblivious to the world outside of just him and his cow, but now his character only seems needed for the plot lines to occur. this is not to take away from daniel huttlestone’s incredible talent!

fifthly, the singing! sondheim writes the most complex and beautiful music, full of unexpected intervals, and unusual and difficult timing. and i will be the first to say how hard it is! but i fear that because the actors were so focussed on the actual music and getting each note, it started to sound very rigid. it lost a bit of expression and vulnerability. while i think they all did a great job singing this (VERY) difficult score (though many songs had the keys altered to lower),, i wish they had just a bit more training or something! i also wish they kept ‘your fault’ the original speed, though its hard, with it slowed down, this impressive song becomes, very annoying and i know so many non-theatre people who hate it because of this!

sixthly, into the woods has a comic-like brightness in its set,, on stage that is. this was not carried though. the movie has a consistent misty blue hue to represent the mysteriousness of the woods. but while this darker, deeper, more mysterious side is very apparent in into the woods (the stage musical),,, it has more depth, and its dark themes are presented in a subtler way. a huge part of into the woods is the evolution between acts, from bright fairytale-like to dark and real. i wish the movie had more lighter moments, other than the occasional remark or trying to get laughs through getting hurt (i did not find the prince crashing into the tower that funny,, sorry).

seventhly, one scene that i really loved (possibly even more than the musical) was little red’s song, i know things now. the sequence of her being inside the wolf going down his throat was both fantastical and incredible! it was very theatrical and i loved it! very cleverly done!

eighthly, i wish the narrator was not the baker, and, like the stage production, played by the mysterious man. i understand that while changing mediums (from stage to film) its not as easy to transfer this kind of thing,, but they could have had him narrate from like in front of what the camera was showing (does that make sense, maybe not.). having him played by the mysterious man (and more importantly, NOT the baker) would change the show so much. at the end of the show, there is a beautiful moment where the baker starts telling his son “the story of how it all happened” and it is such an emotional, tender moment. this is the first time he has had to step up and be the father figure in his son’s life that he did not have growing up. his wife is dead, he has no other choice. but with the narration being done by the baker the entire way though, this moment at the end loses its charm.

ninthly, the witch. now listen, i LOVE meryl streep and her interpretation of the witch was like no other. however…. the witch is cheeky, funny, sarcastic, and all around a troublemaker. meryl’s witch is *sometimes* like this, but overall far too scary. but i do not think this was her fault at all,, the direction of this movie was taking it in a darker more literal sense, and in that case, she delivered! the witch can change the entire show. she is the core, she is the driving force, and she is the power in the show. her emotional arc is so significant and her presence is electrifying! into the woods’ witch IS scary, mean, and horrible BUT she is also all of those funny and silly things from before! again, i don’t think this is a meryl streep problem, but more of a general movie thing.

tenthly, the changes to the plot, though necessary with it being a disney movie, makes it sometimes confusing and less impactful. jack’s mother’s death is probably the weirdest. but the changes from rapunzel being squashed by the giant to just running away with her prince, is nowhere near as impactful in terms of the witch’s response. the witch’s “child”, the only person she (seems to) has ever loved, a person she put her entire heart and soul into (which, ended up being overprotective and making rapunzel crazy, so,, you know,, thats not good),, has been crushed right in front of her. this moment, followed by the witch singing her lament, is one of the most heartbreaking in the show,, it makes us (as the audience) sympathise with this person who has cause such terror! this is not the case in the movie. and the bakers wife falling off a cliff???? weird, but i guess needed for disney? i don’t know.

eleventhly, maybe i am biased because i have played the bakers wife myself, but emily blunt as the bakers wife is perfection! she is the perfect mix of determined, kind, morally grey, motherly, stubborn and everything the bakers wife should be! her chemistry and natural connection with james corden as the baker is so beautiful and absolutely one of my favourite parts of the movie! 

to conclude, while this seems heavily negative (and biased towards the musical), i do really like this movie! it did a lot of things right! but you will always be biased to the original you know and love, right? it is rare the movie version of a musical is better or even equal to the musical (other than, in my opinion, chicago)! this is one of my all time favourite shows and i’m glad it got to be shared to a wide demographic of people, even if it was quite the best version in my opinion!