Starring: Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, James Corden
Year: 2014
Running Time: 125 minutes
I recently rewatched the film adaptation of the musical fantasy Into the Woods and, while I thought it was unnecessarily long and didn't care for James Corden or Anna Kendrick in their respective roles, I enjoyed the intertwined stories from various Brothers Grimm fairytales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella. Of course, Meryl Streep shines as a blue-haired witch who has placed a curse on a childless baker (Corden) and his wife (Blunt) thereby providing the central plot of this modern twist on the fairytale genre.
The stage musical debuted in San Diego in 1986 and then opened on Broadway the following year, earning three Tony wins. It has subsequently been revived on the West End in London. The film grossed $128 million at the US Box Office and over $200 million worldwide.
The film opens, like any good fairytale, with "once upon a time", taking viewers to a small village at the edge of the woods in far-off kingdom. In a seemingly never-ending prologue sung by the main characters, they outline what each of them wishes for: Cinderella wishes to go to a festival (which she proceeds to run away from every night), a baker and his wife wish they could have a child, a boy wishes for his cow to provide milk, a mother wishes her life wasn't such a disaster and a girl in a red cape wishes for a loaf of bread for her granny (and then eats it all before reaching her house). Halfway through the song I just wished it would end!
The source of the baker and his wife's barrenness is soon revealed. The baker's father stole a whole bunch of green veggies, along with some special beans, from a witch's garden. The theft of the beans left her old and hideous (with gnarled fingers in desperate need of a manicure). As an act of revenge, the witch cursed the baker's father and his line of descendants. In order for the curse to be reversed, the witch tells the baker and his wife to bring her the following items: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a slipper as pure as gold. And so begins their quest which connects them to other characters who are navigating their own adventures.
I didn't enjoy many of the songs to be honest but there were a few that stood out. The first was Hello, Little Girl performed excellently by the incomparable Johnny Depp as the Wolf. I realise it is part of Red Riding Hood's story but I was sorry to see the Wolf killed, knowing I'd have to endure more of Red Riding Hood instead. I also really enjoyed Agony, the dynamic duet by the Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince, played by Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen respectively, and the gratuitous exposure of their chests as they sing about their torment. Finally, I was wowed by Meryl Streep's vocal skills on Stay With Me, her impassioned plea to the kidnapped and imprisoned Rapunzel. Christine Baranski (Cinderella's wicked step-mother) should have got way more screen time; the scene in which she mutilates her daughters' feet to get them to fit the golden slipper was hilarious.
So while it may not make it to the top of my favourite musicals of all time list, the film offers some light-hearted entertainment and escape with solid performances from a multitalented cast. I also liked that it challenged the idea that "once upon a time" fairytales always have a "happily ever after" denouement. Furthermore, as Susan Wloszczyna from Roger-Ebert.com notes, "the themes concerning the unrealistic fantasies and desires that parents instill in their children that often result in unwanted consequences come through loud and clear".
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