Into the Woods
Director: Rob Marshall
Cast: Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine
In this haunting and beautiful fantasy musical inspired by Grimm’s fairy-tales, a baker and his wife must embark on a magical journey into the woods to break a witch’s curse and learn the true meaning of “be careful what you wish for”.
One of the strongest and perhaps most ironic themes in “Into the Woods” is that sometimes what we wish for and what will make us truly happy is not necessarily the same thing. The characters in the story all share a common bond in that they each desire something and they are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to transform their dreams into reality. The heartbreaking irony comes when each of the characters discover that the happiness they so desperately yearned for is not there to meet them at the end of their journey. Instead, what the characters realize is that although the journey they embark on does not always end where they expect it to, they can take comfort in knowing that in the darkest moments of the journey they are never truly alone. They will always have someone to guide them back into the safe and comfortable light of home.
The woods are a symbolic representation of the world and the hope and despair that people experience in the world. For most of the characters, the woods represent a place of pure joy; a place where each of them may potentially find their happy ending, or at least find happiness and hope in some small measure. For the witch, the woods are a painful reminder of the happiness that she lost. Her desire to keep her adopted daughter, Rapunzel, hidden away in the tower is not borne from selfish cruelty, but rather from her desire to protect her child from the excruciating pain that she endured in the “woods”. Ironically, the woods also represent the place where she has the chance to have her happiness restored.
I believe the essence of what makes “Into the Woods” such an extraordinary film is that while the film is rich with vibrant characters and a stunning musical score, the powerful message that the film conveys is one that both children and adults can appreciate and understand. The casting for this movie is excellent, but Meryl Streep’s portrayal of the Witch is the best by far. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who loves Disney at its best.
© 2013 – 2016 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Rob Marshall
Cast: Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine
In this haunting and beautiful fantasy musical inspired by Grimm’s fairy-tales, a baker and his wife must embark on a magical journey into the woods to break a witch’s curse and learn the true meaning of “be careful what you wish for”.
One of the strongest and perhaps most ironic themes in “Into the Woods” is that sometimes what we wish for and what will make us truly happy is not necessarily the same thing. The characters in the story all share a common bond in that they each desire something and they are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to transform their dreams into reality. The heartbreaking irony comes when each of the characters discover that the happiness they so desperately yearned for is not there to meet them at the end of their journey. Instead, what the characters realize is that although the journey they embark on does not always end where they expect it to, they can take comfort in knowing that in the darkest moments of the journey they are never truly alone. They will always have someone to guide them back into the safe and comfortable light of home.
The woods are a symbolic representation of the world and the hope and despair that people experience in the world. For most of the characters, the woods represent a place of pure joy; a place where each of them may potentially find their happy ending, or at least find happiness and hope in some small measure. For the witch, the woods are a painful reminder of the happiness that she lost. Her desire to keep her adopted daughter, Rapunzel, hidden away in the tower is not borne from selfish cruelty, but rather from her desire to protect her child from the excruciating pain that she endured in the “woods”. Ironically, the woods also represent the place where she has the chance to have her happiness restored.
I believe the essence of what makes “Into the Woods” such an extraordinary film is that while the film is rich with vibrant characters and a stunning musical score, the powerful message that the film conveys is one that both children and adults can appreciate and understand. The casting for this movie is excellent, but Meryl Streep’s portrayal of the Witch is the best by far. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who loves Disney at its best.
© 2013 – 2016 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.