Hadestown: The Movie (an idea)

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 3:58pm

why not just share your ideas now :)

also asking people to not judge..... lol good luck with that

[natashalost]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 4:05pm

Yeah, no. The only movie I’d want is a filmed version of the stage production with the original Broadway cast, as the filmed clips they’ve released on their social media have looked SO good.

Other than that, I think the magic of the show would be lost on film.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 4:36pm

This sounds like it's crying out for animation, in the vein of The Princess and the Frog for quick and dirty reference, but recognizing that animation isn't just for kids and one doesn't have to skirt the darker side of the story.

[Erzlump]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 6:23pm

Aiiiight! 

Let’s see… I won’t lie: My immediate response to this was “oh no, no, no”. I had the same feeling as natashalost, Hadestown is just so smitten to its theatrical form. But, nevertheless, I wanted to interact with your ideas in a more detailed way. First though-

“No judging please. This site has too much negative mojo as it is :)”

My goal is not to judge, my goal will be to critically engage with what you brought forward. 

“For information on how I would do each song (or certain moment) just ask in reply to this thread and Ill share it.”

I would echo gypsy in his advice and hope you will volunteer your ideas freely. It makes for better discussions than us having to request your ideas for each and every song.

Now, turning to the meat on the bone.

In my very personal opinion, the things that make Hadestown so intriguing are the way its stylised (very little is actually visualised, we only have visual indications of places and little physical visualisation. This, in turn, leaves a lot up to the viewer's imagination, making it so engaging.) and the way the story is structured (the influences of the old epics you have mentioned). While movies require a more literal approach due to the nature of the medium, we should refrain from spelling out too much, as this would detract from the fantastical men vs. gods setup. 

I would not mind starting the movie off in a bar, wouldn’t mind Hermes taking a stage in the bar and invoking the beginning of the musical. I’d much rather have him just sing over the scenes you describe as if he is telling a story than him being actually in disguises. Hermes, although the god of tricksters, is not Aladdin’s Genie. The idea just reads to young and juvenile in character for me to fit the Hermes we are given in the text - ofc, this could change if we reconceptualise the part.

If filmed correctly and with a vision, I do think that Hadestown and the medium of film are not in irreconcilable, but it would need to be a more artistic vision that isn’t grounded in strict reality than we are used to seeing from musical films of our time. The closest I can imagine is an edgier, darker and grittier Into the Woods, as they both have that “lemme tell you a story” kinda feeling. 

My mind also tends to wander towards animation with these projects. I’d love to see a imaginative concept. Just hope we wouldn’t actually see singing walls...

 

[Andres_Zayas]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 7:46pm

I think a Hadestown movie would work best as an animated stop-motion film. Also, anyone else willing to join the Sam Elliott for Hades club?

[Janaenae]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 9:03pm

To the contrary of some, I think a Hadestown film is a grand idea! It lends itself to the film format I think better than many musicals. The kinds of environments that are described and the world would be an interesting visual field to explore, especially the background of a world that is both beautiful yet impoverished and drained. I think the aesthetic alone would be worth it. I'm personally thinking along the lines of Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Exploring and expanding upon the designs of both the underground and up, the freedom and the suffocation, the wilderness and the safety could be excellent fodder for a creative mind. 

 

Now, it certainly does not lend itself to the traditional blockbuster Hollywood formula. But ever since I first heard the soundtrack I thought it could work spectacularly as an indie-style avant garde film with a visionary director. Something like that could definitely develop a cult-following and get some attention. 

 

I think a bar to start is not a bad idea. I'm thinking more of like a venue. I could also see it opening up on a railroad car, or a guy sitting on the back of one. I can understand the disposition of the bar though- it's a perfect setting for a blue-sy kind of story, which Hadestown certainly is. I don't know if the camera should be acknowledged in this case- but there should still be some fourth-wall breaking. 

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 9:08pm

Not for nothing, but Steven Spielberg was sitting 2 rows directly in front of me when I saw it a few weeks ago....

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 9:16pm

After the Off-Broadway production, someone on YouTube did animated a few of the numbers, and it's actually quite beautiful

Here's Wait For Me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k44h7U9iWo

Worth noting that Patrick Page actually commented on the video saying how much he loved it! 

[LLW2]

Posted: 7/3/19 at 9:18pm

I like it. OP, how would you do "Why We Build the Wall"?

[Fan123]

Posted: 7/4/19 at 5:57am

I only know the show from the concept album and Off-Broadway album, so the below thought might not match the show in its current Broadway form. Or alternatively, I might just be stating what already happens in the live show without realising it! Nevertheless, regarding the end of this hypothetical film...

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

If the Hermes-in-the-the bar framing device were used, it might be nice if after the 'Road to Hell' reprise, 'I Raise My Cup To Him' then occurred in the same bar. Ie, we see that Eurydice and Persephone have been in the underworld bar all along, listening to their own story being retold again. It wouldn't need to be a big OMG moment or anything, but it might be a nice touch.

 

(Veering off-topic, the underworld seems to be a bit of a theme on Broadway of late. Hadestown, Beetlejuice, even The Ferryman and Moulin Rouge in a sense. Although, you can see the theme in every other story once you start looking.)

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 7/4/19 at 9:24am

I saw a post from Patrick Page which showed that Steven Spielberg was a huge fan of the show. Rachel Zegler commented saying that Spielberg can’t stop talking about the show, and is in awe of Page and Amber Gray. If Spielberg is really this passionate about the show, I think he could make a pretty top notch film adaptation. Especially if he had Page and Gray in it, which it sounds like he’d do.

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 7/4/19 at 1:13pm

The idea of Sam Elliot as Hades sounds amazing. That being said, if a movie happens, I wouldn’t want anyone as Hades more than Patrick Page. Same goes for Amber Gray as Persephone. Those two are simply sublime in their parts. The other members of the original cast would be welcome in a film as well, but to me, Page and Gray are the heart and soul of Hadestown, and the idea of anyone else playing Hades and Persephone would just feel wrong.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 7/4/19 at 4:39pm

My initial thought was that it's too stylized and metaphorical for film, but then I thought that two of my favorite films (mother! and Synecdoche New York) are incredibly stylized and metaphrorical.

[LLW2]

Posted: 7/6/19 at 1:22am

Feels odd that I’m the only one asking for details about the imagined movie version but I am curious. I like the ones described so far so I will request a few more of the OP, if he would indulge me:

(1) How would you do the first meeting of Orpheus and Eurydice and their immediate bonding? Seemed like it was played for laughs when I saw the show.

(2) How would you show the story of Hades kidnapping Persephone? Or would you?

Updated On: 7/6/19 at 01:22 AM

[LLW2]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 8:37pm

Thanks, that’s very interesting. I also would like a stronger Orpheus. It looks like your post cut off mid-sentence at the end though.

For #2, I was actually referring to Hades’ original kidnapping of Persephone from her mother’s garden. The show alludes to it — I think in Epics I and III — but never shows it. I wondered if you might show it, maybe in flashback. I suppose that could be kind of corny though and difficult to do well.

[Skip23]

Posted: 7/7/19 at 10:11pm

I’m all for Spielberg getting his hands on this material.

Nowhere to go but up.