Into the Woods Official Movie Thread- Page 68

[justincharacter]

Posted: 8/12/13 at 11:55pm

The way it is described in the script, specifically the lava part right after, reminds me of the beginning of the scene where the fireplace gives out after Master Gracey is told the truth about Ramsley in the "The Haunted Mansion".


EDIT: @TheaterFan Yes, I agree!




Updated On: 8/12/13 at 11:55 PM

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 12:13am

I am confused as to how someone can't find a reason to call Into the Woods comedic. It is a musical comedy, it is filled with jokes, puns, and satire. Much of it is meant to be comedic. So, please, tell us why describing it as such is some sort of faux pas. Perhaps those of us who have found comedy in it through out the years have been mistaken in some way; maybe I have been misinterpreting it in some way. I am not meaning to be snarky, I genuinely want to know.

[HBP]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 12:45am

"The way it is described in the script, specifically the lava part right after..."

Lava?? The ending of "Last Midnight" in the Park was incredible. It's the only image that actually stuck with me from that production. I truly hope Disney steps away from the horrible, distracting, unnecessary CGI of that sh!tty Oz movie and Alice in Wonderland. They really need to create a more realistic sylvan setting - like in Sleepy Hollow or Pan's Labyrinth. Lava = overkill. No lava.

Updated On: 8/13/13 at 12:45 AM

[justincharacter]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 12:59am

The ending to the song will be the same as Central Park's, although after that happens, (SPOILER!) lava bursts out of the ground, the ground splits, and a large pit of lava is seen with Cinderella, The Baker with baby in hand, Red Riding Hood, and Jack backing away scared to death. I would guess they will be using CGI for this, but it's not the only scene where they will.

Updated On: 8/13/13 at 12:59 AM

[HBP]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 1:14am

Ugh, gross. But thanks for the info.

The lava situation and the "flashbacks" are making me much more uncomfortable than the casting. I'm still hopeful that the whole idea of watching Little Red inside the Wolf's stomach (???) is left on the editing room floor. And then peed upon.

[Fan123]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 7:51am

I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one - Into The Woods isn't one of my favourites so I haven't been following this closely - but Chris Pine as Ciderella's Prince?! Woot! I pointlessly dream-cast a young William Shatner in that role, I can't hear Robert Westenberg deliver ""Yet one has..." without thinking of it, and this is the next best thing! [/nerdout]

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 10:11am

* * * * * * SPOILERS ABOUT LAST MIDNIGHT * * * * * * *


* * * * * * READ AT YOUR OWN RISK * * * * * * * *



According to the leaked script, during the last part of the song, with each toss of a magic bean, the Witch reverts back to the ugly hag. Then comes a really great, dark, shocking part. Are you ready? Two haggard arms, the arms of the Witch's mother, rise out of the ground, grab her, and pull her under as she screams. Then the "lava-like substance" starts shooting up, and it becomes the tar pit where they eventually trap the Giant's Wife.



* * * * * END OF SPOILERS * * * * *

Updated On: 8/13/13 at 10:11 AM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 10:27am

So they rip off CARRIE?

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 10:36am

I'm convinced nobody will be pleased here.

It's either too dark or too light. Too funny or to grim. Too sexy or not sexy enough.

Actually, Roscoe, it comes out of the final lyrics of the song. But yeah, it's very "Carrie." Or Frumah Sara or something else derivative and frightening.

You know, for the kids.

Updated On: 8/13/13 at 10:36 AM

[HBP]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 10:38am

best12bars: ok... that sounds a little less annoying. As long as it's not noticeably CGI, I could get behind that tar pit idea.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 10:41am

I have no idea how it will be executed visually, but I'm going to place a risky bet here that they won't actually bury Meryl Streep alive in the ground.

Call it a hunch(back).

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 11:22am

Best-- yeah, I got that it was out of the lyrics of the song, sure. But I never flashed on CARRIE until your description of that version of the screenplay, and who knows what will finally wind up onscreen.

"I have no idea how it will be executed visually"

Having seen Marshall's other films, I bet you can make an educated guess...

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 11:28am

'Two haggard arms, the arms of the Witch's mother, rise out of the ground, grab her, and pull her under as she screams.'

It's always possible that I was high at the time, but I'm pretty sure the description I quoted above is exactly what happened in the Park last summer. And it was the most thrilling moment of the show.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 12:40pm

For those saying Little Red has to be a teen, here is how she was depicted in the official "Into The Woods" storybook


Updated On: 8/13/13 at 12:40 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 12:41pm

Right but as has been said many times before, that's not really the Little Red that is depicted in this particular telling of her story.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 12:48pm

What do you mean in "this particular telling of her story"? This image was created for "Into The Woods" and not a random Little Red Riding hood story.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 1:02pm

I had that storybook. It looked nothing like what was on stage at the Martin Beck Theater.

I'm not saying she HAS to be anything. What I AM saying is that, having witnessed mid-teen actresses play Little Red, as well as pre-pubescent actresses, I am of the opinion that the older actresses are able to more fully express the nuances of the role.

But as the movie is an entirely different beast, I'm more than willing to accept a different take on the role. Perhaps it will be wonderful and new and bracing and make me think of the piece in a different way. I certainly hope so. But based on my own experience with this show, I prefer a teen Little Red.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 2:17pm

As I said on Page 1,378,269 here, James Lapine, author of "Into the Woods" on stage and screen, director of the original "Into the Woods" on Broadway, describes Little Red Riding Hood in "Into the Woods" (and I quote) as:

"a small, plump, young girl in a red cape."

That's in "Into the Woods."

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 2:21pm

True. And he cast a 16 year old in the original production. I really don't mean to sound completely argumentative (oh...maybe a titch. Work is making me NUTS today), but the initial impulse for the role (at least in casting) was someone on the other side of their sexual awakening. Again...that's not to say a different choice can't be made. But I think as the choice for the premiere of the show, it speaks to some kind of vision for the role.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 2:39pm

I think in a theatrical setting it makes sense to go as old as you can get away with. I remember the original Fredrika in "A Little Night Music" looked 25 and was supposed to be a child. Same thing with Tobias in Sweeney Todd.

For me, Danielle Ferland always came across as a cynical child, but a child. I never got that she was aware of anything sexual in what she was saying or doing. It didn't come across in her eyes, her actions, her body language, or her interpretation of the material.

But seeing a 16-year-old in the role of a child on stage does make the audience draw their own conclusions and perhaps (perhaps!) get closer to an overt sexual awakening. I also have no doubt in my mind that Sondheim's clever lyrics allude to it without ever saying as much. He never says anything obviously sexual. He never steps outside what is literally happening to the characters (Little Red or the Wolf), yet he opens it up to other interpretations by the audience.

I actually posted those paintings on a previous page because you can clearly see that Little Red Riding Hood is a child, but you can also see that in a couple of them, the Wolf is leering at her. And not (necessarily) in a carnivorous way. It kinda looks sexual, with his tongue wagging, etc. This tells me that other artists who have depicted the "wolf" and the "innocent young girl" have also envisioned a sexual tension between them. That does not come from her actual age, though.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 2:53pm

'This tells me that other artists who have depicted the "wolf" and the "innocent young girl" have also envisioned a sexual tension between them. That does not come from her actual age, though.'

I guess my question really is more about the world in which we live today. Can a piece of art (and popular entertainment) 'go there' with the idea of an adult wolf leering at and ravishing a child? I'm not sure. But I certainly hope so.

God, that actually sounded icky.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 2:59pm

"I never got that she was aware of anything sexual in what she was saying or doing."

Oh, I don't know -- Little Red may not have been aware, but I think Ferland sure was. She was getting way too much fun out of stroking that knife.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 3:01pm

I will be very curious to see how far they take it, and it's really on Depp's shoulders not the little girl's.

Will he "leer" at her? The screenplay says he "slithers" around her and describes him as having "some smooth moves." He is also described as "handsome" and "sexy."

So Lapine is putting all of this on the Wolf, keeping Little Red innocent in their first encounter.

Then later, she sings "I Know Things Now," also innocently performed (with literal flashbacks of the events described in the lyrics), and leaves it up to us (the audience) to decide how far this really goes.

I think it's genius, actually. It makes the audience relate so well to her last lyric, "Isn't it nice to know a lot? And a little bit not."

Updated On: 8/13/13 at 03:01 PM

[Wildcard]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 3:14pm

I'm hoping that the scene with the wolf and Red actually makes the audience uncomfortable. The wolf is symbolic of what's lurking in the woods -- it's what's out there in our world today. And what's out there in our world today isn't always safe. Forget about Red's sexual awakening. It's more of a realization for kids that the world isn't what fairy tales tell them it is.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/13/13 at 3:20pm

I totally agree.

I think both Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf are symbolic of innocence and corruption. And the closer both are depicted as such, the more powerful and meaningful it will be. And the more "uncomfortable" as you say. Which I think is the point.



And to a degree, Little Red is corrupted in this story. How much of a degree is left to an audience's interpretation ... and again, that's uncomfortable. It will say as much about you and the "things you know now" in your world as it does about the character and what she knows.