Movie Review: Into the Woods

[hrj]

Don't laugh, but I've never actually consumed Sondheim's Into the Woods in any form previously. Enough good things were said about it by various friends that it jumped to the top of the list for this weekend's entertainment. (Just barely squeaking past Annie which I may well fit in tomorrow.) I know that various people had been concerned that the darker aspects of the story might get "Disnified", but I've been assured that it's fairly true to the stage version. In any case, my comments are going to cover experience as a whole without distinguishing between aspects specific to the movie from aspects of the script.

For those even less familiar with this work than I was, it's the tale of a likable but unfortunate couple who get caught in the middle of a web of fairy tale plot-thread and must work their way through to get the Mcguffins to the witch in order to break the curse she's laid on them. The setting is wonderfully dark and fairy-taleish in a cartoon sort of way, but not in a bad cartoon sort of way. The mood ranges from tragedy to slapstick to satire to tender to casually horrific.

This may be heresy, but I felt the music was the weakest part of the performance. Not that it wasn't well done (and here I'm not talking about the singing -- the performances were all fabulous), but I'm old-fashioned enough to think that one ought to walk out of a musical compulsively humming at least one of the songs. The two songs that most stuck with me in terms of impressions were the duet of the princes (which had the entire movie theater giggling madly) and the witch's final song "The Last Midnight" (or something like that). But an hour later, I couldn't for the life of me remember the lyrics or tunes, just that I'd liked them in the moment.

I loved all the casting choices. Mind you, I'd be enthralled by Meryl Streep reading a phone book, but that's not what I mean in this case. The "big name" actors inhabited their parts solidly (which is a nice change from the movies where Johnny Depp is clearly Johnny Depp playing a role) and the less familiar faces were so similarly solid I was surprised not to recognize their names when the credits rolled.

And speaking of roles: do you realize what a breath of fresh air it is for a movie to have the number and range of female roles that Into the Woods has? I counted: of the 15 "first billed" roles in IMDB, 10 are for women, and of those 4 are for "older women" (with three of them played by over-50 actresses). (I also want to give a special shout-out to Lilla Crawford as Red Riding Hood. Get that girl more roles!) We're in very solid Bechdel-passing territory here, and the tropes and themes are so solidly female-friendly that I'll forgive the one instance of "sexual transgression = death but only for the female partner". The primary characters are complex and unexpected and the resolution satisfying in its themes of taking responsibility for your own fate and personal support that cuts across traditional structures.

If you want an enjoyable movie that is very different from standard Hollywood fare, check it out.

Comments

[anarra.livejournal.com]

"but I'm old-fashioned enough to think that one ought to walk out of a musical compulsively humming at least one of the songs."

Oh, I LOLed at this so hard. This is *such* a perennial complaint about Sondheim musicals. It's a Thing in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. All the tunes in the show-within-a-show are basically the same melody shaken up a bit. Sondheim isn't very fond of this criticism.

I think complex songs in musicals are more interesting that 'hummable' ones. Besides, three quarters of humability is repetition. If the movie had left in the "Agony" Reprise in the second act (and done it as well as they did the version in the first act) you probably would have remembered it better.

It's really interesting to read a review from someone *not* coming from the play or even the CD. Thank you!

I loved the first act of the movie. I am sad to have missed what they would have done with the "Agony" reprise given how wonderful "Agony" was. (How often did they fall into that stream in rehearsals?)

I thought "Stay with Me" was weak (and I was trying REALLY HARD to not compare to Peters) but my God did Streep nail "Last Midnight" Wow, wow, wow, wow!

I also LOLed that they played waltz music from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC during the balls. Snort.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I do love the complex "braided" songs for story development. But one--just one--hummable melody would have been nice.

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

I dunno: several days later, the opening/title number was running through my head unbidden. That's one of the more conventionally hummable pieces in all of Sondheim -- aside from the fact that it's 16 minutes long and includes a bunch of dialogue.

[mneme]

YMMV (often does).

I think the first time I saw the show (the 90s tv broadcast), I ended up mostly humming the braided theme. And maybe Agony.

This time, I was, well, still humming the title song and Agony, but -mostly- humming variations on "On the Steps of the Palace". And probably having Rapunzel's wordless aria running in my head as a background tune.

I also ended up with some variants of Giants in the Sky in my head, but I think that mostly happened when I was "studying" for a larp that included Into the Woods (among other Fantasy/Biblical/Roman/arthuran shows). I was humming it on the way out of the theater, though.

I think Sondheim music does benefit from repeat study. A lot of his tunes have cadences that feel more like speech than song, so they can be hard to internalize the first time you hear them (an issue with many of the songs A Little Night Music, including some of my favorites, and certainly my fave this time of On the Steps).

Re women: It's a great point that the show has so many female characters (because it does). OTOH, the inverse side of this is that -so- many more female characters are killed or otherwise in the show than male ones (the movie is down 1 female death and 2 male deaths from the show, too -- although unlike the missing male deaths, the female character that doesn't die isn't also cut from the show.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

"but I'm old-fashioned enough to think that one ought to walk out of a musical compulsively humming at least one of the songs."

Oh, I LOLed at this so hard. This is *such* a perennial complaint about Sondheim musicals.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd are full of catchy tunes, and Company has a few; perhaps they're exceptions that test the rule?

In any case, I agree wrt Into the Woods; the line "Into the Woods to Grandmother's house!" turned into an annoyingly persistent earworm, but other than that, I don't recall any of the tunes :-/

[lifeofglamour.livejournal.com]

Sounds good, I'll put it on my list of movies worth seeing in the theater. Thanks for the review.

[irinarempt.pip.verisignlabs.com (from livejournal.com)]

Looks like I'd love it except for Johnny Depp. I have an irrational hatred of him, so much that he spoiled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for me. (We went for a daughter's birthday; fortunately daughter and friends all loved it.) But Lilla Crawford indeed looks as if she's worth putting up with Johnny Depp.

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

Johnny Depp was actually one of the weaker parts of the movie, but he's only on screen for five or ten minutes.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

"sexual transgression = death but only for the female partner"

That bothered me a lot :-/

[ajodasso.livejournal.com]

I agree that the music was the weakest thing about it; otherwise, I love the cinematography and the acting performances!

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Yup, that pretty much matches my feelings about the movie, too. Singing "Agony" while fake-tearing open one's shirt seems to be a common take away from the movie.

[rachelpage.livejournal.com]

I like surprises! This movie didn't disappoint me.