Long before the NBC series “Grimm” pulled characters from different dark fairytales into one story line, Stephen Sondheim brought the disparate denizens of the Brothers Grimm together on stage with Into the Woods. And he made them sing!
Rob Marshall, who directed the last musical to win a Best Picture Oscar, Chicago, successfully brings the Broadway hit to the screen with an all-star cast and sensitivity for the thorniness of the folklore behind Sondheim’s production. The film version of Into the Woods is released by the Disney studio, but without being stereotypically Disney. Into the Woods is often funny and always entertaining, but people die. Not everyone gets to live happily ever after.
Into the Woods is set in a “once upon a time” kingdom with two Prince Charmings; the Baker and the Baker’s Wife fret over being childless; Little Red Riding Hood is assaulted on her way to Grandmother’s house (a hollow tree) by the Big Bad Wolf; Cinderella scrubs the floors while the medieval mean girls of her stepfamily prepare for the ball; an impoverished single mother sends her lad Jack to sell his only friend, the cow, Milky White; and Rapunzel waits for love in the window of a tower without stairs, braiding her long blond hair.
The Witch, arriving with a literal bang as she blows down the Baker’s door, sets the story in motion. It’s a terrific performance by blue-haired, dressed-in-black Meryl Streep, whose singing voice is as powerful as her acting. Offering to lift the curse of bareness from the Baker (James Corden) and the Baker’s Wife (Emily Blunt), the Witch presents a three-day challenge: fetch a blood-red cape, hair like golden corn, a snow white cow and a glass slipper from the woods, a primeval canopy of green that filters the sun into twilight. The Baker is annoyed when his wife decides to help, but it will be her child too, and he learns to put his fragile male ego aside.
The other main characters shine throughout, especially Lilla Crawford as the bold, precocious Red Riding Hood and Daniel Huttlestone as the eager if naïve Jack. Johnny Depp has an outstanding small role as the Big Bad Wolf, dressed like a zoot-suited swing-era hipster with lupine whiskers, but no spoiler alert is necessary. We know how he ends.
Into the Woods includes magic beans and a towering beanstalk (morphing skyward in subtle special effects). Eventually, a giant must be slayed amidst the Baker’s quest, Cinderella’s party crashing and Rapunzel’s covert love affair. Marshall keeps the film’s complicated cast of characters moving at a fast, steady pace without wasted moments. Time doesn’t drag. And unlike many recent musicals, the music is good, with Sondheim’s sophisticated harmonies leading to surprising places.
The moral of the story is that we live in a cosmos where life is unfair but justice is possible—where reason and logic can be less important than the many other factors guiding destiny. Happy endings are often mingled with tragedy; Prince Charming could be a cad and a Witch might be a doting mother. You might wish upon a star, but be careful what you wish for.
