Against the background of a wave of various crossovers, the genre of the musical was noted - this is a really good musical with an extremely successful name.
First, 'forest'. For each of the characters ' Forest' which looks like only trees and firewood, it seems like a kind of higher force that can give and take, leading its game and radically changing the lives of the characters, ironically pulling the strings, revealing their positive and negative sides.
Secondly, in fact, ' further ' - for each of the characters its own ' further ' generated ' forest ' intersecting and diverging in unpredictable but well-chosen places, so as not to let the viewer get bored and not destroy the integrity of the story, while diluting it with funny situations and great music.
And third, of course, ' than' - having reached the seemingly final scene, ' Forest' surprises and does not stop, continuing to create ' Further', continuing to play and spin the fates of characters who have already relaxed and decided that they are able to follow themselves, but did not understand the essence of trees and firewood.
Combining together, these components form an extremely interesting action, from which you can and should enjoy.
The further into the forest, the more or less, the lighter or darker, the richer or poorer, the more beautiful or uglier - no one knows what will be in the depths, the forest is unstable.
Well, the cast, of course, very, very, very.
There are small sins, where without them, they are forgivable. A great movie for restoring your feelings after the third hobbit.
Surely many will agree that the absolute leader in the production of all sorts of fairy tales is Disney. Whether it's a cartoon or a movie from this studio, people are bound to go out and watch it in droves. Because Disney is a brand, a mark of quality. And it is extremely rare for the target audience of such a movie to scold the creations of the studio that gave us Mickey Mouse. But everybody fails. Sometimes the picture is really good, but it simply cannot recoup the money spent on it. A good example of this is John Carter. And there are very mediocre tapes, like the same "Airplanes", which surprisingly collect a decent cash register.
In 2012, Disney decided to film the Broadway musical of the 80s - "The further in the woods." It was not an easy matter, as attempts to bring this story to the big screen have been made since 1994, but to no avail. What did Disney do? Rob Marshall was called to the post of director, who already had a successful adaptation of the musical Chicago behind him. Called star actors: Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick and others. It would seem that the picture will definitely turn out very good, but, unfortunately, I can not call it such.
In the story, the heroes of several famous fairy tales go to the forest, each pursues his own goal, but in the end their paths intersect. The beginning is intriguing, but it is already filled with notes, inappropriate, black humor and rather silly characters. For example, a thick red cap, nourishing a weakness for bakery products, sings about the imminent death of his grandmother. Towards the middle, this pump in a bull coat begins, like a gopnik, to poke a knife and run into local eccentrics. Cinderella is more like some kind of witch who entrusts poor birds with all the business from which to deviate. The narcissistic prince, played by Chris Pine, would not look so ridiculous if you did not have to open your mouth and try to dance.
This story also carries with it: cutting off limbs with the sound of crunching, popping out eyes, betrayal in the forest. Isn't that a wonderful story?! I would not advise children to do this, and you will hardly enjoy yourself. After an hour and a half, the picture begins to tire, and the plot moves become increasingly stupid. I mean, where are we going?
Of the advantages, I note the performance, in which a simple speech is translated, and the songs are sung in the original language with subtitles. I think this approach is optimal for a musical. Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp and Emily Blunt – very well coped with the roles. Special effects level. There were good songs, but no more.
6 out of 10
Pretty weak fairy tale, sometimes, not at all fabulous action. It's clearly not a story for children. Before you go to this musical, think carefully and if you still decide, wait a lot for it. To me, this story would have looked a little better if it had ended at the prince's wedding.
A somewhat different interpretation of all known fairy tales: Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack with beans - which intertwined in one single story.
After Les Misérables, Hollywood liked the idea of releasing similar musicals, where a lot of history is intertwined into one narrative. This musical is very reminiscent of Les Miserables. Good songs performed by good actors, so why not?
Some solutions to problems seemed strange - on the one hand, adult problems are presented, which, on the other hand, are simply waved and forgotten. The moral of the fable seemed strange. Although the morality of the individual stories was interesting. Stories are presented with irony and ridicule of the heroes themselves.
Be prepared for a slightly different interpretation and reading that does not adhere to the original and well-known versions. After all, all fairy tales end “And they lived happily ever after”, the creators of the musical decided to go further and lead the viewer further, beyond this “happy”. It was a good movie of its genre.
P.S. The scene with the princes in the lake is beautiful.
Should I go to the movies? - Musical lovers, yes.
When I watched the trailer for this movie a year ago, I liked it so much that as soon as it came out in the movies, I decided to go. I was very disappointed.
- First of all, there's too much in the story. Somehow confused and indistinct, and the last half hour ruined the film completely.
- Second, it's a musical. Everything seems fine, everyone sings how cute. But when all the characters try to cover each other and do it at the same time, you want to run out of the cinema. In the end, the songs did not add anything good to the film.
-Third, everything looks too playful, actors overdo it. Even the famous Meryl Streep looks unnatural (the role is clearly not her), although I love her very much in other films. Other actors have also jumped.
The only plus is that there were some funny moments. And Chris Pine did a few scenes. Thank you for that.
My advice is not to waste your time and money on this film, but rather re-read the good old stories.
Today in the domestic rental came Disney fantasy The farther in the woods, and we decided with my daughter, pecking on a chic trailer, to visit the premiere. So the film will not scold in any case, the famous actors: namely, the inimitable Meryl Streep in the role of a witch and despite the age is still handsome and coveted by crowds of Johnny fans, Depp naturally so organically fit into the role of a wolf; amazing special effects and so on predict this film in the box office millions, but not in our certainly.
Why is that? And because this is a musical, a fairy tale of music, song dialogues are very often present, sing perfectly, but in English!!! And at the bottom of such huge letters are subtitles, and if me, who is like no English friend and understands the speech about what, well, if not, then reads, then my child was generally uninteresting and incomprehensible.
By the way, 12+ is too much for this fairy tale, boldly 6+, iron. It was like that. But after an hour, this strained me, too, sharp jumps from a foreign speech to Russian begin to infuriate, and the songs in English, when they speak Russian incredibly frenzied by the end of the hour of viewing (the film is about 2). Here is this joint in the Russian version with a translation, or rather its absence in the songs and did not allow to look to the end, no matter how sadly I had to leave without looking. That year, the animated film “Frozen” was watched, also a musical, but brilliantly translated all the song dialogues, sang perfectly in Russian and the cartoon broke all records at the box office, why so carelessly treated the further in the forest – a mystery. Undersponsored coming out? It's no use. The movie is doomed to success (not in the Russian version).
“The Further Into the Woods” is a film adaptation of the famous musical, which has been going around the world with success for almost three decades. The musical is so popular and loved by the audience that its adaptation became a real headache for Hollywood producers, who for the past twenty years desperately tried to transfer this grandiose project to the big screens. And so, finally, it did. I watched the original musical and was very impressed with what I saw. I went to the cinema with very high expectations and very big doubts, because I could not imagine how this material could be put into a two-hour tape. And I must say, I was very pleased with what I saw, moreover, many moments delighted me. My expectations were fully met, and my doubts dissipated within minutes.
Comment on the main components of the film:
1. The film combines the storylines of several fairy tales at once, which were originally not related. There are a lot of actors here - and there was a huge risk of making the film confusing. But this does not happen due to the fact that the storylines flow into each other quite smoothly and even logically, and then completely merge. Of course, this story has its conventions, but I do not want to talk about them at all. The plot of the film is very exciting, and the further into the forest - the more interesting. In addition, this tape can be called very touching: it reveals the difficulties of the relationship between parents and children, husbands and wives and, despite the fabulous atmosphere, tells life stories that are familiar to almost everyone. And in the end, even I almost broke into a stingy man's tear.
2. Reading reviews about this film, I was surprised to find the opinion that the songs in it are boring, monotonous and sleepy. Personally, I had the opposite impression. The film has several major musical themes, each differing in pace and mood. Some songs literally amaze with their wit, others touch to tears with their sincerity. I have already bought the soundtrack of this tape and I enjoy listening to this soulful, pure music. Agree, it is always nice to hear orchestral music, and together with excellent vocals - doubly pleasant. Of course, the Russian voice has its own characteristics and shortcomings. But personally, I did not feel much discomfort due to the fact that during the musical numbers, subtitles appeared on the screen.
3. Actors. The ensemble at the musical is simply enchanting! Everyone sings, runs through the forest, jokes and expressively waving their hands. All this could turn into a clumsy farce, into the notorious "theatrical", but this does not happen thanks to the talented work of the entire acting ensemble. Runs all this splendor brilliant Meryl Streep, playing the Witch. It would seem that the image of the witch is so beaten and even caricatured: it is familiar to everyone since childhood from fairy tales, cartoons, etc. And to come up with something new and at the same time recognizable with this image personally did not seem possible to me. But Meryl Streep has been sent to make the impossible possible. Her Witch is a charismatic, slightly expressive Evil. But at the same time, she gives her heroine a soul, makes her understandable to the viewer and even to some extent pretty. And her two heartbreaking monologues are just the pinnacle of acting. Emotions on aortic rupture... And vocals, of course, at the highest level. Bravo, Meryl! I think there is no point in saying that Meryl will receive the 19th Oscar nomination for his work in this film, breaking his own record.
Do not get lost, do not fade against the background of the brilliant Strip - the task is not simple, and even at the same time sing and give drama! But the actors brilliantly cope with this task. I would like to mention the ironic Emily Blunt, who interacts very well with almost all other actors and creates a very bright image. I didn’t know James Corden before this movie, but as Baker, he was very convincing. I also liked Anna Kendrick as Cinderella. Chris Pine showed great comedic talent, and Johnny Depp managed to be remembered by the viewer, appearing on the screen for just a few minutes. In general, in this tape we can witness one of the strongest acting ensembles of this year, in which each image is individual and interesting.
4. Staging. I really want to praise director Rob Marshall - he rehabilitated in my eyes after the slurred Nine. He made this film really well, in which his theatrical roots are not at all felt. The atmosphere of the film is simply stunning, gothic gloomy and at the same time very cozy. And the most amazing thing is that the eye does not "wash" from the seemingly monotonous forest landscapes. The work of costume artists, the work of the operator and, of course, the production artist who created a whole fairy-tale world deserves a bargain. We were pleasantly surprised by the special effects, which, despite the modest budget, turned out to be very spectacular and at the same time organic.
Full summary. "The further into the forest ..." is a very specific, complex, amazing project. It is not ideal in terms of scenography and drama, but it is simply beautiful from the musical, acting and semantic points of view. It doesn’t have the lightness of the radiant Mamma Mia!, the epic of Les Mias and the suspense of Sweeney Todd. But this musical subtly combines the elements of these components, playing well with colors and balancing between darkness and light, comedy and tragedy, sharing wisdom, but not becoming moralizing. This is not a funny Disney fairy tale, but a complex, in many ways dramatic story about dreams and cruel reality. The film does not give the viewer the usual happy ending, leaving behind a storm of the most controversial emotions and giving an amazing sense of hope.
This is the first and last great musical in 2014. But this is not the only thing that distinguishes “The further in the woods...” from the rest of the films. To see this tape is undoubtedly worth it, since such films are very few and they do not come out so often.
Pleasant viewing!
Director Rob Marshall perfectly coped with his previous film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Shores, which I was interested in watching with my dad on my birthday, so I think he’ll handle Disney’s next project, The Further Into the Woods... The title is very original, I can say that this has not been in any of the studio projects. But still, I think the best debut film of the director is Pirates of the Caribbean: On strange shores.” But Marshall is a good director, and every scene in the theater or in the film, he puts with his soul! But there are also many characters in the film, after which I am sure that we will be fine, and I hope that the creators will not overdo their number.
Meryl Streep changed beyond recognition, so much so that at the beginning of the video I did not recognize the actress. And the makeup of her face is so ingrained in her that you can say, "This is her real skin!" Becoming someone more interesting, being the most visible hero in a fairy tale, is both a fit and not a fit for Meryl Streep. Because she is a woman of an extraordinary plan, with her the whole picture begins, she dilutes the colors in every moment (whether it is a movie or an animated film). We will see it in an unimaginable form, which we have yet to accept first!
And in general, the characters of this film look unusual, like real people in the opera! I’ve never seen this before, except in Soviet films like Red Riding Hood or The Adventures of Buratino, and I was surprised when American cinema presented us with such a project! The director did not create many spectacular scenes, and even the image of Johnny Depp did not model with the help of high technology and did not make him a terrible “virtual” monster (although on the one hand I did not like it, but after I looked at it with different eyes I saw something special that will attract a person, and then he will want to go to a real opera in the theater)! And I liked it: no superfluous computer graphics, all the characters are alive, and you don’t just want to look at them, but admire them day and night, the natural environment, the tales of the eternal, in a word: “Living Forest”!
Recently, one cartoon “7th Dwarf” was held in cinemas, in which various heroes of fairy tales are also present. Compared to this film, the characters of the cartoon turned out to be colorful, but it is impossible to look at them without interest, except for Red Riding Hood and Grey Wolf, who broadcast a ball in honor of the birthday of Princess Rose, and in the heroes of this film there is some mystery and a considerable craving for images. That’s because Disney always delighted us when we were sad, and stood with us even when we were desperate, never left us, and taught the true good, brought peace and peace into our lives that we use to move forward. Nothing compares to every cartoon and film released from this studio.
In fact, the history of the creation of this film began only with the musical “Into the Woods”, which invented it Lowell Gantz and his colleague Babalu Mandel included in the script only the Baker, his wife, Wolf, Jack, Jack’s mother and the Witch. And all the other characters in the list included Disney, including Rapunzel, unfortunately. The creators and employees of Columbia Pictures wanted to start work 24 years ago, but the shooting stopped! But in January 2012, the Walt Disney studio takes up this topic, and calls all the right people: Rob Marshall, who perfectly embodied the musical “Chicago”, James Leipin, Steven Sondheim and Dion Bebe (how can you do without him), who not only has an interesting job, but also a bizarre surname!
Johnny Depp has always amazed us with his crazy walk and charmed smile!
His work shocked many... and even after the recent “Excellence” he left a not very friendly mark on our hearts. But he is still as good-natured a strange man as we know him! And so he will easily play another negative character in this film.
Of course, I did not expect that Jack (aka “Conqueror of Giants”, “Farm Master”, “Master of Beans”, “Aney is a Bean Stem” and who he was only in the movies and in fairy tales) would be so small. The creators and Rob Marshall himself decided that “this” would be the variety of the film, since the audience is already used to seeing Jack as a big guy, and because they wanted to create a pair of Red Riding Hood, because there must be some love in every film from this studio!
As for Cinderella, she looks more like a commoner than a beautiful princess, and Anna Kendrick does not look like her hair or nature. But appearances are deceiving! This will be the second time that Cinderella will appear before us in the Disney studio, the first time was in the cartoon, the second time in this film, and the third time it will appear in the future project “Cinderella” – filmed based on the cartoon, which is pointless! Such a number is pleasing, but on the other hand, frightening, and it will involuntarily bring to us, albeit a little, but a quick thought that the studio has run out of ideas, and therefore it often uses famous characters of past years, so as not to lose the “combat spirit” in life! Maybe this is the idea of the director himself, but you know what projects have gone on now, from which you want to hide your eyes! But we still believe in it and hope for the best!
Of course, Chris Pine is already in the role of a noble prince, and I think that will make him popular. But will he be able to translate his image brilliantly on the screen? This will be decided by an independent critic - the viewer.
This will be the most stunning production in the history of musical films! I saw something like this once in the musical Mamma Mia, it doesn’t look like him, but it conveys the same emotional feelings as in this musical. But the “Forest” is another thing, not like everyone else, and it will show us that goodness can unite all of us, whatever we may be!
I believe that this film will be a good magical adventure, taking us not only through the woods, but also beyond the boundaries that expand our understanding of Disney!
“The further into the forest...” is a fabulous musical from Disney, in which a galaxy of stars of the first magnitude, dressed in costumes of fairy-tale characters, run through the magical forest, singing positive songs. The director is Rob Marshall, who gave us “Memoirs of a Geisha”, “Chicago” (by the way, also a musical) and the latest “Pirates of the Caribbean”.
Most people are quite skeptical of musicals. Usually they are unideal, stupid and trying to get out at the expense of a famous face in the frame. “The farther into the woods” is the exact opposite. This is an incredibly atmospheric fairy tale that will fit perfectly into your holiday schedule. Here you and the funniest duet of singing princes, who seem to have just broken away from the composition of the Backstreet Boys, and quite a logical narrative, which will be understandable even the smallest. Almost forgot about the episodic appearance of the main Hollywood crook Johnny Depp.
In general, the presence of stars of the first magnitude here is only good. Usually musicals that involve two or more stars with a capital letter, scare away. However, here they are perceived primarily as actors, and actors are good. Their characters are sympathetic, the songs they perform do not cut the ear (all dialogues in the film are duplicated, and the songs sound in the original with subtitles). The apogee here suddenly becomes the performance of Anna Kendrick, who not only looks, but also sings sweeter than all her on-screen colleagues. Plus, it is impossible not to say about the presence of the great Meryl Streep.
The visual component also deserves a separate mention. Artist Dennis Gassner, who has an Oscar for the scenery for Barry Levinson's "Bugsy," and who acted as a production designer in the film, worked hard for fame. The scenery of the fairy-tale forest along with the detailed costumes of the characters add a fabulous atmosphere to the picture and help the viewer tune in to the correct, magical way. Even a rather decent 124-minute timeline for a musical recedes into the background and becomes noticeable towards the end of the film, but also thanks to the authors, who a little “played” with the ending. In fact, the last half hour of the film could have been cut and left for the DVD edition.
In general, “The Further Into the Woods...” is a very strong film in its genre, which can plunge the viewer of any age into the fabulous and interesting world of singing princes, charismatic wolves, evil witches and giants who are waiting for you behind every tree. Rob Marshall's musical is a great occasion to spend time with family during this New Year's holiday.
And witches are right, and giants are good.
Decide for yourself what is true, what is good, and what is evil.
“Nobody is Alone” from the musical “The Further Into the Woods...”
The forest unites many heroes, in which they came with different goals. A baker and his wife are looking for the ingredients of potions to cancel the curse, Red Riding Hood carries cakes to his grandmother, Cinderella runs from the handsome prince, and Jack leads the cow for sale to a neighboring village.
The musical The Further Into the Woods was staged on Broadway in 1987. Since the early 90s, they tried to transfer it to the big screen. In 2002, he created Memoirs of a Geisha and Pirates of the Caribbean. On Strange Shores decided to discuss the possibility of filming the musical The Further Into the Woods with composer Stephen Sondheim. But at that time, the project failed again. The director revisited the idea in 2011 when he heard the phrase, “You’re not alone...Nobody is alone.” He realized that this was the perfect phrase for the slogan of the picture, especially so was the name of one of the central songs of the musical. 27 years after the premiere of “The further in the woods...” still goes into wide distribution.
You can’t find a better person to film a musical than Rob Marshall. The director, behind which such films as: "Nine" (2009), "Chicago" (2002) and "Annie" (TV film 1999), theatrical productions and work of choreographers. According to the film crew, no one feels and puts musical pictures like Rob Marshall, fully aware of what he wants to see in the end.
The script of the film became a less cynical version of the musical, which was written based on the most famous fairy tales using psychological theories. Because the authors believe that fairy tales are not just stories that are fed to the parents of their children. Rather, it is what a child is taught, explaining the key moments of life through fictional worlds and heroes. For the film, some scenes were changed because it was necessary to show the characters in a different way, less theatrical. At the same time, the filmmakers tried to preserve the style, irony and humor of the original.
The musical is divided into two parts. The first is a classic fairy tale, and although the stories seem to start the old way, the characters, their positions and the finals of the plots are rewritten in a modern way. The second part is what is usually left behind. Hollywood never showed what happens after the phrase "long and happy." Here, the creators gave it maximum meaning and paid due attention.
For the most part, the cast asked for the project itself, because everyone wanted to touch what no one else dared to transfer on the big screen. Meryl Streep, abandoning his principles, agreed to play the role of the Witch, which was not as unambiguous as it may seem at first glance. Johnny Depp in the small role of the Wolf, successfully departs from the image attached to him in recent years. Chris Pine mocked himself, because there is no more suitable actor in Hollywood for the role of the Charming Prince. All the others very successfully fit into the musical, proving that they can not only play, but also fool around, sing and even dance.
Cinematographer Dion Bebe did a titanic job. He was able to shoot a seamless musical, with minimal chromakey, a huge amount of natural landscapes and realistic special effects. Bebe knew very clearly that Marshall wanted him. The cameraman especially managed the most cynical episodes, which occur very unexpectedly, but he manages to remove the camera, using Hitchcock’s favorite technique that remains behind the scenes is always scarier.
“Music in the soul of a person opens those doors into which words cannot be reached,” the authors of the musical say, they are echoed by the creators of the film. Add here only that the soundtrack haunts not only the characters, but also the audience throughout the picture. You can’t remember an episode that wasn’t played musically.
Now, the most important thing is the subtitles. Disney took a very dangerous step (provided an impressive budget and drew parallels between the characters of the musical and their previous fabulous projects), dubbing the conversations of the characters, they added subtitles to all the songs performed. Due to this, the audience had the opportunity to enjoy the original voices of their favorite actors, and most importantly, to provide numerous trips to the musical. It is simply impossible for viewers to notice and see all the details and symbols scattered throughout the film. Distributors managed to leave most of the jokes and translate the lyrics as literally as possible.
“The further in the forest...” is not just a perfect fairy tale, but also a beautiful modern musical. The creators were not afraid to talk to the audience directly and not only modernized fairy tales, but also showed them as ironically, musically and not forgetting to tell about what happens after happy endings.
9 out of 10
The best thing about this story is its ambiguity. “The further into the forest” is a fascinating experiment by Rob Marshall, in which the fairy-tale characters known to us since childhood are replaced by real living people.
“People make mistakes” is a thought repeated throughout the film. His heroes are not perfect. Cinderella Ella, although serving her stepmother and sisters, cannot stand them. My mother told me to always be kind and sweet. But what is it about if everyone is blind to kindness? she sings in her first appearance. The usual image of Cinderella is based on its purity, kindness and submission to fate. Marshall Cinderella is a woman with her own shortcomings, and her communication with birds looks almost like a witch’s skill.
Then more. The Prince Charming receives his bride, but is surprised to realize that despite his immense love, he is still interested in other women. “I am Prince Charming, not Truthful,” he tells Cinderella in his defense. And all heroes are. Despite the great work they do in the final, they don’t become heroes. These are just people on whose head a fairy tale has fallen.
It is clear that the director was looking for a fresh look at fairy tales. However, when an amazing character is removed from the story - for example, honest and against all odds good Cinderella, the story itself ceases to exist. More precisely, it ceases to be a fairy tale.
In general, in my opinion, in the "Forest" very much diverge the idea and means of expression. Simple songs, unrealistic costumes that outline the wolf nature of Johnny Depp, for example, are great for a children's audience. They certainly won’t be bothered with such little things. But the main idea (one of them) remains the truth that people make mistakes, and this is not scary. In this way, both adultery (oh, this is one kiss!) and even murder are justified. This is more of an adult topic.
The story remains untold, with a happy ending and a strange moral justification. On the other hand, it cannot be said that the heroes did not think about some immorality of their actions.
My bottom line, my impression, is not a fairy tale of beautiful princes, fairies and magic, it's a story Baker tells his son. And this ringing has its own special charm.
