So we discussed through email our thoughts on the film.
Hansel and Gretel would be 13 and 11 respectively as given in the question. The movie would focus on their relationship, especially the care-taking nature of Hansel, like Keene demonstrated in The Juniper Tree. The setting would remain an unspecified location with a very medieval looking forest.
Erin brought up the idea of showing sympathy for the parents. We would want to see the parents grapple with the task of trying to feed the family and failing, and we would not want the decision to leave them in the forest be a premeditated one, just like the stepmother in the Juniper Tree and the way she didn't intentionally lead the boy out on to the fjord or whatever to kill him. She got caught up in the moment and caused him to jump (temporary insanity?) but she never intended initially to cause his death. We would like to see a scene where one or both parents leads the kids into the woods, and the children fall asleep. The parent might see them sleeping so peacefully and decides then and there that death would be better than having to live a horrific life of famine, and perhaps blinded by fear and anguish, runs off and leaves them to die in the woods. More realistic, but no less heartbreaking. This would demonstrate the reality of the famines at the time. Sometimes parents felt they had no choice.
We also discussed the idea of the witch not being as "witchy" as the stepmother. To show the bias of the time toward stepmothers. Also it would create an interesting dynamic between the children and the mother that was present in The Juniper Tree.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Hansel and Gretel Thoughts
Since Keene's version of "The Juniper Tree" obviously did not follow the fairy tale "The Juniper Tree" I think that we should include the following scenes:
- Mother and father falling on hard times (scene should be really dry and empty) struggling with putting food on the table - it would be interesting to add a twist by maybe having Hansel and Gretel be greedy at dinnertime by asking for more bread, etc even to the point of taking the parents' food...
- Mother, father, Hansel, Gretel going into the woods, children falling asleep (like Erin said), and parents leaving them
- Instead of having them go back to their house using the pebbles, i think it would be interesting to keep portraying Hansel and Gretel as greedy and have Hansel start dropping breadcrumbs but have him end up eating most of the bread because he is hungry. (this portrays Hansel as selfish - i agree with Nikki that it would be cool to have Hansel be a villain as well as the witch)
- I think Keene would spend less time on the "witch" portion of the story. Maybe we can have the witch struggling for food (because of the famine or whatnot) which puts less blame on her, just like in "The Juniper Tree" where the blame is less on the stepmom and more on Johannes.
These are my suggestions!
- Mother and father falling on hard times (scene should be really dry and empty) struggling with putting food on the table - it would be interesting to add a twist by maybe having Hansel and Gretel be greedy at dinnertime by asking for more bread, etc even to the point of taking the parents' food...
- Mother, father, Hansel, Gretel going into the woods, children falling asleep (like Erin said), and parents leaving them
- Instead of having them go back to their house using the pebbles, i think it would be interesting to keep portraying Hansel and Gretel as greedy and have Hansel start dropping breadcrumbs but have him end up eating most of the bread because he is hungry. (this portrays Hansel as selfish - i agree with Nikki that it would be cool to have Hansel be a villain as well as the witch)
- I think Keene would spend less time on the "witch" portion of the story. Maybe we can have the witch struggling for food (because of the famine or whatnot) which puts less blame on her, just like in "The Juniper Tree" where the blame is less on the stepmom and more on Johannes.
These are my suggestions!
H&G Collaborative
I would like to begin by thinking that Keene would portray the witch as a normal woman, who is not necessarily evil, as he does in The Juniper Tree. I feel Hansel and Gretel's mother herself would be the more "witchy" of the two. As for time and place, I feel that once again it would be very undefined. Although we would hear of the famine, there would be no other characters around, and no trace of other humanity except for those who are the main part of the story. The landscape would be bare, and desolate looking. Additionally, based on what we have seen of Keene, Hansel and Gretel may be portrayed as the villian as well as the innocent, depending on the portion of the movie taking place.
Assignment 2- 20.Jan 2009
Hi Nikki, Erin, Benton, Michelle, Tiffany and Emily,
Below is a copy of the Assignment that was discussed in class today.
The first thing about this assignment that differentiates it from last week's, is the fact that it is going to be TEAMWORK!
Given that you have watched ,,The Juniper Tree'' and attended today's discussion of what this movie portrays, try to, as a group, come up with what Keene's version of ,,Hansel and Gretel", would be. In what sort of a world could this story have been written?
We could assume that the kids are 11 and 13 and the witch is ,,a lone woman'' who lives in a hut in the forest.
Looking forward to all your version of ,,Hansel and Gretel"!
Ann
Below is a copy of the Assignment that was discussed in class today.
The first thing about this assignment that differentiates it from last week's, is the fact that it is going to be TEAMWORK!
Given that you have watched ,,The Juniper Tree'' and attended today's discussion of what this movie portrays, try to, as a group, come up with what Keene's version of ,,Hansel and Gretel", would be. In what sort of a world could this story have been written?
We could assume that the kids are 11 and 13 and the witch is ,,a lone woman'' who lives in a hut in the forest.
Looking forward to all your version of ,,Hansel and Gretel"!
Ann
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