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
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This is an interesting discussion, but what happens after the children are left in the woods? Do they stumble upon the witch's candy house or is there a more realistic plotline, reminiscent of Keene's believable version of The Juniper Tree?
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