People, Into the Woods has been screened, and I, unfortunately, was not in attendance. I don’t know why they didn’t invite me. Probably because I’m a nobody, but it could be something else… You never know. This is a film I am staying as far away as I possibly can from outside reactions. Movie musicals are a tricky thing for people to review because a lot of people do not understand the form, so I just want to avoid all chatter and go in with just my thoughts and experiences.
Disney has given me a little something to tie me over to when I actually do get to see the film. They have released a new clip from the film, which you can watch below, featuring James Corden as The Baker and Emily Blunt as his Wife bickering only to be interrupted by Meryl Streep as The Witch. No singing here (unfortunately), but this is a pretty funny scene. Blunt and Corden have a very different rhythm than I am accustomed to with the Baker and his Wife, but it still works very well for me. And Streep, she is devouring scenery all over the place, and it is glorious.
I wonder what people who are unfamiliar with the show make of the marketing for Into the Woods. On the one hand, you get pretty broadly comedic stuff like this scene, but on the other hand, you get things like the very serious song “Stay With Me”. Is it confusing for people? Because I know where everything is going, these are just showing me how they are approaching it. What I love about this show, and actually all of Stephen Sondheim‘s work, is that it never boxes itself in on one genre. It can be funny. It can be serious. It can be depressing. It can be uplifting. It can be all of those things in the same scene. I think people going in expecting a light, fairy tale comedy will be disappointed, as well as people hoping for a dark and gritty take on the tales. The show blends the two tones seamlessly. I hope the movie can handle it.
Again, you are welcome to watch the new clip below:
