Into the Woods (2014)

Genre

Adventure | Fantasy | Musical

Director

Rob Marshall

Country

United States | United Kingdom | Canada

Cast

Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, MacKenzie Mauzy, Billy Magnussen, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Frances de la Tour, Richard Glover, Joanna Riding, Annette Crosbie, Simon Russell Beale

Plot

The film follows the tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy)-all tied together by an original story involving a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt), their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch (Meryl Streep) who has put a curse on them.

Opinion

After many - and endless - months of waiting, the film has finally been released in Italy. It wasn't as good as I was hoping, but not even as bad as many people said it was. Into the Woods is a humorous musical, a good twist on several of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, with a delightful first half, and a gloomy ending, but not a kids film.

Having not seen the stage version, I've searched the Internet to be more familiar with it, and it turned out that many changes were made in Act II. Disney has actually cut everything important and meaningful for the show, such as the death of Rapunzel, making the character completely pointless now. Furthermore, in Act II, the narrator is almost gone.

On the other hand, the costumes, Meryl Streep's makeup and the sets are great, and the singing is good - great in some cases.

Among all the performances, which are pretty good, Meryl Streep's stands out. She is wonderful as usual, and several times she induces laughs from the audience.

Quotes

Witch: You're not good, you're not bad, you're just nice. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just right. I'm the witch. You're the world.

Cinderella's Prince: I was raised to be charming, not sincere.

Witch: Stay a child while you can be a child.

Rating

7.0/10

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Genre

Drama | Romance

Director

Rob Marshall

Country

United States

Cast

Zhang Ziyi, Suzuka Ohgo, Shizuko Hoshi, Gong Li, Samantha Futerman, Kaori Momoi, Ken Watanabe, Kōji Yakusho, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, Zoe Weizenbaum, Tsai Chin, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Cathy Shim, Kenneth Tsang, Karl Yune, Ted Levine, Paul Adelstein

Plot

In the years before World War II, a Japanese child (Suzuka Ohgo) is torn from her penniless family to work as a maid in a geisha house. Despite a treacherous rival (Li Gong) who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha Sayuri (Zhang Ziyi). Beautiful and accomplished, Sayuri captivates the most powerful men of her day, but is haunted by her secret love for the one man (Ken Watanabe) who is out of her reach.

Opinion

Memoirs of a Geisha is a stunning film, dealing with one of the most beautiful romance stories of recent times.

Director Rob Marshall not only brought to the screen a well-adapted version of Arthur Golden's book of the same name, but he managed to capture each feature of the Japanese culture, far from us yet extraordinary.

The film is a journey into the world of geishas, which are not high-level prostitutes but artists able to play, sing and dance, and that must observe rules of etiquette.

The cinematography, the colours and the music are splendid.

I was expecting an all Japanese cast, and the choice of casting three Chinese actresses - Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh and Li Gong - in the leading roles is annoying. However, the acting from the three ladies is great, although sometimes I was struggling to understand what Zhang Ziyi and Li Gong were saying. The performance by Ken Watanabe is outstanding.

Quotes

Sayuri: The heart dies a slow death. Shedding each hope like leaves, until one day there are none. No hopes. Nothing remains.

Chairman: We must not expect happiness, Sayuri. It is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it is a sudden gift; it cannot last forever...

Rating

8.5/10