Guest Review (Theater): ‘The Woodsman’

Note from The Fairy Tale News Room: This review has been a long time in coming (all due to a kaffufle in our fairy tale newsroom, for which we apologize). HUGE thanks to razorfriend for this intriguing overview and insight into a play we've been ultra-curious about for some time.

We're including a trailer to give you a quick overview before we get into the wonderfully detailed article below:

'The Woodsman' (Broadway HD)

Review by razorfriend

‘The Woodsman’ played a few runs in New York City in recent years before ultimately closing in May 2016. Online streaming service BroadwayHD is now offering a video recording of the play as part of its catalogue; this review is of the recorded performance.

(Warning: This review is rather spoiler-heavy, as I’m assuming many readers of this review will already be familiar with the story told.)

Anyone who’s read ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ will be familiar with the tragic backstory of the Tin Woodman character: human woodcutter Nick Chopper falls in love with the beautiful Nimmee, slave of the Wicked Witch of the East. In order to destroy Nimmee’s chance for a different life, the Witch curses Nick’s axe so that it repeatedly turns against him as he chops wood, progressively amputating various parts of his body. Nick gets replacement body parts made of tin and carries on, but as time goes by he gradually gets Robocopped to such an extent that eventually every part of him has been replaced by tin. He thereby loses his heart, and with it loses the last vestiges of his humanity… or does he? (This story is primarily covered in the first ‘Oz’ book, but ‘Oz’ series fans will notice that the show has incorporated a retcon that Baum added to the story later on.)

‘The Woodsman’ play uses largely low-tech theatrical techniques, such as puppetry and live sound effects, to tell and expand this tale. The talented young cast, crew and musician (violinist Naomi Florin) work seamlessly together in animating multi-operator puppets, generating other visual effects with props, and creating an ongoing soundscape through music, clapping, whistling, vocalising and singing. Particularly impressive is the ‘Tin Man’ puppet itself, which requires close coordination between the actor playing the human Nick (James Ortiz) and the puppeteers helping to operate his gradually accumulating tin parts, so that actor and puppet parts appear to be part of a single being. It’s chilling to watch Nick become increasingly more encumbered by artificial prosthetics, and gradually surrounded by puppeteer ‘handlers’ required to help animate him like one of the lifeless puppets seen elsewhere in the show. The other puppets are also a joy to watch; it’s fascinating to see the theatrical magic of an immobile puppet face seemingly take on a new expression due to the tilting of the puppet’s head or the accompanying sound effects.

The show includes a short spoken prologue which I don’t believe, given my middling knowledge of the Oz mythos, was taken from Baum. It describes the oppressiveness of the Wicked Witch of the East’s rule, and how her pervasive magically-enhanced spying techniques made the people so afraid of being caught speaking perceived or actual dissent that “words became dangerous”. Therefore, from the prologue onwards, the story is conveyed with very minimal spoken dialogue. Although the idea of an oppressive ruler literally causing the elimination of speech is interesting, and perhaps worthy of a fairy tale or two in its own right (does anybody know of such a tale that already exists?), thankfully ‘The Woodsman’ doesn’t try to shoehorn in too much heavy-handed political commentary. The absence of speech is instead largely a source of creativity and humour as the characters find ways to communicate through vocalisations, gestures and (mostly) wordless singing. (The use of humour in the show is a relief in general; much as I love this tragic tale, the telling of it could easily have become maudlin.) The show is particularly good at convincing us of the budding romance between Nick and Nimmee (Eliza Martin Simpson), despite their initial awkwardness with one another being exacerbated by the absence of speech. The capable way in which the characters dealt with being voiceless was heartening to see, but also tied in well with Nick’s later obstinate stoicism as he was gradually robbed of other capabilities. Additionally, the minimal dialogue would, I imagine, make this show easy to understand for non-English speakers. It’s also interesting to imagine that this telling of the Wicked Witch of the East’s rule is continuous with the classic ‘Wizard of Oz’ movie; if so, then the words spoken by Glinda and the Munchkins to Dorothy near the start of that film are virtually the first words spoken in the land for years and years. No wonder they all start singing.

In addition to the speechlessness conceit, this adaptation also adds an interesting, canon-compatible character arc for Nimmee over the course of the show, when she might have been little more than a narrative pretext for our male protagonist’s tragic transformation. There are also another nice one or two thematic ideas and payoffs that I won’t spoil here.

(That said, be warned: detailed ending spoilers in this paragraph!) Funnily enough, my two main criticisms of the show relate to aspects which I wish had been less faithful to Baum. There are a few directions in which the show could have gone in relation to Nick’s final tragic loss of his torso, and with it his heart. The loss of his heart could have worked an actual transformation on his character; perhaps he could have become genuinely cruel or indifferent to Nimmee as a result of it. Or, his transformation could have been self-inflicted; he could mistakenly believe that after being completely transformed into tin, he was no longer capable of real human emotions, and so would leave Nimmee because he believed he could no longer ‘truly’ love her, not because he didn’t still feel love for her. Or perhaps the show could have played up the ambiguity of just how much of the man was left. The show goes with the second option, clearly showing that Nick still feels strong emotions after his transformation is complete. That take on the story is valid; but I felt that there could have been more build-up to Nick’s self-perception of his loss of humanity. One way of achieving this would have been for Nick to show some more disgust at his mutilated body and prosthetic tin limbs while he was still in the process of transforming, to help convince the audience that he would later believe that being made entirely of tin made him a monster. The vibe I got from his experience of being part-tin was more one of initial physical pain and struggle to use the new parts, as well as some pleasure and relief when he was able to get them working properly. His devastation when he became completely tin therefore seemed a bit abrupt. Yes, it’s only the loss of his heart specifically which really causes Nick problems in Baum’s book, and the show does do its best to establish the importance of hearts throughout, without the benefit of many spoken words with which to do so; but I still would have liked a little more clarity around this crucial plot point.

I also didn’t like that Nick seemed to have a sense of foreboding each time the axe’s curse got activated and it got ready to mutilate. Again, Baum did set the precedent here by implying that Nick becomes aware of the Witch’s scheme, and just doesn’t realise that she’ll take it as far as she does. But I would rather that the play had made a judicious revision regarding this point. Watching it play out, I couldn’t help but think, “If you have the slightest inkling that your axe might be possessed by an evil spirit, switch axes, dude!”

But criticisms aside, for the most part I thought this adaptation had a lot of heart (sorry), combined with technical virtuosity and creativity. It was very satisfying to see my favourite part of the Oz mythos get a theatrical adaptation from talented people who clearly love the material themselves.

Note about accessing the show online:
BroadwayHD is a bit like mini-Netflix for theatre lovers; it offers yearly and monthly subscriptions for access to its collection of streaming recorded plays, musicals and related content. It also offers one-off ‘tickets’ to stream individual shows for a limited period of time. Some of its content (including ‘The Woodsman’) is exclusive to BroadwayHD, and some not. Some shows and purchase options are not available in certain parts of the world; I imagine that all BroadwayHD options are available to users within the United States. Being located outside of the United States myself, I’m not able to purchase a blanket subscription for the entire catalogue, but was able to buy access to stream ‘The Woodsman’ specifically for two days for USD $7.99. I found the stream to be of reasonable quality, but did have to adjust my browser plugin settings to get it to work. If you’re interested in trying the service, I would recommend first looking at advice online (and not just on BroadwayHD’s website) regarding whether your device and settings will work, and also giving yourself a little time between your purchase and your ‘screening’ to troubleshoot any issues.

Online access
Show website: http://www.thewoodsmanplay.com/
Link to watch the show on BroadwayHD: https://www.broadwayhd.com/index.php/shows/watch/the_woodsman
Show score recording on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/10wdiKeCkxRsofOA6ncZs6
Show length: Approximately 75 minutes
Main credits
Originally produced and developed by Strangemen & Co Theatre Company
Creator and co-director (among other roles): James Ortiz
Co-director: Claire Karpen
Composer: Edward W Hardy
Lyricist: Jen Loring

Many thanks to razorfriend for an inspiring and thought-provoking review! 

Note: If you would like to write a review for any show, movie, book or other fairy tale related event or release, please contact Once Upon A Blog via the Fairy Tale News Room email. Reviews should be fairy tale and/or folklore related as per the focus of this blog. We are particularly interested in fairy tale performance reviews (theater, dance, puppetry, gallery events etc) from all over the world. While we cannot guarantee all reviews will be posted, we will consider every request.

Guest Post: 'Five Fairy Tale Films & Their Forgotten Beginnings' by Diamond Grant

Every year we find ourselves watching feature films based on classic tales throughout the seasons, some of which relate better to winter, others more fitting for summer. It's inevitable we'll discover new fairy tale films as part of our culture.

By the time most people hear about fairy tales, they've been turned into huge cinematic films, but we often forget their humble beginnings. Some of the most popular and loved films that have made their way into most families’ favorite collections all started as lesser-known fairy tales.

Some stories were adapted or loosely based upon original tales and characters from writings, while others stayed truer to the story that not. It's worth paying homage to where these beloved films originated, and to possibly learn some lesser known facts of how they made it to the big screen.

Let's start with one you probably know well, both as film and tale. Will we still be able to surprise true fairy tale fans here with some forgotten facts? Let's find out!

The Little Mermaid

Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' development art

We're all familiar with the feature Disney film The Little Mermaid. Not so many know it started out as a lengthy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen. A master storyteller, Andersen's stories are the source for many of the household fairy tale films we've all come to adore today. The film stays true to the written story in many of the main parts; however, there are some differences between the tale and movie that are startling.

The comedic characters Sebastian, Scuttle and Flounder, while great additions to the film, do not appear in the original, although the little mermaid is described as being so friendly with the fish of the sea that they would eat out of her hand, much like stereotypical land princesses who are friendly with forest creatures. Less well known is that in Andersen's tale the little mermaid ultimately discovers she needs a soul (apparently merpeople aren't gifted with them) so she can avoid a foamy death after living for 300 years in the sea. To win the love of a human is the only way she's able to gain an immortal soul. In the film, she spots Eric, whom she falls for after seeing him for the first time but there's no complication of needing a soul. She'd be happy just to have legs - and Eric, of course. Ursula, who tempts Ariel with this possibility, is portrayed in the film as a witch who has her own agenda and actively wants to make life difficult for the mermaid. In the fairy tale the sea witch is the conduit of fate.

Disney's 'The Little Mermaid', Triton's Kingdom development art

Aladdin

Disney's 'Aladdin' development art

This well-known film and character originate from a lesser-known book of tales entitled One Thousand and One Nights, later referred to as Arabian Nights. Oddly, the story of Aladdin only appeared in the editions after the first European translation was made by Antoine Galland between 1704 and 1717, which has led some to believe he created the character and his story.

In the original works, a woman named Shahrazhad (or Scheherazade) used her wits and creativity to delay her inevitable execution as she told the tale of Aladdin, and many others, to King Shahriyar. Each night, she told him part of the story, and because he wanted to hear more, he kept her alive.

The Disney film uses character traits and ideas from popular movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Thief of Baghdad, for their version and, reinforcing these tropes is set in Arabia, while the original was set in China. Whether or not Aladdin was Chinese remains a mystery!

Disney's 'Aladdin' development art

Chicken Little

Disney's Chicken Little (2005) concept art

In the original tale of Henny Penny, the main character, more commonly known in the US as Chicken Little, expresses and justifies her fears. The most popular Disney adaptation of Chicken Little is a science-fiction sequel that came out in 2005. Foxy Loxy becomes a bully instead of a rival and both Chicken Little and Foxy Loxy switched genders. Chicken Little is now a little boy and Foxy Loxy is a girl.

Not many know that before this quirky CG retelling, that there was a 1943 Disney adaptation which was manufactured at the request of the United States government to disgrace, and discourage Nazism and what it stood for.

(If you weren't aware of this before it will make watching Chicken Little again quite a different experience, won't it?)

The Princess and the Frog

Disney's 'The Princess and the Frog' development art

The Princess and the Frog was derived from the book The Frog Princess, a middle school novel written by E.D. Baker, who used ideas from the original Frog King (better known as The Frog Prince) fairy tale. The film caught the attention of many because it was the first Disney movie to include a black princess.

The moral of the story differs between tale and film. The fairy tale can be seen to suggest that you can get what you want in life even if you don't deserve it. The movie altered this to be a more suitable and uplifting for todays viewers, showing you can get what you want if you work for it.

The prince transformation differs greatly too. In the tale, the frog is thrown violently at a wall, which releases him from his enchantment, whereas in the movie, the frog turns into a prince when he is kissed. A nice little nod is given to this story's origins in the form of a fairy tale book that's read aloud in the film, retelling a more modern and familiar version where the frog must be kissed - giving the frog his reason for seeking a princess in the first place.

Disney's 'The Princess and the Frog' development art

Frozen

Disney's 'Frozen' character development and design

Now a part of mainstream Western culture, the film Frozen is a family favorite. But where did it really come from? Most fans know by now that Frozen originates from the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Snow Queen. What's less well known is that The Snow Queen is a segmented story, with seven unique 'episodes', each illustrating problems and solutions the heroine must face on her journey to save her friend. Differing from the movie, the tales' main characters are Gerda and Kay, who are like brother and sister though not blood-related.

It's also worth mentioning that in the original material, there are no trolls. The only similarity is the goblin (also described as the devil) who created the evil mirror that shatters, a sliver of which pierces Kay's eye and freezes his mind and heart. In an interesting parallel between movie and tale, in the fourth section of The Snow Queen, Gerda is told a story of marriage by a raven, about a princess who was fixated on getting hitched. In the film, Anna is very keen to marry Hans, so it's possible to see similarities in morals and lessons of the two versions.

Disney's 'Frozen' development art

Watch or Read?

Has dipping into the details on these classics given you a thirst for binge-watching these films? You can watch them on Netflix or use a U.S. connection if you're outside the country and desperately want access. Keep an eye out for the similarities and differences mentioned in this article; you can see where Hollywood has been creative or strayed from the original works and decide whether you like it or not.

It's also great fun reading the tales to see just how differently you interpret the stories. What your mind creates from the creativity of words will be different to what you see on screen. It also gives you an insight of how film manufacturers would have gone about deciding what to put in their movies and how to take the most entertaining and essential parts out to animate them.

Have knowledge on some differences between original works in fairy tales and movies? Or some cool information on where fairy tales were born? Leave a comment below.

Diamond Grant is a fairy tale enthusiast who enjoys reading original works and watching feature films. She also likes uncovering differences between versions of fairy tales, opening up a discussion as to which are more entertaining.

Thank you for being our guest writer today Diamond!

Would you like to write a fairy tale focused guest post for Once Upon A Blog? We'd love to hear from you!

Contact us at fairytalenews AT gmail DOT com. 

While we cannot always guarantee being able to post your writing, and usually schedule our posts well in advance, we are open to ideas and, depending on available time, are happy to work with you.

Baba Yaga's Guide To Feminism by Anne Thériault

Baba Yaga Flying (close-up) by Marylin Fill 

Reprinted with very kind permission of Anne Thériault, today we get a different, somewhat cheeky perspective from our favorite crone - artisanal spices and gristle included. Enjoy!

Note: Some strong language

Today we asked Baba Yaga—celebrated and infamous Russian witch—to share some of her wisdom and enduring tips on feminism. Here's the advice she had for all the young, struggling feminists out there:

1. Subvert traditional gender roles by taking a common kitchen implement and using it for your nefarious feminist activities. For example, fly around in a mortar and wield the pestle as your weapon. WHO'S MAKING ARTISANAL SPICE BLENDS NOW, EH?

The answer? Not you. Because you're too busy oppressing men to even think about setting foot in the kitchen.

2. Build a hut that stands on chicken legs. Not only will this be useful for getting you from place to place, but the legs will also be a deep metaphor for the lens through which society views women's bodies. Is the term “chicken legs” not synonymous with scrawniness? And yet are women not encouraged to be as slender as possible? It is this type of contradiction that highlights the absurdity of the expectations placed on women.

Your Chicken Leg Hut Performance Art will explore the idea that women can never win when it comes to their appearance; in a culture of pervasive misogyny, there will always be something “wrong” with how a woman looks. It will also ask its viewers to examine their own internal biases with regards to the objectification of women. Divorced of their context, are the chicken legs simply things? Or are they body parts deserving of love and respect? Remember that there are no right answers to these questions.

Plus you will be running around like the fucking boss of the forest in your hut on legs.

3. Free women from the shackles of domesticity by abducting their children. You can then indoctrinate these children in the ways of feminism and/or use them as free labour. Or just eat them. Whatever. It's hard to find good sources of protein deep in the Siberian forest.

4. Reject the male gaze by being an ugly old crone with long greasy hair and a hooked nose. Try dressing yourself exclusively in filthy rags, or, if those aren't available, maybe just wrap a huge bed sheet toga-style around your body. What's most important is that you're comfortable and can move your arms easily to cast wicked spells. Dress for you and your needs, not for anyone else.

Get yourself a set of iron teeth because why the fuck not, those are super metal. Like, literally metal.
Remind yourself that you don't exist to please men – you exist to be a terrifying witch who does whatever she wants.

5. Assert your independence by living deep in the woods, far away from any towns or villages. Prove that women can be self-reliant by going completely off the grid; make sure your only contact with other humans is when you want to fuck shit up and/or function as a sort of deus-ex-machina to help out some fairy tale hero. Use locally-sourced building materials—for example, the bones of your enemies can be constructed into a functional yet chic fence. 

6. Promote healthy consent by asking visitors to your hut if they came of their own free will. (Or were sent by someone else.) It's important for your students/admirers/victims to understand that they have bodily autonomy and don't have to wander around the woods looking for weird witchy huts if they don't want to. Have some diagrams and source materials ready, just in case you need to get more in-depth on the topic of enthusiastic consent.

Afterwards, you can show your visitors your cool collection of glowing-eyed skulls. After all, you don't get many strangers coming to your hut; you may as well use their time in your hut to your fullest advantage.

7. Whenever in doubt, remember the Deer Credo: does before bros, and hags before stags.

Ms. Thériault's original post can be found HERE,
and her Twitter account, which -wonderfully - pulls no punches,
can be found HERE.
More great words can be found by
her HERE at her blog, and you can support
her HERE via her Patreon account.
Thank you Anne!

Guest Post: Modern Fairy Tale Home Decor

Intimate fairy tale style dining via iseecubed

I was recently asked by the home idea and inspiration people at Modernize if our readers would be interested in an article on home decor that was fairy tale themed and my answer was "Of course! Especially if you can bring us something out of the norm, something modern (ie. non-traditional) for design-savvy adults who love fairy tales; something that goes beyond Pre-Raphaelite motifs (as great as they are), showing you don't need glitter, frills and woodland scenes to maintain a fairy tale feel." Jane Blanchard at Modernize took up the challenge and didn't disappoint. Enjoy and be inspired!

Modern Fairy Tale Home Decor

By Jane Blanchard

Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden said, “The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.” We assume he meant bed, walls and all.

Every fairy tale needs a room. Just as the prophet Ezekiel spoke flesh onto skeletons in the Valley of Dry Bones, so an interior designer speaks second life into fairy tales from the troves of Walt Disney, Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm.

Yet too often, the run-of-the-mill fairytale room suggests that the artist’s craftsmanship long ago outstripped his knowledge of literature. It brims with Beauty and the Beast chandeliers, Sleeping Beauty canopies, that sort of thing. Lots of melodrama. Lots of pink.

Dutch design studio Ontwerpduo took the road less traveled by. Hired to colonize with furniture a room inside a gorgeous 16th century mansion, Ontwerpduo designers made 10 pieces based on different fairy tales. Themes included the secret room, the genie in a bottle, and the princess and the pea. Lighting fixtures overran the ceiling like fugitive plumping pipes. Lilies blossomed out of the carpet rug – and was that a pea underneath the six-stack bed?

Via Once Upon A Blog...Fairy Tale News

Ontwerpduo has its own Fairytale Furniture collection, which showcases a swinging birdcage seat, a warped wooden cabinet, and a handcrafted "Marbelous" maple table with grooves and channels ferrying stainless steel marbles across the surface, down the legs and along the supports. Lewis Carroll would be proud.

Via Designose

The Dutch design studio may be one of the first to homestead the next frontier of home design: modern fairytale chic. Warner Bros. Studio argues that pop culture cinema and television like ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones” will ignite an interest in adult fairytale design, a movement defined by its creativity of scale and emphasis on mood. Aspen bedposts tower over sleeping beauties; intricate glass chandeliers loom over distressed window frames. The style relies upon earthy tones, gothic elegance, rustic accents and mirror arrangements.

But the fairytale design is not new. In the 1920s, architect Hugh Comstock constructed a handful of fairytale cottages in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Now some of the most sought-after properties in Monterrey, California, the Comstock cottages sport rusticated chimneys, pointed eaves, storybook masonry and whimsical arched doorways. A modern Carmel-by-the-Sea home might cost $5,000,000.

Via Tales from Carmel

Sandra Foster devised her own DIY gingerbread house, and it didn’t cost $5,000,000. Stretched by a too-big house and long workdays, she and her husband felt like a pair of Laffy Taffy candies. So they bought a woodland cabin in the Catskill Mountains for $40,000. Foster renovated the 9x10 cabin using odds and ends purchased from antique shops, salvage stores, Craigslist, and the occasional tree trunk. Her refuge, a Victorian shabby chic cabin, cost just $3,000.

Via the New York Times

Now that’s a happy ending.

Jane Blanchard is a blogger, home design geek, and graphic designer from Savannah, GA. She also is a passionate writer for Modernize.com. 

For more home design tips and tricks, please visit Modernize.com.

Note: This article was written for Once Upon A Blog with permission to publish here, in exchange for a credit for Modernize and link to the company website only. Once Upon A Blog has no ongoing affiliation with Modernize but is happy to say they found the staff friendly, helpful and professional. They were a pleasure to work with.

What To Expect From Matteo Garrone’s "Tale of Tales" by "The Thinker's Garden" Custodian (& Film Update via FTNH)

Maxfield Parrish, "Romance," 1992

Reposted in full with kind permission by Andrew Manns, Founding Editor of a wonder-filled place on the web called The Thinker's Garden. 

Film Preview:

What to expect from Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales

Matteo Garrone, the same director who made the graphic and telling Gomorrah crime film in 2008, is now hard at work on Tale of Tales, a fantasy film based on Giambattista Basile’s Pentamerone. Production is taking place in various locations around Italy, and the cast reportedly includes A-listers John C. Reilly, Vincent Cassel, and Salma Hayek.

First published between 1634 and 1636, The Pentamerone, also known as The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones, is one of the earliest written collection of fairytales and one of the source texts for the Brothers Grimm. Its author Basile was a Neapolitan soldier, courtier, and poet who was influenced by Italian oral folktales and elements of his own adventures. New Sparta Films released a statement saying the film is a ‘fantastic journey through the Baroque era’, but what else can we expect from Garrone’s interpretation?

1. Dark Fantasy

The Bacchante, Jean-Léon Gérôme 1853. A woman transforms into a goat-creature in Basile’s tale, ‘The Goat-Face’

Giambattista Basile’s tales are full of magic and funny moments, but there are also a few stories with dark and disturbing themes; much like in Greco-Roman myths.  Sun, Moon, and Talia (an early version of Sleeping Beauty) casually depicts the sexual assault of a slumbering princess, Penta with the Chopped-off Hands details the incestuous intentions of a king, and The Myrtle  illustrates the violent murder and dismembering of a fairy princess. Garrone may not try to recreate these particularly explicit scenes, but it’s not difficult to imagine his film exploring the corruptive and decadent aspects of the human psyche within the larger background of Southern Italy in the 17th century. At the time, Naples was full of elite literati but it also had its fair share of revolts, superstitions, religious upheavals, feudalistic petty nobles, wandering bandits, and disease. Perhaps this is why Garrone revealed in a recent Variety interview that he conceives of his movie as a ‘fantasy film with horror elements’.

2. On-Location Wonders 

Interior of Castello Sammezzano

Basile’s fables often unfold in crystal tunnels, subterranean palaces, enchanted woods, or among families of ogres. Garrone’s scouting team is maintaining Basile’s aesthetic of mystique by using lesser known locations in rural Italy for the film sets. So far the cast and crew have been spotted at places such as Castello Sammezano, a peculiar estate built in the Moorish Revival style, Castel del Monte in Apulia, the spooky Bosco del Sasseto near Torre Alfina in Viterbo, and the Etruscan Necropolis and network of ruined roads in Sovana and Sorano.

3. Neapolitan Early Modern culture

Giambattista Basile

The film will be made in English, but that doesn’t mean Garrone will leave out all the Neapolitan colloquialisms and vernacular cultures which originally made Basile’s work famous in the first place. One of the most hilarious verbal exchanges takes place in the first chapter of The Pentamerone, when an old woman and young boy level insults at each other:

One day while Zoza was sitting at the window as sourly as a pickle an old woman chanced to pass by. She began to fill a jar she had brought with her, sopping up the oil with a sponge, and as she was busily going about her task a certain devil of a court page threw a stone at her with such precision that it hit the jar and broke to pieces.

The old woman, who Basile reminds the reader, ‘let no one ride on her back’ then gives the prankster a piece of her mind :

Ah you worthless thing, you dope, shithead, bed pisser, leaping goat, diaper ass, hangman’s noose, bastard mule! Just look even fleas can cough now! Go on, may paralysis seize you, may your mother get bad news, may you not live to see the first of May!…Scoundrel, beggar, son of a taxed woman, rogue!

The boy counters with:

Why don’t you shut that sewer hole, you bogeyman’s grandmother, blood-sucking witch, baby drowner, rag shitter, fart gatherer?

The old woman then responds by lifting up her skirt and revealing her ‘woodsy scene’.

Garrone may not take the obscenities that far, but his other Neapolitan films have featured  bawdy dialogue and it’s possible that he may attempt to retain some level of plain-speech and traditional Campanian humour in Tale of Tales.

If you’d like to catch up on Basile’s Pentamerone before the movie comes out in 2015, the best and most recent version is Nancy Canepa’s 2007 edition.

*******************************

Thank you Custodian!

The Thinker's Garden is full of mythical and wonderful posts! This article was originally published on August 14, 2014 by The Thinker's Garden Custodian. If you liked this, you're sure to find other articles you'll like too, so go have a visit! Click HERE.

And now a film update on Matteo Garrone's Tale of Tales

from your Fairy Tale News Hound:

The following update on Tale of Tales was posted on an Italian film website. According to a variety of foreign film and entertainment review sites, Tale of Tales is one of the most anticipated films in Europe for 2015, although it's difficult to find out much more than the following with such a closed set:

 Great expectations for Matteo Garrone that, surrounded by the greatest secrecy, has created a personal version de Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile . Tale of Tales - Tale of Tales (May 14) was filmed in English and starring international stars such as Salma Hayek , Vincent Cassel , Toby Jones , John C. Reilly , along with Italian Alba Rohrwacher .  (Auto-translated from Italian, source)

The only release information currently available is for Italy, UK and France, with May 14, 2015 set as the date for opening in theaters. There are no posters, teasers, promotional shots or trailers yet (that I am aware of). The latest update reported from movieplayer.it, discusses the visual impact (apparently "stunning") though I am, unfortunately,  unable to find any of said images online (yet!):

The first images of the much mountedTale of Tales , Tale of Tales , the new film by Matteo Garrone . " Extraordinary images - says the Director of 01 Luigi Lonigro - after seeing them we realized that we could not open our convention in a different way . " And in fact it is amazing images: you recognize some of the characters, from Vincent Cassel to Salma Hayek , Toby Jones and John C. Reilly , the setting is fabulous and baroque-inspired collection of seventeenth-century fairy tales Pentamerone The element of fantasy is pregnant, the effect is stunning.

A little more from a previous article while shooting from taking place reveals a smidge more information about what we might see:

The shooting, which will last about four months, will affect different regions of Italy, showing mysterious landscapes and still secret places, among castles, villas and gardens still unknown. 

The subject of the film is inspired by and loosely based Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile , genial Neapolitan author of the seventeenth century whose tales are universally recognized as forerunners of the whole fairytale literature of later centuries. The project, whose development has participated in the same Matteo Garrone, collaborating in the writing of the story and screenplay with Edward Albinati , Ugo Chiti and Massimo Gaudioso , is proposed as a large fresco in fantastic Baroque period, told through the stories of three kingdoms and their respective sovereigns. "I chose to approach the world of Basile for I have found in his fairy tales that mixture between reality and fantasy that has always characterized my artistic research. The stories told in The story of the stories describe a world in which are summarized opposites of life: the ordinary and the extraordinary, the magical and the everyday, the royal and the scurrilous, the terrible and the suave " says Garrone. (auto-translated from Italian, source)

It's also been described by the director as "...a fantasy set in 1600..". Here's a bit more from a what seems to be the only press given during filming, while Garrone was on set at "Castel de Monte" for Tale of Tales during July of 2014 (all pictures are from this location and this day):

Beyond the time, then, what really away The Tale of Tales from the rest of the film Garrone is a component that you can very well define the supernatural:

The element fairytale I think it's a bit 'in all my films, but this is the first time I'm telling stories related to supernatural elements, a magical tales. It is a completely new adventure.

"The King Is Dead" (scene)

An adventure that promises to be particularly spectacular, especially from the visual point of view:

I come from painting, my training is pictorial and this is a movie where the visual aspect is predominant. The tales of Basile born as a form of entertainment, lend themselves to a dramatic development, film and I hope that this film has also a component of spectacle and entertainment. In fact I am the first to be curious to see it. 

It is a film that tell three stories that intertwine, a bit 'on the structure of Gomorrah. Salma Hayek is the protagonist of a story, Vincent Cassel another and Toby Jones is the protagonist of the story that will develop in Puglia. The main casting was done in London, then there are secondary roles that involve some Italian actors and then there is the participation of Alba Rohrwacher and Massimo Ceccherini, which will play an important enough. 

There is an Italian news video HERE in which you can see a little more of the castle and "props" from that day.

What do you think? Are you excited? I am. A grownup, European-made, diversely cast, fairy tale with a large visual fantasy element? (And in English so we can see all this as the director originally conceived?) Yes please!