If I were to make the story of Hansel and Gretel into a movie using the same style that Keene used for "The Juniper Tree," I would focus the most on the real-life aspects of the story and exploit them in the film. 

First, the family dynamic should be explored further. The movie should delve into the character of the stepmother and expose her evil and selfish intentions, both toward her lack of care for her children and her manipulation of her husband. This could be done by making her a tall, slender woman with sharp features and a constant scowl.  The depiction of the father should show his love for his children, but also his weak and complying nature, perhaps represented outwardly by an shorter, average-Joe looking man. 

Second, the idea of hunger should be the main theme of the film.  We should be able to see the country-wide famine throughout the movie; through the attitude of the characters, the bleakness of the scenery, and dialogue.  The music should be somber and slow, creating a feeling of despair, driving the parents to an extreme measure. 

Finally, the witch and her house would have to contrast the representation of the family, offering safety and relief of their hunger.  She would be a sweet elderly woman, whose evilness was seen through her actions. 

Basically, the movie version would remove most of the fairytale characteristics of the story, leaving only the real-life aspects to be explored and exaggerated. 

The story of Hansel and Gretal runs rich with themes of survival, of temptation, abandonment, and finally fufillment. Because of this I would place Hansel and Gretal's age just in the beginnings of puberty, a time when one can still remember the innocence of childhood but can feel an indescribable turmoil approaching. The home setting would be very sparse and firmly grounded in reality, it is something familiar and harsh, but excepted. The house should rest right on the border of the forest, which would be depicted as a great tangled and ancient mass, a forbidden place that externalizes the children's feelings. Moreso than the thought of being abandoned, it is the the thought of being left in the forest that scares Hansel and Gretel, the fear of having to face alone what they feel inside. Even returning to an unloving house is preferable to remaining out in the forest to fend for themselves in their mindest. The witches house would be depicted as a rich cottage of plenty rather than a confectionary construct, but still slightly otherworldly in its contrast to the starving household. However, the symbol of the house would become some weird representation of the pleasure that puberty brings with it and its danger.

After looking at the world created by Nietzchka Keene for the Juniper Tree, there are a few areas of Hansel and Gretel that I would look to exploit when thinking about the 'real life' origins of the fairy tale.

First, I think the family dynamic in and of itself encapsulates a real life dilemma that a family of the time might have encountered. While there are differing versions the the fairy tale, the movie should spend enough time to set up this dilemma, it is in this time that we would become acquainted with the children as well as the synamic between the two parents. This time would allow the viewer to develop and emotional attachment to the kids while lending a sympathetic eye to the father, pinned to the corner, thinking this as his only viable option. This would make both the decision and the ensuing ditch in the forest something far more emotional than what is presented in the fairy tale. Though this prolongs the set up of the story, it stresses Hansel and Gretel's disconnect even more so than what a shorter set up allows.

As far as once Hansel and Gretel reach the witches house, I think the story needs to be more grounded in the witches intentions, focused more on the surroundings in her home. This would allow for a deeper character, escalating a certain feeling of inevitability for the witch to eat Gretel while at the same time making Hansel's situation more dire. This is the case because as we get to know the witch more, her intensions ring truer, and as they do, we begin to believe her passion to execute those intentions.

On the whole, I would look to make this a more real life situation through creating depth in the characters through more intimate sets, indicative of their character. This all works to dynamify characters with the effort of deriving relatability of the story for viewers.

Assignment: 20 January 2009

Please respond to the prompt below by tonight (Tuesday) at midnight. You should place your response in a new post, rather than using the “comment” function. Later this week, you will be able to check back and see featured entries on our main page, The Philosopher’s Stone.

Keene imagines the world that created the fairy tales we read today in The Juniper Tree. Considering this Ur-world, full of poverty, fear, ignorance, and a need for storytelling, imagine what factors would lead to a story like Hansel and Gretel.

Pretend you want to pitch a movie that shows the world that produced Hansel and Gretel. How old would the main characters be? What would your supporting cast look like? And perhaps most importantly, what sorts of problems would feed into the Hansel and Gretel story? Use the week's readings to guide your thinking; consider the themes which appear in the various fairy tales from England, France, and Germany.

sorry about the late addition, I was figuring out the blog. Anyway, this is my response the prompt below:

When looking at both critics, while they both offer stronger points than the other in various facets of what a fairy tale offers, Bettelhelm seems to offer a truer read on the function of fairy tales. He offers logical reasoning behind, first, what a fairly tale includes, and then, how the fairy tale functions. In looking at how a fairy tale functions, Bettelhelm examines the positive effects they have on children, while Darnton focuses on critically analysing the progression of the fairy tale. For Darnton, this doesn't allow him to look at the fairy tale and its actual function of today, but rather just that a fairly tale is not what it once was. Thus, Bettelhelm's approach of looking at a fairy tale as a tool for children's education lended a better understanding of what a fairy tale is.