Paddington (2014); adventure comedy family film review

Korean poster artwork for the adventure comedy family film Paddington.

Beloved Bear by Linh

One of the most loved fictional bears in children’s literature finally has his own movie. Paddington is the brainchild of author Michael Bond and the young bear began life on the pages of a children’s book series. The Paddington books inspired an animated television series and a stage musical adaptation depicting the funny misadventures of Paddington bear. With Bond’s blessing, Paddington is brought to cinematic life with an ensemble cast featuring some of Britain’s best stage and screen performers. Keep an eye out for Bond’s cameo appearance in the film as a kindly gentleman at Paddington train station.

Paddington is an origin film for Paddington bear, with most of the storylines from the first book and a few stories from later Paddington books. The film opens with a black and white short documentary created by British explorer Montgomery Clyde (Tim Downie). Clyde is amazed to learn that a species of highly intelligent bears live in the jungles of Darkest Peru and he teaches them to speak English. He introduces them to marmalade, which they immediately love. The bears featured in Clyde’s short documentary clip are Uncle Pastuzo (voice of Michael Gambon) and Aunt Lucy (voice of Imelda Staunton) and in the documentary, Clyde tells them they will be warmly welcomed if they ever visit London. Many years later, Uncle Pastuzo and Aunt Lucy are still living in Darkest Peru with fond memories of meeting Clyde and hope to visit him in London one day. They are raising their nephew (voice of Ben Whishaw), who is a curious and adventurous teenage bear. The young bear loves marmalade and helps his uncle and aunt make marmalade according to a special recipe. He is also bilingual and can speak, read and write English as well as his own bear language.

The bears’ happy life is disrupted when an earthquake destroys their home and kills Uncle Pastuzo. The young bear was able to retrieve his uncle’s red floppy hat, which he then continues to wear almost every day. Aunt Lucy decides that due to her old age, she cannot raise her nephew any longer and she will need to live at the Home For Retired Bears. She instructs her nephew to go to London and find Clyde who may help him find a home. She packs a suitcase full of jars with marmalade, ties a tag around her nephew’s neck which says “Please look after this bear. Thank you.” and hides him inside a boat bound for London.

When the young bear arrives in London, he is wide-eyed with wonder and excitement, until he discovers the warm welcome he expected was not forthcoming. At the train station, people ignore him and quickly walk past him without a word. The bear stands in front of the ‘lost and found’ office at the station until the Brown family walk past, and Mrs. Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins) turns around to converse with the bear. Mr. Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville) is immediately suspicious of the bear while his children, Judy (Madeleine Harris) is disinterested and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) is bemused. After the bear tells them his name in his bear language, Mrs. Brown suggests that he might like an English name. She names him Paddington as that is the name of the train station where they met him. The Browns take Paddington to their home to stay temporarily, where they live with their housekeeper Mrs. Bird (Julie Walters), and they offer to assist Paddington in finding Clyde. Unbeknownst to Paddington, his new life in London will soon become dangerous as Clyde’s daughter Millicent (Nicole Kidman) has some nasty plans that threaten his existence.

The cast is excellent and computer-generated images and special effects used to create Paddington works seamlessly.to blend animation with live action. Colin Firth was originally cast to voice Paddington, yet Ben Whishaw is commendable and better suited for the role with his younger voice and modulated tones. Hugh Bonneville, best known for his role as Robert Crawley in the television drama Downton Abbey, relishes the opportunity to show some comic and action skills as Mr. Henry Brown. He is brilliant as a cleaning lady in one scene and as a risk-taking rebel in an earlier scene. Oscar nominated actress Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine, X+Y) is delightful and affable as Mrs. Mary Brown whose inquisitiveness and curiosity attracted her to Paddington at the train station. Julie Walters (One Chance, Brooklyn) is always a hoot in any comic role and her portrayal as the observant and wise Mrs. Bird outshines the CGI feathered birds (Paddington’s hungry pigeons) in the film. Fans of the Doctor Who television series will be pleased to see Peter Capaldi (The Fifth Estate, World War Z) as the nosy and grumpy neighbour Mr. Curry, especially in the scenes when he appears inside or near a London telephone box, in reference to himself as The Doctor. Nicole Kidman (Lion, The Secret In Their Eyes) played a nasty character in The Golden Compass which was not well-received by most viewers, yet her portrayal of Millicent Clyde, a knife-throwing taxidermist for the Natural History Museum in this film, is vastly superior in nastiness. There was a brief sombre moment for some viewers when Kidman’s character said “My father is dead”, as some people were aware her father in real life, Dr. Anthony Kidman, died during the film’s post-production stage.

Paddington is a film which reminds us that no matter where we come from, we can always find a home elsewhere. However, the film depicts possible obstacles and other challenges that make ‘fitting in’ more difficult depending on one’s race or ethnicity. Paddington not only comes from a different country, he is also of a different species, which makes his presence in the human community very interesting and sometimes complicated.  He is the only anthropomorphic bear in London who speaks English, which makes him especially unique and finding a home for someone like Paddington requires open-mindedness, kindness and patience. Although he is a bear, Paddington contributes to the community and to the Brown family through cultural means of food and language, such as sharing his special marmalade recipe and teaching them his bear language.

There are underlying themes of immigration, social inclusion and acceptance which are depicted implicitly through Paddington’s misadventures and his interactions with other characters in the film. For example, Mr. Gruber (Jim Broadbent), who owns the antique store, has a strong German-Jewish accent and represents immigrants who may have escaped war-torn countries to find a home in London. Through hard-work and perseverance, Mr. Gruber has settled comfortably in London to become a familiar and friendly face in the community. Paddington’s arrival in London would be deemed by some as “illegal” as he arrived by boat without any legal identity papers. The community’s acceptance of Paddington is a result of his misadventures, so he is liked for his considerate, polite and generous nature.

Paddington is a highly enjoyable and entertaining film that will entice viewers to read or re-read the Paddington books and is a great introduction of Paddington bear for the uninitiated. Director Paul King succeeds in bringing the warmth and humour of Paddington bear from the books to the film. The fantasy scenes from Paddington’s imagination and his misadventures in the bathroom, in the kitchen and chasing the wallet thief are highlights of the film. For fans of Paddington, there are many more stories from the Paddington books that would make sufficient and superb material for another Paddington film.

Director: Paul King

Writers: Michael Bond (books), Paul King (screenplay), Hamish McColl (screenplay)

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Tim Downie, Ben Whishaw (voice), Michael Gambon (voice), Imelda Staunton (voice), Matt Lucas, Madeleine Worrall, Theresa Watson, Geoffrey Palmer, Lottie Steer, Michael Bond

Producers: David Heyman, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Rosie Alison, Alexandra Ferguson, Ben Irving, Jeffrey Clifford, Ron Halpern, Manohar Tahilramani, Oliver Courson

Cinematographer: Erik Wilson

Original Music Composer: Nick Urata

Film Editor: Mark Everson

Production: Gary Williamson (production design), Cathy Cosgrove (set design)

Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Running Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Into The Woods (2014); musical fantasy film review

French poster artwork for the musical fantasy film Into The Woods.

Musical Morals by Linh

Into The Woods from Walt Disney Studios is a film adaptation of the stage musical and is fairly faithful to its original source. The film underwent numerous changes to comply with Disney’s family-friendly policy, yet the alterations make very little difference to the overall tone, structure and narrative of the characterisations, story or plot. Most fans of the stage musical may be forgiving and appreciate that the changes were made for cinematic and creative reasons with most of the material faithfully adapted to the screen. The stage musical’s playwright and librettist James Lapine wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation so the core elements of Into The Woods are retained.

The film is a mix of several fairy tales that include Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood, where the main characters of the different fairy tales meet and interact with each other in the dark and foreboding woods. The film’s narrative is a bit complex as plenty of action takes place almost simultaneously between different characters while in different parts of the woods, with the plot of the different fairy tales interwoven and cleverly blended with songs and music. There are plot twists where many of the fairy tale characters do not end up living "happily ever after". As a way to make it easier for audiences to follow the story, a narrator intermittently guides the viewer throughout the film. The voice-over narrator is the Baker in the film, whereas the stage musical had a male narrator, whom the other characters sacrifice to the Giant instead of sacrificing Jack. This alteration may be due to Disney Studios reducing the number of deaths in the film as well as giving the Baker a way to foreshadow the events. 

The film depicts most of the morals, ethics and values from the fairy tales yet these life lessons are often over-shadowed by the cinematic aesthetics of the film such as the scenery or the costumes and props. The music and lyrics of the songs assist in depicting the characters’ moral dilemmas as some characters reflect on their decisions or actions. Most importantly, Into The Woods depicts the consequences of the characters’ decisions and actions in the second act, and some of the characters receive their comeuppance (often death) as punishment. Besides moral and ethical issues and consequences, the film also attracts discussions such as Freudian symbols and feminist commentary.

The film begins with the Baker’s voiceover narration providing the exposition with the word’s “Once upon a time…” as the characters voice their wishes in song, which acts as the film’s introduction to the characters and their situations. Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) wishes to attend the King’s festival, Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) wishes his cow named Milky-White (Tug) would give milk, Jack’s mother (Tracey Ullman) wishes for wealth and a better standard of living, Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) wishes for bread and biscuits to give to her grandma (Annette Crosbie), and the Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) wish for a child. 

As Jack’s mother sends him off to market to sell Milky-White, Cinderella is scrambling about as fast as she could to get her step-sisters Florinda (Tammy Blanchard) and Lucinda (Lucy Punch) ready for the King’s festival while they and her step-mother (Christine Baranski) tease her about wanting to also attend the festival. Meanwhile, Red Riding Hood is at the bakery getting some bread for her grandma and she steals some biscuits. The Baker catches her stealing but his wife lets Red Riding Hood have them for free and even gives Red Riding Hood more biscuits and sweets. 

After Red Riding Hood leaves, the Baker’s neighbour, who is an ugly old woman called The Witch (Meryl Streep), enters the bakery in a sudden blast of wind. The Witch explains that she has placed a curse on the Baker’s lineage so he will never have children due to his father’s (Simon Russell Beale) theft of her magic beans. When the witch’s mother discovered the beans missing, she placed a curse on her daughter, turning her into an ugly and old woman. The Witch also said she took the Baker’s father’s newborn baby girl, whom is later revealed to be Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy). 

The Witch needs the Baker and his wife to enter the woods and bring her four ingredients for a magic potion to reverse her curse, and in return she will lift the curse she placed on the Baker so he and his wife can have a child. The four ingredients are a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and the slipper as pure as gold. The Baker and his wife need to have all four ingredients before midnight in three days when there will be a blue moon. The Baker insists on going alone despite his wife’s plea that they go together. The Baker discovers several beans in his father’s old jacket and does not realise they are the stolen magic beans from The Witch’s garden.

  

All the characters enter the woods; The Baker goes in search for the four ingredients and his wife joins him sometime later, Red Riding Hood goes to visit her grandma, Jack takes Milky-White to sell at the market, Cinderella goes to her mother’s grave for guidance while her step-mother and step-sisters go to the festival. From this point, each of the characters not only go into the woods but they also enter the plots of their original fairy tale. All the four ingredients needed to reverse The Witch’s curse form the link that brings together all the characters as they deal with the moral consequences of their actions. The magic beans appear to be the catalyst that sparked the vengeful actions of The Witch in response to the Baker’s father’s theft. 

The stellar cast sing competently throughout the film conveying humour, sadness or jubilance and the performances are wonderful without being excessively melodramatic. Meryl Streep portrays a witch for the first time in her film career and excels in the role as her character displays different forms of nastiness to the Baker’s father and to Rapunzel. The Witch exacts revenge on the Baker’s father and then takes away his newborn daughter, thus breaking up a family and denying the girl of a father or a male role model. The Witch also appears to be nurturing and caring towards Rapunzel, yet she is emotionally abusing Rapunzel in being overprotective and controlling by isolating the girl from all outside contacts such as the prince, her community and other social circles. Abusers assert their dominance over other people by cutting off all support networks to make people vulnerable and reliant on them.

Anna Kendrick portrays Cinderella with gentle and whimsical expressions of kindness and consideration, that makes her the most respectable and admirable character, who is also the most morally strong and virtuous. Cinderella’s step-mother and step-sisters often tease and physically abuse her yet Cinderella remains kind and thoughtful instead of being vengeful. Cinderella is the character that would infuriate feminists the least due to her decision of waiting to be ‘found’ not ‘rescued’ by a prince. This puts Cinderella in control as she makes the prince come to her and remains hopeful and optimistic that he will be worth the wait. Furthermore, Cinderella is only interested in love and not the prince's wealth or status, and similarly, her prince still loves her when he 'finds' her wearing a peasant dress with a bit of dirt on her face.

Emily Blunt performs and sings beautifully as the Baker’s Wife and her seven-month baby bump is well disguised under her costume. Blunt’s character is defined by her name and role, and being a baker’s wife without a proverbial ‘bun in the oven’ makes her unhappy. This character will enrage some feminists who claim a woman should not be defined by her ovaries or fertility. However, the Baker’s Wife commits adultery and the consequences may seem accidental but she died feeling regret and guilt for succumbing to temptation. This aspect will annoy feminists as the married woman who commits adultery will be punished yet the married man, in this case Cinderella’s Prince, who does the same will escape any consequences.

Although the film is a combination of different fairy tales, the themes are often the same and the characters find themselves in similar situations and making the same decisions or taking the same actions. Theft is a common immoral act in the film, with the Baker’s father stealing The Witch’s magic beans, Red Riding Hood steals some of the Baker’s bread and biscuits, the Baker’s Wife steals Rapunzel’s hair and Jack steals numerous objects from the Giant, including golden coins, a hen that lays golden eggs and a golden harp. The consequences for the actions of each of the characters vary and the reasons for stealing may not justify the actions, particularly as the characters appeared to be acting on greed rather than need at the time they committed theft.

Murder is also committed by some of the characters including the Baker who murders the Wolf to save Red Riding Hood and her grandma, Jack murders the Giant by chopping down the beanstalk, and the Steward of Cinderella’s prince kills Jack’s mother by violently shoving her to the ground where she hits her head on a log and dies. In the film adaptation, the murder scenes are toned down yet in the stage version, the violence is quite extreme. None of the characters seem to be accepting responsibility for the murders they committed, and there is a sense that their actions were justified. For example, the Baker needed to kill the Wolf so he can get Red Riding Hood’s red cape which is one of the four ingredients, Jack needed to kill the Giant to prevent total destruction of his village and further deaths, and the Steward needed to silence Jack’s hysterical mother so her ravings won’t lure the Giant’s wife towards them.

Revenge is another moral issue where often it is not justified and is seen as self-serving in the film. The Witch’s mother placed a curse on her for failing to protect the magic beans and The Witch in turn placed a curse on the Baker’s father. The Giant’s wife came down from the second beanstalk to seek revenge for her dead husband. The fairy tales implicitly show that revenge of any form or for any reason is not often justified as it is not a way to seek justice but will only cause more harm and hurt to others.

In regards to Freudian symbols, all the four ingredients needed to create the potion to reverse the curse on The Witch and the Baker are feminine symbols which may not represent the act of intercourse but are related to sexuality. The ingredients are needed to enable the Baker’s Wife to have a child and for The Witch to regain her youth and beauty. In the Freudian notion, these aspects (fertility, youth and beauty) are often linked to desires and images of femininity and womanhood. The red colour of the cape is supposed to represent menstrual blood. The cow as white as milk is a female animal that provides natural nourishment for its offspring, in a similar way a woman provides breast milk for her baby. The hair as yellow as corn is a Westernised symbol of youth and beauty in women who have blonde hair. The golden slipper has a contradictory symbol of authority and power or humility and servitude, perhaps as it belongs to Cinderella who challenges some conservative ideas of femininity.

Into The Woods is a beautifully filmed and scored adaptation of the stage musical and the performances are consistently entertaining. The film’s colour palette of earthy hues for many of the characters’ costumes complements the natural colours of the woods. The lighting effects are impressive as it cast shadows of darkness and moments of light within the woods to depict the characters’ uncertainty or enlightenment of their experiences. The lighting effects also portray the woods as a character providing the dual purpose of danger and delight for the human characters; perhaps as a metaphor that life is full of more than good or bad such as the huge grey area of the unknown which is yet to be explored or understood.

Into The Woods consists of fairy tales that are familiar to many children yet there are some horrible scenes kept in the film to maintain the fairy tales’ authenticity, such as Cinderella’s step-mother cutting off the elder step-sister’s toes and then cuts off her other daughter’s heel so the golden shoe can fit their feet. Blood is shown resulting from these desperate acts. Adults may be able to explain the fairy tale’s morals and values to children, albeit in vague ways due to the ambivalence of the moral and ethical decisions the characters face in the fairy tales.

Director: Rob Marshall

Writer: James Lapine (screenplay, stage musical)

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

Producers: Rob Marshall, Marc Platt, John DeLuca, Callum McDougall, Michael Zimmer, Angus More Gordon

Film Editor: Wyatt Smith

Cinematographer: Dion Beebe

Original Music Composers: Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics), David Krane (score adaptation)

Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood

Production: Dennis Gassner (production design), Anna Pinnock (set decorator), Mary Mackenzie, Ben Collins, Chris Lowe, Andrew Bennett (art direction)

Running Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes