The movie "Into the Woods/2014" is an adaptation of a Broadway musical that brings together several fairy tale characters, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and John and the Beanstalk. All these stories intertwine around a baker, his wife, and the wicked witch.

I will begin the film's analysis with a brief explanation of these classic characters.

Classic characters are humanized, with flaws and internal conflicts

Cinderella has already been analyzed in more depth in this article. Her story brings a lesson in maturity and humility, showing how she manages to strengthen her personality amidst mistreatment, thus becoming a princess.

Little Red Riding Hood is a naive girl. She is raised in a family composed only of women (her mother and grandmother) and, because of this, has an image of the masculine as devouring and evil (the wolf) - an image passed on from generation to generation, from woman to woman. In the film, however, Little Riding Hood is not so naive. She is even very disobedient and spoiled, and is portrayed in a morethree-dimensional, with qualities and defects.

Rapunzel, the girl trapped in a tower with no doors by a witch who wanted to have her daughter all to herself, portrays the harrowing problem of the mother who encloses her daughter with the excuse of protecting her from the world. The mother's aspirations, dreams and unlived life are deposited in this new being.an early pregnancy (a fact that is in the original story and that was omitted in the movie).

John and the Beanstalk is a tale for boys that shows maturity. John is a fatherless boy, bound to a critical mother, who climbs into the sky and steals the giant's treasures. He faces his laziness through megalomania (giant) and manages to return unharmed to reality, able to earn his own living.

Hero or anti-hero?

Well, but none of these characters are the real hero of the saga. These are all subplots revolving around the Baker, who is the real hero of the film. Unlike the other characters, the Baker is nameless (just like his wife and the witch). This means that he is an impersonal figure, who is found in the collective unconscious. Which is not very good, because not having a name, we don't get a name.We connect to it in a personal way, that is, the lessons and learning it brings are not yet being fully assimilated by the collective consciousness.

Everyone expects the hero of the film to be masculine, to defeat monsters and villains, and not to be a simple baker. The human being has an impulse to search for his inner treasures.

The human being has an impulse to search for his inner treasures.

However, in order to achieve this fullness, we must not deny and forget our other side - the shadow. Our less beautiful side and our woes, which in the film are represented by the dark forest.

Excessive self-confidence covers up weaknesses and leaves us unprepared

Well, the Baker and his wife get all the objects, and all the other characters find their happy endings. But it seems that something is left behind. Unbeknownst to the characters, a bean falls to the ground, growing and bringing out the wife of the giant that John killed. This is very interesting, because in our life, when we resolve a conflict and everything seems to have an eternal happy ending, aLife is cyclical - if we don't have conflicts and challenges to resolve, we don't grow or get out of our comfort zone.

When we come out of some conflicting situation, we tend to overvalue ourselves, which is important, since this self-confidence makes us move. But to stay in this state is dangerous.

When we come out of some conflicting situation, we tend to overvalue ourselves, which is important, since this self-confidence makes us move. But to stay in this state is dangerous.

This megalomania is confronted by the giant who seeks revenge - it is revenge against human megalomania! The characters were so self-confident and ego-inflated that they forgot their own fragility.

Acknowledge failures to achieve integrity

In the second part of the film, the repressed megalomania appears in full force and the characters show their dark side. As they witness their own defects and the plot draws to a close, we can perceive the film's great lesson: there is no way to find a happy ending and become more complete and human if we don't take an honest look at ourselves, at our aspectsAs long as we don't do this, we will not be aware of what we have planted, and we will always be taken by surprise by vengeful monsters.

To continue reflecting on the theme

Learning from your mistakes

Accept your excesses and faults

Is it always the others' fault?

Cinderella is a lesson in maturity and humility