Tatar says that “Hansel and Gretel” “mirror[s] the hard facts of the premodern era” (pg. 180). And so, I would want to bring those difficulties into the film to show that life for children was hard and that they could not expect their parents to take care of them until they were older. Here is the idea that I would pitch:
Hansel and Gretel are both fairly young, no younger than 6 and no older than 10. They are the two oldest children in a large peasant family who struggle daily to find their next meal and keep a roof above their heads. Since the father and mother cannot afford to feed all of the children they send Hansel and Gretel, being the most capable of the children, out into the streets to fend for themselves. Hansel and Gretel beg for food for a few days until they find a bakers shop. They steal some bread that is cooling on the windowsill and when the old baker’s wife catches them she brings them in and makes them apprentices to the baker. While the children are given plenty of food, they are unhappy because the baker and his wife are cruel to them. However, they know that they are lucky to be off of the streets and so they continue to work as hard as they can.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Stealing on the streets is a good view. Would the kids eventually overtake the business? Perhaps that would be the baking of the older woman?
ReplyDeleteSo is the baker's shop the new equivalent of the cake/bread house? Why don't they dump the baker and his wife in?
ReplyDeleteYea I was sorta thinking along the same lines are Ellie. At first, I thought that the baker's wife was going to bake them in the fire when she caught them stealing bread..but then I thought that because they were being mean to the children that they would rebel and throw the baker and his wife into the fire. and then the family can own the bakery and they become successful and the family can be reunited = happily ever after!
ReplyDelete