Gretel And Hansel Story

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel book. Read 1,605 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. A poignant and suspenseful retelling of a cl. In The Old Magic of Christmas, Linda Raedisch mentions the theory that 'Hansel and Gretel' was inspired by the Great Famine of 1315–1317.While it's impossible to point to a specific famine and say 'Yep, that's the one this story comes from! Case closed,' the Great Famine of 1315-1317 is one of the biggest and, therefore, most well-documented famines in medieval European history.

When a great famine struck Europe in 1314, mothers abandoned their children and in some cases, even ate them. Scholars believe that these tragedies gave birth to the story of Hansel and Gretel.

The notorious tale of Hansel and Gretel has been translated into 160 languages since the Brothers Grimm first published the German lore in 1812. Ball hockey usa.

Dark as it is, the story features child abandonment, attempted cannibalism, enslavement, and murder. Unfortunately, the origins of the story are equally — if not more — horrifying.

Most people are familiar with the story but for those who aren’t, it opens on a pair of children who are to be abandoned by their starving parents in the forest. The kids, Hansel and Gretel, get wind of their parents’ plan and find their way home by following a trail of stones Hansel had dropped earlier. The mother, or stepmother by some tellings, then convinces the father to abandon the children a second time.

This time, Hansel drops breadcrumbs to follow home but birds eat the breadcrumbs and the children become lost in the forest.

Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Hansel leaving a trail to follow home.

The starving pair come upon a gingerbread house that they begin to eat ravenously. Unbeknownst to them, the home is actually a trap set by an old witch, or ogre, who enslaves Gretel and forces her to overfeed Hansel so that he can be eaten by the witch herself.

The pair manage to escape when Gretel shoves the witch into an oven. They return home with the witch’s treasure and find that their evil matriarch is no longer there and is presumed dead, so they live happily ever after.

But the true history behind the tale of Hansel and Gretel is not so happy as this ending.

The Brothers Grimm

Modern readers know Hansel and Gretel from the works of German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The brothers were inseparable scholars, medievalists who had a passion for collecting German folklore.

Between 1812 and 1857, the brothers published over 200 stories in seven different editions of what has since become known in English as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm never intended that their stories be for children per se, but rather the brothers sought to preserve Germanic folklore in a region whose culture was being overrun by France during the Napoleonic Wars.

Wikimedia CommonsWilhelm Grimm, left, and Jacob Grimm in an 1855 painting by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann.

In fact, the early editions of the Grimm brothers’ work published as Kinder und Hausmärchen, or Children’s and Household Tales, lacked illustrations. Scholarly footnotes abounded. The stories were dark and filled with murder and mayhem.

The stories nonetheless quickly caught on. Grimm’s Fairy Tales had such universal appeal that eventually, in the United States alone, there have been over 120 different editions made.

These stories featured an all-star lineup of well-known characters including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and of course Hansel and Gretel.

The True Story Behind Hansel And Gretel

Wikimedia CommonsThe origin of Hansel and Gretel is perhaps darker than the story itself.

The true story of Hansel and Gretel goes back to a cohort of tales that originated in the Baltic regions during the Great Famine of 1314 to 1322. Volcanic activity in southeast Asia and New Zealand ushered in a period of prolonged climate change that led to crop failures and massive starvation across the globe.

In Europe, the situation was particularly dire since the food supply was already scarce. When the Great Famine struck, the results were devastating. One scholar estimated that the Great Famine impacted 400,000 square miles of Europe, 30 million people, and may have killed off up to 25 percent of the population in certain areas.

In the process, elderly people chose voluntarily to starve to death to allow the young to live. Others committed infanticide or abandoned their children. There is also evidence of cannibalism. William Rosen in his book, The Third Horseman, cites an Estonian chronicle which states that in 1315 “mothers were fed their children.”

An Irish chronicler also wrote that the famine was so bad people “were so destroyed by hunger that they extracted bodies of the dead from cemeteries and dug out the flesh from the skulls and ate it, and women ate their children out of hunger.”

Wikimedia CommonsAn 1868 rendering of Hansel and Gretel treading carefully through the forest.

And it was from this grim chaos that the story of Hansel and Gretel was born.

The cautionary tales that preceded Hansel and Gretel all dealt directly with themes of abandonment and survival. Almost all of these stories also used the forest as a tableau for danger, magic, and death.

One such example comes from the Italian fairy tale collector Giambattista Basile, who published a number of stories in his 17th century Pentamerone. In his version, titled Nennillo and Nennella, a cruel stepmother forces her husband to abandon his two children in the woods. The father tries to foil the plot by leaving the children a trail of oats to follow but these are eaten by a donkey.

The grimmest of these early tales, though, is the Romanian story, The Little Boy and the Wicked Stepmother. In this fairy tale, two children are abandoned and find their way home following a trail of ashes. But when they return home, the stepmother kills the little boy and forces the sister to prepare his corpse for a family meal.

The horrified girl obeys but hides the boy’s heart inside a tree. The father unknowingly eats his son while the sister refuses to take part. After the meal, the girl takes the brother’s bones and puts them inside the tree with his heart. The next day, a cuckoo bird emerges singing, “Cuckoo! My sister has cooked me, and my father has eaten me, but I am now a cuckoo and safe from my stepmother.”

The terrified stepmother throws a lump of salt at the bird but it just falls back on her head, killing her instantaneously.

An Evolving Story With New Takes

The direct source for the story of Hansel and Gretel as we know it came from Henriette Dorothea Wild, a neighbor of the brothers Grimm who narrated many of the tales for their first edition. She ended up marrying Wilhelm.

The original versions of the Grimm brothers’ Hansel and Gretel changed over time. Perhaps the brothers were aware that their stories were being read by children and so by the last edition that they published, they had sanitized the stories somewhat.

Where the mother had abandoned her biological children in the first versions, by the time the last 1857 edition was printed, she had transformed into the archetypal wicked stepmother. The father’s role, too, was softened by the 1857 edition as he showed more regret for his actions.

Meanwhile, the tale of Hansel and Gretel has continued to evolve. There are versions today that are meant for preschoolers, like children’s author Mercer Mayer’s story which doesn’t even try to touch any of the child abandonment themes.

Every once in awhile the tale attempts to go back to its dark roots. In 2020, Orion Picture’s Gretel and Hansel: A Grim Fairy Tale will hit theaters and appears to hedge on the side of creepy. This version has the siblings looking through the forest for food and working to help their parents when they meet the witch.

It seems that the true story of Hansel and Gretel may still be darker than even this latest version.

After this look at the history of Hansel and Gretel, check out more folktale origins with this quick bio on Charles Perrault, the French father of fairy tales. Then, discover the true story behind the legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Gretel & Hansel (also known as Gretel & Hansel: A Grim Fairy Tale) is a 2020 horror film based on the German folklore tale 'Hansel and Gretel' by the Brothers Grimm. The film is directed by Oz Perkins, and produced by Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and Dan Kagan, with a screenplay by Rob Hayes. Sophia Lillis and Sam Leakey portray the title characters, alongside Charles Babalola, Jessica De Gouw, and Alice Krige. The story follows Gretel and Hansel as they enter a dark wood in order to find work and food, and then stumble upon the home of a witch.

It was announced in October 2018 that Orion Pictures in Gretel & Hansel, a film adaptation based on the German folklore Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, with Perkins directing the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hayes. At the same time, Lillis was set to star in the film, with other actors being added shortly after, and filming taking place between November and December 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.

Gretel & Hansel was released in North America on January 31, 2020 by Orion Pictures through United Artists Releasing. The film had grossed $22 million worldwide and received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise for its visuals and cinematography, as well as the horror elements and acting, but criticism for the film's pacing.

Plot[edit]

A baby that everyone in the village found to be the most precious falls terribly ill one winter. Her father took her to see an enchantress, who removed the illness but left a power within the girl. As she grew older, people in the village went to the girl because she had premonitions of the future. Because she knew everything ended in death, she used her power to kill people, including her father. The child was taken into the woods to be left alone, but she lured other children to a grim fate.

After their father's death, teenage Gretel (Sophia Lillis) and her younger brother Hansel (Sam Leakey) are going to meet a man about a job as a housekeeper. Gretel meets with the man, but he makes his true intentions clear when he asks Gretel if she is still a virgin; the two leave without a job. At night, the siblings' mother rebukes Gretel for not doing what she had to do to get a job and help provide for them. She tells Gretel that she and Hansel must leave because there is no room left in the house, threatening to hack Gretel to bits if they don't leave immediately. The siblings flee their home and find a hut to sleep in for the night.

Suddenly, a ghoulish man arises and lets out a horrible scream and chases the siblings outside, attacking Hansel. Before he can get to Gretel, he is killed with an arrow to the head from a hunter (Charles Babalola), who takes the siblings into his home for the night and directs them toward others who can provide them with food and work. The following morning, the siblings go outside to forage and seek work. They get frustrated when they find nothing until Gretel spots some mushrooms. They turn out to be 'magic' mushrooms that cause the two to laugh hysterically. Hansel then wanders until he finds a house that has a cake smell coming from it. Gretel follows as she hears what sounds like a girl's voice beckoning her, seen alongside 'the Beautiful Child' being taken away in a carriage. Gretel tries to stop Hansel from going inside, but he goes anyway and appears to be taken by someone. Gretel tries to start a fire to break inside, but she is greeted by Holda (Alice Krige), the woman living inside. She invites the siblings inside for a meal and allows them to sleep there in exchange for work.

Holda has Hansel go out into the woods to practice his skills with an axe, while she keeps Gretel at the house. Hansel enjoys his time there because they have plenty of food, but Gretel becomes suspicious of Holda's intentions. Gretel starts to see a vision of the Enchantress and hears children's voices guiding her somewhere, but before she finds out what's going on, she wakes up in her bed. While Hansel goes out, Holda shows Gretel how to tap into her powers as a witch. Gretel goes into the woods and manages to use her power to bring a tree branch near her so she can take a fruit. Meanwhile, Hansel also sees a vision of the Enchantress and spots an inverted pentagram craved on a nearby tree. Hansel starts to grow suspicious of Holda. Later in the night, Gretel makes her way into Holda's cellar where Hansel is sitting in a trance. Suddenly, the floor fills with goo, and a younger witch emerges, emptying buckets of guts onto the table before turning them into food, the same that Holda fed the siblings. The next day, Gretel sits with Holda, who eats something and pulls a long strand of a child's hair out of her mouth. Gretel pleads with Holda to let Hansel go, but she refuses.

Through a series of visions, she tells Gretel the truth about the story of the Beautiful Child: Holda was the girl's mother, and she resented her daughter after she killed her father, and she left the girl in the woods of her own accord. However, the child lingered in Holda's mind, promising to share her powers with her if she trusted the darkness. With that, Holda devoured her other children and took on the disguise of an old woman to appear friendly and lure other children to their fates. Holda straps Gretel to a table in the cellar as she assumes her youthful appearance to lure Hansel into a cage so she can cook him. Gretel manages to use her powers to send a staff toward Holda, pinning her to the wall over the flames. Her body catches fire, and she dies, breaking the trance on Hansel and setting Gretel free. Gretel decides to stay behind at the house while sending Hansel on his way with a horse. The horse brings him back to his old house, where his mother no longer stays. Gretel then sees the spirits of the dead children emerge from the trees, now free at last. However, her fingers turn black just like Holda's did, but her voiceover states that she will be brave and trust in herself.

Cast[edit]

• Sophia Lillis as Gretel, a 16-year old girl and Hansel's older sister.^[6]
• Sam Leakey as Hansel, Gretel's 8-year old brother. Leakey is making his acting debut.^[7]
• Charles Babalola as The Huntsman, a young man who helps Gretel and Hansel early in the story.^[8]
• Alice Krige as Holda / The Witch, a terrifying and powerful evil witch who lives in the shadows of the dark wood and kidnaps Gretel and Hansel.^[7]
  • Jessica De Gouw as Young Holda / the Witch
• Beatrix Perkins as The Beautiful Child with a Pink Cap
• Ian Kenny as Knight
• Abdul Alshareef as Knight
• Manuel Pombo as Knight
• Loreece Harrison as The Demoness

Production[edit]

In October 2018, the Hollywood Reporter wrote that Orion Pictures had started developing a film adaptation of the German folklore tale Hansel and Gretel, with Oz Perkins directing a screenplay he had co-written with Rob Hayes, and Sophia Lillis starring as the lead character.^[9]Sinister producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and The Autopsy of Jane Doe producer Fred Berger, partners at Automatik Entertainment, were announced as producers, with Sandra Yee Ling and Macdara Kelleher as executive producers.^[7] Hayes eventually received sole screenplay credit.

In November 2018, Charles Babalola was cast as the Hunter, a new character who helps Gretel and Hansel navigate the woods.^[8] In April 2019, Alice Krige, Jessica De Gouw, and Sam Leakey joined the cast, with Leakey making his acting debut.^[7]

Perkins explained in an interview that the title was changed because this version focuses on Gretel:

'It's awfully faithful to the original story. It's got really only three principal characters: Hansel, Gretel, and the Witch. We tried to find a way to make it more of a coming of age story. I wanted Gretel to be somewhat older than Hansel, so it didn't feel like two 12-year-olds – rather a 16-year-old and an 8-year-old. There was more of a feeling like Gretel having to take Hansel around everywhere she goes, and how that can impede one's own evolution, how our attachments and the things that we love can sometimes get in the way of our growth.'^[10]

Principal photography on the film began on November 9, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland, and wrapped in December 2018.^[11] Additional filming and reshoots started in January 2019 in Langley, British Columbia^{[disambiguation needed]}, Canada.

Release[edit]

The film was released on January 31, 2020, by United Artists.^[7]

Home video[edit]

Warner Bros. released the film on digital April 7,2020 and on DVD and Blu-ray May 5, 2020.^[12]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Rhythm Section, and was projected to gross $4 million to $7 million from 3,000 theaters in its opening weekend.^[13][3] The film made $2.3 million on its first day (including $475,000 from Thursday night previews). It debuted to $6.1 million, finishing fourth.^[14]

Critical response[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 83 reviews, with an average rating of 6.41/10. The site's critics consensus reads: 'Gretel & Hansel's rich visuals satisfy, even if this adaptation of a classic fairytale gets a little lost in the woods on the storytelling front.'^[15] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'.^[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of 'C–' on an A+ to F scale.^[14]

Risky business dance scene. Contrarily, Andrew Barker of Variety wrote, 'The film certainly looks nice, with a wealth of eye-catching compositions,' but added, 'The problem is that so many of its virtues feel compromised.' Kimber Myers wote for The Los Angeles Times, 'While [Perkins] offers a stunning feast for the eyes, the substance is likely to leave viewers still hungry.'^[17]

Chandler Levack from The Globe and Mail wrote, 'Everything about Gretel & Hansel is weirder, smarter and way more cinematic than I'd expected, thanks to some fascinating movie choices made by director Oz Perkins.' Kate Rife from The A.V. Club wrote, 'If one of the boundaries being tested in this film is viewers' patience, the reward for—to use a refrain repeated throughout the film—'trusting the darkness' is well worth the commitment.' Frank Sheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, 'Gretel & Hansel may alienate some horror movie fans with its extremely leisurely pacing and emphasis on atmosphere and mood rather than visceral shocks. But while the film certainly demands patience, it provides ample rewards with its lush stylization.'

Mark Kennedy of The Associated Press wrote 'Gretel & Hansel is as visually arresting as it is tedious, a 90-minute movie that really should have been a 3-minute music video for Marilyn Manson or Ozzy Osbourne. It's in the horror genre only loosely. It's more eerie, if that's a genre. Actually, it's like dread for 90 minutes. It's dreadful.' Jeannette Catsoulis The New York Times labeled the film 'Essentially the story of a young woman coming into her power, Gretel & Hansel is quietly sinister, yet too underdeveloped to truly scare.'^[18]

References[edit]

1. ^''Gretel & Hansel' Are In Big Trouble In New Trailer'. etcanada.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
2. ^ ^abc'Gretel & Hansel (2020) Film Review'. flickfeast.co.uk. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
3. ^ ^abRebecca Rubin (January 29, 2020). 'Will Blake Lively's 'Rhythm Section' Fumble at the Box Office on Super Bowl Weekend?'. Variety. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
4. ^'Gretel & Hansel (2020)'. Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
5. ^'Gretel & Hansel (2020)'. The Numbers. IMDb. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
6. ^Kit, Borys (4 October 2018). ''It' Breakout Sophia Lillis to Star in Fairy Tale Thriller 'Gretel and Hansel' (Exclusive)'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
7. ^ ^abcdeCouch, Aaron (19 April 2019). 'Fairytale Thriller 'Gretel and Hansel' Set 2020 Release Date (Exclusive)'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
8. ^ ^abWiseman, Andreas (6 November 2018). 'Charles Babalola Joins Sophia Lillis in Orion Horror 'Gretel and Hansel' From 'Sinister' & 'La La Land' Producers'. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
9. ^Kit, Borys (4 October 2018). ''It' Breakout Sophia Lillis to Star in Fairy Tale Thriller 'Gretel and Hansel' (Exclusive)'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
10. ^Collis, Clark (August 26, 2019). ''It' star Sophia Lillis goes to a dark place in first look at Osgood Perkins's 'Gretel & Hansel''. Entertainment Weekly.
11. ^Kay, Jeremy (9 November 2018). 'Dublin shoot begins on 'Gretel And Hansel''. ScreenDaily. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
12. ^Stephanie Prange (March 26, 2020). ''Gretel & Hansel' Coming to Digital April 7, Disc May 5 From Warner'. MediaPlayNews. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
13. ^Jeremy Fuster (January 28, 2020). ''The Rhythm Section' Arrives During Super Bowl Slump Weekend for Box Office'. TheWrap. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
14. ^ ^abAnthony D'Alessandro (February 2, 2020). ''Bad Boys for Life' Scores Over Super Bowl Weekend with $17M+; 'Rhythm Section' Is a Mess'. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
15. ^'Gretel & Hansel (2020)'. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
16. ^'Gretel & Hansel Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
17. ^Template:Https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-01-30/gretel-hansel-review-horror-osgood-perkins
18. ^Template:Https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/movies/gretel-and-hansel-review.html

External links[edit]

• Gretel and Hansel on IMDb