James Gracey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325314
- eISBN:
- 9781800342262
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325314.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter talks about the tale of Little Red Riding Hood as one of the most enduring and provocative of all the fairy tales ever told. It discusses the plight of the red-hooded girl who encounters ...
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This chapter talks about the tale of Little Red Riding Hood as one of the most enduring and provocative of all the fairy tales ever told. It discusses the plight of the red-hooded girl who encounters a ravenous wolf as she wanders cautiously through the deep, dark woods on an errand to her Granny's cottage, which has haunted popular culture for centuries. It also reviews how Red Riding Hood has been told and re-told for centuries with its meaning interpreted and reinterpreted to reflect changing social values and attitudes. The chapter explores the scene of Rosaleen's encounter with the lycanthropic huntsman in the woods in Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves, which essentially provides an elaborate preparation for the central story. It analyses how folk and fairy tales were used to civilise listeners and readers in the ways of their communities and convey to them an understanding of acceptable conduct and behaviour.Less
This chapter talks about the tale of Little Red Riding Hood as one of the most enduring and provocative of all the fairy tales ever told. It discusses the plight of the red-hooded girl who encounters a ravenous wolf as she wanders cautiously through the deep, dark woods on an errand to her Granny's cottage, which has haunted popular culture for centuries. It also reviews how Red Riding Hood has been told and re-told for centuries with its meaning interpreted and reinterpreted to reflect changing social values and attitudes. The chapter explores the scene of Rosaleen's encounter with the lycanthropic huntsman in the woods in Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves, which essentially provides an elaborate preparation for the central story. It analyses how folk and fairy tales were used to civilise listeners and readers in the ways of their communities and convey to them an understanding of acceptable conduct and behaviour.
James Gracey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781911325314
- eISBN:
- 9781800342262
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781911325314.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Co-written by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan and British novelist Angela Carter, and based on several short stories from Carter's collection The Bloody Chamber, The Company of Wolves (1984) is a ...
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Co-written by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan and British novelist Angela Carter, and based on several short stories from Carter's collection The Bloody Chamber, The Company of Wolves (1984) is a provocative reinvention of the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Unraveling a feverish metaphor for the blossoming of a young girl's sexuality and her subsequent loss of innocence, the film entwines symbolism and metaphor with striking visuals and grisly effects. Released in the early 1980s, a time which produced several classic werewolf films (including An American Werewolf in London and The Howling), The Company of Wolves sets itself apart from the pack with its overtly literary roots, feminist stance, and art-house leanings. The film's narrative takes the form of a puzzle box, unfolding as dreams within dreams, and stories within stories, which lead further into the dark woods of the protagonist's psyche, as she finds herself on the cusp of womanhood. The book explores all these aspects, as well as placing the film in the context of the careers of its creators and its position as an example of the “Female Gothic.”Less
Co-written by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan and British novelist Angela Carter, and based on several short stories from Carter's collection The Bloody Chamber, The Company of Wolves (1984) is a provocative reinvention of the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Unraveling a feverish metaphor for the blossoming of a young girl's sexuality and her subsequent loss of innocence, the film entwines symbolism and metaphor with striking visuals and grisly effects. Released in the early 1980s, a time which produced several classic werewolf films (including An American Werewolf in London and The Howling), The Company of Wolves sets itself apart from the pack with its overtly literary roots, feminist stance, and art-house leanings. The film's narrative takes the form of a puzzle box, unfolding as dreams within dreams, and stories within stories, which lead further into the dark woods of the protagonist's psyche, as she finds herself on the cusp of womanhood. The book explores all these aspects, as well as placing the film in the context of the careers of its creators and its position as an example of the “Female Gothic.”
