9. Red Riding Hood (Feature Film)

Red Riding Hood (Feature Film)

2011

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke

Warner Bros. Pictures

Total running time: 100 min.

Plot Summary

Red Riding Hood is a dark fantasy film version of the classic fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood.  Valerie is a young woman who lives in the middle of the wilderness, in a small Medieval-style village.  Although Valerie is in love with Peter, her parents promise her to Henry because of his family’s standing in the town.  The love triangle forces Valerie to choose between love and her parents’ wishes.  For a couple of generations, the town has been threatened by a werewolf, forcing them to put out offerings of small animals in exchange for the town’s safety.  However, when the werewolf mauls Valerie’s sister, the townsmen go on a rampage, trekking up the mountain to kill him.  The men kill a wolf, believing it to be the werewolf that torments them.  The next morning, Father Solomon arrives in town after being summoned to help rid the town of the werewolf.  Seeing the head of the wolf that the men mounted on a stick, Father Solomon insists that the werewolf is still alive because it can transform from wolf to man and, when they beheaded it, it would have transformed back into its human form.  Rather than believing that the werewolf was someone from the outside, Father Solomon closes the gates around the town, insisting that the werewolf is amongst them.  When the werewolf appears during a town party, it confronts Valerie and tells her that she must go away with it or the town will be massacred.  Paying attention to the brown eyes of the werewolf, Valerie looks around the town, thinking about who would want her to go away with them.  Could it be Peter, Henry, her grandmother, or someone else?

Critical Evaluation

While the trailer initially attracted me, I was disappointed with the film.  Although the colors were quite breathtaking, the content of Red Riding Hood left much to be desired.  From the very beginning of the film, it is established that Valerie’s parents have promised her to Henry because of his fiscal standing in the village.  However, considering that Henry and his parents still live in the same village as the poorer villagers such Valerie and her family, the advantage of marrying Henry as opposed to Peter was lost on me.  While Henry’s house may be more extravagant than her own or the one that Peter could provide, there is no evidence of this beyond the knowledge that Henry has a better paying job than Peter.  Also, whether or not the home she would live in as a married woman is extravagant, she is still in the same small village with the same resources no matter what.  Therefore, it seemed too forced that her mother would be so adamant about Valerie forgetting about Peter and marrying Henry.  Overall, the film was pretty good at keeping me guessing which character was the wolf right up until the moment it was revealed, but the conflict between love and money did not go over well and, therefore, limited the connection I felt with Valerie’s story.

Reader's Annotation

After decades of living in fear of the werewolf, the village decides to kill it.  However, when they realize that the werewolf is one of the villagers and it only wants to take Valerie away with it, Valerie becomes suspicious of her friends and family, leaving her to wonder who is murdering the villagers.

Information About the Director

Catherine Hardwicke (born Helen Catherine Hardwicke; October 21, 1955) is an American production designer and film director. Her works include the independent film Thirteen, which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed, the film's co-star, the Biblically-themed The Nativity Story, the vampire film Twilight, and the werewolf film Red Riding Hood. The opening weekend of Twilight was the biggest opening ever for a female director. (1955-10-21)

She spent most of the 1990s as a production designer, working on such films as Tombstone (1993), Tank Girl (1995), 2 Days in the Valley (1996), The Newton Boys (1998), and Three Kings (1999). The following year, she collaborated with director/screenwriter Cameron Crowe and actor/producer Tom Cruise on Vanilla Sky (2001). The latter two films are notable for their original use of color-manipulation techniques to complement the narrative. Hardwicke who always wanted to make her own movies stumbled on to that chance while trying to help troubled teen, Nikki Reed, a friend’s daughter, who had fallen in with a bad crowd at school. (Retrieved from director’s Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Hardwicke)

Genre

Fantasy/Horror/Mystery

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Booktalking Ideas

1. Weigh the pros and cons of Valerie’s relationship with both love interests.

2. Discuss the conflict of love vs. security.

3. Address the differences between this version and the original telling of Little Red Riding Hood.

Reading Level/Interest Age

13+

Challenge Issues

The film is rated PG-13 for violence and some sensuality. 

When confronted with complaints about this film, librarians should become familiar with the material and its content.  Turn to reviews included on Amazon.com, as well as reviews from teens that have seen the film.  Also, it is beneficial for librarians to present reasons backed by the ALA in support of intellectual freedom.  As stated in the Library Bill of Rights:

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

Why Include Film in Selection? 

The look of the film, as well as the fact that Catherine Hardwicke directed it, drew me to it for this project.