Hansel & Gretel

## Release Chronology

*"One upon a time, there lived a brother and sister, Hansel and Gretel. Early one morning, the two naughty children stole away from home to play in The Wood, without the permission of their loving parents. Their parents told them never to play in The Wood alone, for they might lose their way and never find home again."*
―Opening text**[src]**
***Hansel & Gretel*** is a 2007 short film written and directed by Robert Eggers. It is based on the classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

## Synopsis

Based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, *Hansel & Gretel* is a dark and stylized, black and white, German Expressionistic silent picture featuring detailed design and an eerie musical score.

## Plot

The siblings Hansel and Gretel live in a house in the countryside with their mother and father. They live a happy and carefree life, sneaking cookies from the cookie jar before being caught by their parents.

Early one morning, the children steal away to play in the wood without the permission of their parents, who had told them never to play in the wood alone should they get lost and never find their way home again. The children attempt to avoid this by leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind them. They play in the stream and then begin to make their journey home be following the breadcrumbs, but discover that the trail has been eaten by ducks. Hansel grows frightened and begins to cry, at which point Gretel comforts him. Unknown to the children, a mysterious presence watches them from afar.

The next morning, Hansel awakes from a nightmare and finds that Gretel is nowhere to be seen. He soon spots her nearby and happily embraces her. She has found the remains of the trail and they continue their trek towards home. However, they come across a house made out of candy and excitedly begin to eat it. A kindly-looking old woman emerges from the house and invites them inside, where they will be safe from the dangerous wood. She touches their faces, telling them that her eyesight is weak, and they follow her into the house.

Once inside the darkened house, the old woman lights several candles and reveals her true form; a hideous, terrifying witch. She declares her intention to eat the children and advances on them. Over the course of the next week, she forces Gretel to perform slave labor while she locks Hansel in a cage, feeding him to fatten him up. Due to her poor eyesight, the witch undoes Gretel's shackle and orders her to lead her to Hansel's cage so she can determined if he is yet fat enough. Hansel holds out a bone, hoping to trick the witch into thinking that it is his finger, but she is not fooled.

At dawn, the witch wakes Gretel and orders her to help her cook Hansel. She removes the grate from the oven and orders Gretel too fill it with firewood. Gretel complains that the log is heavy, the oven is high and she is too small to carry out the task. Frustrated, the witch takes the log and attempts to do it herself. Gretel attempts to push her into the oven, but the Witch has expected this and overpowers her. The witch then puts down her walking stick and takes Hansel from his cage carring him towards the oven. Gretel grabs the stick and strikes the witch with it, causing her to drop Hansel. Hansel steals the witch's keys and opens the oven. As she chases after them, the children trick the witch into running at the oven and they push her inside, killing her.

Using the witch's seeing glass, Hansel and Gretel see their home and run towards it, where they are joyously reunited with their parents.

## Cast

* Luke Allison as Hansel
* Isabella Pease as Gretel
* Kelly Eggers as The Witch