Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Wicked!While the film is faithful to the source material, director Jon M. Chu explains why Evil ends in “Defying Gravity”. The exclusive song, composed by Stephen Schwartz, was originally recorded by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth and released in 2003. It is sung solo by Elphaba during the end of the first act, after she discovers the Wizard of Oz’s sinister plan against the animals. 2024 Evil the film, however, extends the running time by dividing the song into more sections and serving as the ending.
In honor of the film’s release, Chu said GamesRadar+ why they had to make drastic changes to “Defying Gravity” in the film’s cinematic ending. The director revealed that he wanted to use the original version, but would not reflect”the end of this epic journey”, and the decision to finish the song was “a need.” Chu emphasized that they have not made any decisions”slightly“, as each decision was questioned and carefully examined, so that tThe new version would reflect the difficult journey Elphaba had been through. Check out what he said below:
The alternative wasn’t possible, to be honest. We tried to make it into a movie, and you had to rip out songs, and it didn’t become Wicked. They tried for 20 years to do this. I think the decision to make it really opened the door to like, “Okay, we have to believe in these characters.” You get away with things on stage that you couldn’t get away with in a movie. The audience is more skeptical in a film and therefore the emotional turns of the actors and characters have to be very solid. So it came more from a need than anything.
But something like “Defying Gravity,” the song, if you use the song itself the way it’s used in the show, it doesn’t actually feel like the end of this epic journey that we’ve been on. So we had to pause that a little bit, which is scary. And we question ourselves at every step. We do not make decisions lightly. In fact, we could make decisions and go back. We try every version, every time. But ultimately, it was like, “I’m rooting for Elphaba to have this for herself, and she can’t just get it. She has to deserve it too.”
She knows at this point that you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. She has to prove it to herself. How do we show this through this number that already exists? And you won’t add new words to it. So what are you going to do?
What Defying Gravity’s Shifts Means for the Wicked
The Movie’s Broadway Changes Provide a Deeper Emotional Journey
The version of “Defying Gravity” used in the Broadway musical is five minutes and 53 seconds, while the version the film version extends the song to seven minutes and 39 seconds making the build-up much longer and more difficult, painting a difficult emotional journey that Elphaba will have to go through internally, predicting the challenges she will have to face in Perverse Part 2the story. The film’s climactic ending also has a bitter tone, where the Broadway musical version is more of a celebration of her embracing her powers.
‘Defying Gravity’ isn’t the only thing different about the film. THE Evil the film adaptation also shows Dorothy through a brief cameo, where she is not in the Broadway version. Elphaba saves a lion cub, who later becomes the Cowardly Lion, but the lion is also not in the Broadway musical, although there is also more information about Grimmerie. The film version tells a story that more closely ties the story of Evil with The Wizard of Ozfilling in the blank.
Our take on Wicked’s epic finale
Elphaba did not take the decision lightly
Elphaba spends most of Evil painting The Wizard of Oz as a great leader that she would dedicate her skill and time to serve. The Wizard of Oz is linked to your hopes and dreams and, most importantly, your purpose. The discovery of the Great Wizard as the villain behind all the terrible things in the kingdom is heartbreaking and is a moment when Elphaba has to make a decision.
Elphaba needs to take a stand and she knows where her heart is, but her decision making is a difficult and emotional journey. By interrupting the song and building a longer climb to the climax, the song makes this decision more emotional and adds more depth to Elphaba’s journey into Evil, because that means she’ll need to do it alone, and this also calls into question the status of his friendship with Glinda.
Source: GamesRadar+