17.3.10

Alice in Wonderland.


Before I begin, we need to be clear that the reason why Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) is so famed, and I dare say, immortal in the literary world is that he is a logician that speaks nonsense. And obviously I mean it in the most impressed manner. He has a way with words that skates beyond that is understandable but still capable of forming images in our heads. And that was the entire point of Alice in Wonderland. Knowing that itself, I do not think that it translates very well into a movie.


Buttttt... we wanted a movie anyway. Cue, enter Tim Burton. I am personally a big fan of Mr. Burton's work. Not all, but loads. And Alice in Wonderland, sadly, will add to the list of the Tim Burton's movies that i didn't agree with.

I think the thing that annoyed me the most about the movie is that Tim Burton got the story line and characters wrong. The Tweedles (played fantastically by Matt Lucas) and the White Queen are characters not from the Alice in Wonderland book, but from the sequel, the less popular Through the Looking Glass. An unnoticed mistake to most, a major blunder to me. And with that said, why does Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen seem highly misinterpreted as the Queen of Hearts? They are absolutely two very different characters from two different movies but somehow they are mashed up as one? Owh the agony! On another note, and I might come oof as bias about this since I'm quite famously known to not enjoy modern digital music and the way people dance to those tracks (shuffling, popping, locking, the what nots), but i DARE anyone to to disagree with me; what the heck was going on at the end when some of the characters were dancing? I won't mention specifically who as to not ruin things for some people who haven't had the chance to watch the movie, but I'll tell you this, it was an awkward 10 seconds.

But putting my disagreements to the movie aside, it is truly a beautiful movie. I didn't really had to much fun with the storyline or it's characters (i found them too tame, for a Tim Burton movie or a Lewis Carroll story), but they were visually stunning. The background and landscape is absolutely fantastic and I was wishing for more wide angle scenes. I especially loved the Red Army, I think Tim Burton recreated them well and i just LOVED the clanking sound they make when they're running around. The Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry) and the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman FTW!) were fantastic. Those characters were so real to me. I'm also a big, big, BIG Anne Hathaway fan but i felt that the White Queen lack perspective and an actual role in the movie.

My verdict? Watch the movie, definitely. Aesthetically, top game. But there's no need to rush out to watch it. It's not like it's a breakthrough in film-making.

For fun though, I've also included a couple of images that surrealist painter Salvador Dali has made for an edition of Alice in Wonderland. It's nice to see a surrealist interpretation of a surrealist story. He's made about 12 images for the book but I've just included the most recognizable pieces since he gets really artsy about this work. Post in comments on your thoughts below. Let me know what you think.



Asam Siam
Wiriyak Suvanmani

2 comments:

  1. the last Burton movie I truly loved was Charlie & the Choc Factory.There was some part of the movie that was deliberately unnerving,as if despite the color and candy,there was some element of the movie that was seriously dark and menacing.

    Since then the Burton factory has been somewhat formulaic with their approach,just one time I'd love to see characters cast for their roles,the way Tarantino scouts for very specific actors to play certain parts.Enough Johnny and Helena,talented as they are,its just a bit of an old mix at this point.

    I love that first sketch up there.

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  2. charlie was an excellent burton movie! because that was what he was about. producing something that visually sweet but with a sinister undertone. but he might have been abit too confident with alice. maybe because he knows everyone will watch it and it will be a big hit. but its too tame. wayy too tame.

    considering his vanilla flavored cast, yeah. he's like the dad who keeps trying to impress everyone with his child. "look at how awesome my child can act". maybe he needs to get out more often.

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