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‘Alice’ is an eccentric vision of a classic story

Written by Ryli Hennessey - Argonaut

Tuesday, 19 February 2008

“Alice,” Jan Svankmajer’s beautiful 1988 adaptation of the Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” falls somewhere between a dream and surrealist nightmare. Starring one live actor and a whole cast of strange puppets, skeletons and taxidermied animals, it’s a film experience that goes beyond a Disney-like adaptation. The film follows the traditional story with the addition a few original scenes and many original concepts. The original “Alice in Wonderland” story is filtered through Czech director Svankmajer’s surreal artistic vision where sights and sounds are often highly exaggerated and stop motion is used to create the unreal. Filmmakers such as Tim Burton have been influenced by his dark, surrealistic style, but have given it a more commercial flair. The film starts with an image of young Alice’s mouth as she says “This is a film made for children ... perhaps.” Well, maybe not. The world that Svankmajer creates is not one for children, but instead curious adults — adults who want to delve into a fantasy world, but who might not necessarily see the innocence of childhood in that vision. Classic characters like the White Rabbit are strange in the fact that they are so familiar, yet so twisted and unusual. In the case of the White Rabbit, he is seen first as a taxidermied animal encased in glass, then springs to life, tearing out the nails that once held him down. He is often seen chomping on sawdust as the hole in his chest continually loses it. The world of the White Rabbit is certainly not one for a small girl like Alice. Strange creatures made of socks, glass eyes and even pieces of food inhabit his world and make it an exciting visual film. There is not much in the way of dialogue. The most striking spoken moments are the pieces of narration, done in cuts to close-ups of Alice’s mouth saying things such as “said the White Rabbit.” Most of the film is visually stimulating, with strange and heightened sound effects lending to what is being viewed on the screen. “Alice” is everything an adaptation should be, it stays true to the story while bringing it to life, in a way that only a talented and daring filmmaker can. Add as favorites (21) | Views: 221 Be first to comment this article Write Comment Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code. Name: Title: Comment: