Mubi Monday: Alice (1988)

Having been a huge fan of the source material it is based on, and also a fan of the clips I have seen elsewhere of Jan Svankmajer's work, I am surprised that it took me this long to finally get around to watching Alice. But it did, and here we are.

Kristýna Kohoutová plays Alice, a young girl who ends up going on an adventure that will be quite familiar to those who have read the most famous tale from Lewis Carroll. Quite familiar, but not overly familiar, because this is the tale filtered through the alternately dreamy and nightmarish vision of Svankmajer.

While not for everyone, which is a phrase I consider redundant every time I use it (but cannot think of a decent replacement), Alice is certainly worth the time and attention of those who know what kind of vision Svankmajer wants to deliver. It's a strange and decaying world, one in which most of the creations are barely held together, but that actually feels nicely in line with the text being adapted to the screen. What is Alice if not this strange and curious lifeforce upending and alarming the citizens of a wonderland always on the very edge of collapsing in on itself?

The stop-motion work may be the highlight of the film, and everything is informed by it, but Kohoutová does well to perform in the middle of such a strange and surreal selection of set-pieces. She feels as if she's performing, but that, once again, feels true to the spirit of the story. Alice is a character who is very imaginative, and her way of speaking, both to herself and to those around her, is often in a performative manner. She is either trying to convince herself of what she is seeing around her, or she is trying to convince others of her relative wisdom.

While this may not be the Alice's Adventures In Wonderland that comes to mind when you think of the story, it is a surprisingly faithful and brilliant interpretation. Every frame feels as if it was carefully considered and crafted with a monumental effort, which is both a positive and a negative (because the Carroll tale feels somehow easy and effortless), and I would certainly put this near the very top of any list ranking the movie adaptations of this timeless classic. 

Drink the potion, eat the snacks, nibble on both sides of the mushroom, and spend time with the characters who don't seem to make sense until you figure out the context of the conversations. Many films try to show you Alice in Wonderland. Svankmajer comes very close to actually taking the viewer all the way down the rabbit hole.

9/10

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Alice In Wonderland (1951)

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is, in my opinion, the greatest book ever written for children. It's a brisk story full of memorable characters and moments of creative brilliance. The sequel is pretty good too. The movie version by Tim Burton, on the other hand, was a horribly inept attempt to put some of that magic onscreen (my unhappy review for that one is here). Of course, that's not the only version of the tale that has been put forth over the years. Like many other enduring classics, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland has been filmed on a number of occasions, sometimes with a number of twists (and, yes, there's at least one porn riff) and sometimes in a straightforward manner. It will probably come as no surprise, considering how well the material suits the studio, that this 1951 animated version from Disney still easily ranks as one of the, if not THE, very best.

If you don't know the story by now then what the hell did you do during your entire childhood? Young Alice goes chasing after a white rabbit who is concerned about his timekeeping, falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in Wonderland, a place where people celebrate un-birthday days, a Cheshire cat can appear and disappear at leisure, Tweedledum and Tweedledee reside, drink and food can change your size and much, much more.

The vocal work here is very good from all involved - Kathryn Beaumont, the wonderful Ed Wynn, Bill Thompson (probably most recognisable to many cartoon fans as the voice of Droopy), Pat O'Malley and many others get the opportunity to voice some of the most memorable characters in children's literature and they all do a wonderful job.

Three directors were also involved with this film and a hell of a lot of writers (at least a dozen, if my maths is correct) but the final product just reflects a group of animators and actors all having fun and conveying that to audiences. Alice In Wonderland is inspired lunacy from start to finish, just as the books are.

I think that's maybe why I liked the original material so much, and why I always will. It's really all about refusing to conform to the accepted norm and shows how much fun people can have when they just embrace moments of insanity. Everything in moderation, of course, and that's a message that infuses the final act. But by that point we all know one thing for certain - going down the rabbit hole is something we all secretly yearn to do, at some time in our lives.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alice-In-Wonderland-Animation-Special/dp/B004HYGYI2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336084513&sr=8-2