“Alice in wonderland” begins with an explication of Alice’s dispositions. Her demeanour, fanatic indulgence in fantasies; ease of being; incongruent in land of propriety. She is young and the people around her are too preoccupied with the nearly farcical life of their own. Alice on the other hand is a girl of her dreams. The movie exploits viewers’ acquaintance with the character Alice by steering away into a world that is barely condonable- it’s bizarre. Tim Burton’s Alice is innocent and adorable; the director’s wonderland is unimaginably wonderful.
It is beautiful, majestic, grand and intensely colourful. Alice’s chase through the mushroom laden thick forest undergrowth, the bizarre looking creatures, adorable rat-a cinematic treat, an eye candy. Tim Burton has created a land of fantasy that conjures up colourful landscapes, blunt nosed creatures and quirky characters. You would want to meet the director, shake his hand and speak to him of the brilliance that his mind is home to. He did it in “Big Fish” and “Edward Scissorhands”. In a different context, he produced “Corpse Bride”, “Nightmare before Christmas”. Now, he seems to have permitted himself of rewriting Alice, recreating wonderland, for in the license, he seems more himself at work. The man never ceases to enamour his audience.
“from the moment I fell down that rabbit hole, I have been told……but this is my dream, I will decide where it goes from here” with those words Alice becomes something of an admirable person. From a tale of fantasy, it turns into a tale of courage. Alice’s rendezvous with the mad hatter “Johnny Depp” is one of the best moments of the film. Shrunk into the size of a tea pot, pelted ashore on the hat, and the eventual dominance of Alice with the dog that finds her, the fantasy just gets bigger and better.
The white queen’s bungalow snowy white, her potion to shrink Alice unconventional, mad hatter’s heroic indulgence adroit and the red queen’s rebuttal loud and clear. Movie mesmerises you with the details- pigs carrying coffee tables on their backs, Alice holding onto her dress when resized, mad hatter’s curious dwelling, cat’s motives and rabbit’s rebuttal of everything.
The movie does what the novel does-you would fantasise of a wonderland with its past intermingled with yours. The movie also does a bit more-it embellishes the dreams with fluid currents of portraits, picturesque settings and beautiful atmosphere. The movie is not electric, it is not powerful, but it is an artist’s rendition of wonderland and a director’s take of Alice.
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