I found a copy of this DVD at the local library, watched it twice and made a point of getting a copy of my own as soon as possible. While the film has a number of admirable qualities to its credit, the chief among these is its lack of all-things-Disney, a studio whose inabilty to adapt stories with anything approaching sensitivity and intelligence perhaps explains best why its products do so well at the box office, eagerly lapped up by the legions of the uncritical and uninformed that constitute a major bloc of today's younger (and often not) audience. Enough bile for now. On to why I value this film so highly. The film is both a Fantasy and a Documentary. In it, Charles Dodgsen's (Lewis Carroll)penchant for social/political satire is in full view. Both a man of the cloth and a mathematician, used his character of ALICE, in a dream state, to illuminate, through her confused wanderings in Wonderland and her interviews with its populace, the outlandish dysfunctions of his contemporary Victorian England,its schools, its etiquette, its legal system and, of course, its Royalty. This BBC film carefully selects a number of scenes from Carroll's original work, giving us a satisfying abridgement which not only provides the tale's intended humorous tone but, through the inspired us of black and white film and Ravi Shankar's sinuous music,invests the whole enterprise with an air of ill-mannered and rag-tag menace of precisely the sort that would seriously frighten a girl of Alice's comfortable and well-invested nature. The cast is BRILLIANT. So is the film!Read full review
When I received this item, I was expecting to see a fantastic, colorful, psychedelic version of Alice in Wonderland. After all, this one comes out of the 60's and the pretty, cavegirl-coifed girl on the front of the dvd box had me believing that her adventures in Wonderland were going to be the most awesome I'd ever seen. This version was really a double-edge sword for me. First of all, it is in black and white. There are really only a few films that I find personally fantastic that have been shot in black and white. After all, I'm attracted to bright and shiny things and the story better be as solid as concrete to keep me interested if I can't rely on visuals. Although I did appreciate the deep, gothic representation of Lewis Carroll's tale, the fact that it was reminiscent of those 1980's Calvin Klein cologne ads threw me off. This version also lends itself to many political undertones addressing the British political system. One unfamiliar with this either finds it dry and confusing or hysterically funny (depending on how many drinks you've had). Being a fan of British comedy, there are a few absurd moments that rank as laugh-out-loud. All in all, this Alice in Wonderland digs much deeper than the surface and is definitely not the short and whimsically sweet version we see in Disney. Children would not enjoy this. As an adult, one can appreciate the "trippy" quality and try to find the underlying meanings weaved throughout the dialogue and circumstances. Applied to the film is the music of Ravi Shankar which drills home the surrealistic quality evident in this adaptation. In a nutshell, the film is like a hallucination in black and white with a soundtrack of Eastern Indian music highlighting the absurd mixed with the dry and sometimes stiff approach. If you like arthouse movies and are trying to find deep meaning in your fairytales, you may enjoy this.Read full review
I saw this TV special when it was first broadcast, and it lived up to expectation. Jonathan Miller produced a work of genius, focusing upon Alice's personality and thoughts, but giving every bizarre character a chance to express Carroll's conception. Some of the techniques used to give the impression of a waking dream that pervades the whole production are totally original and seem not to have been copied/borrowed by other directors since then, so viewers new to this will have the chance to appreciate something a bit different.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Each version of this movie has its own twist. This one certainly does.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
After seeing "Alice" in the theater, I had a hunger for more versions of this classic. I found several and chose this one because it sounded so different from, say, the Disney delight. I wasn't disappointed. It's really worth experiencing if you're an Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass fan.
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