Alice
Dir. Jan Svankmeyer / Dur. 86 mins
In a nutshell:- Czechoslovakian stop-motion animator provides surrealist animated / live action hybrid version of Alice In Wonderland. (Well, I did warn you we were going full arthouse..)
The Good:- Before I get into it actually, a little bit of context. Way back in the day (probably the 80s), Channel 4 here in the UK used to actually show quite a diverse range of programming. Seasons of Chinese ghost and vampire films or Godzilla films and weirdly depressing cartoons like Murun Buchstansangur** were the norm as well as lots of experimental short and feature length films.
It was as a youth that I first vaguely remember watching this film and some of the disturbing imagery definitely stayed with me. It’s pretty true to the source material in terms of feel if not in detailed specifics - the book creates the impression of a fever-induced dream state and this version is very much in keeping with that sensibility. The use of a live action girl and a stop motion doll to represent Alice in her various states works nicely as does the overall taxidermy-inspired, sawdust-leaking sense of decay.
The Bad:- It’s not really a version for children, I would say. While there is no bad language or violence, the fairly bleak imagery is not really the sort of thing that a tiny mind would particularly be suited to processing (says the hypocrite whose tiny mind was exposed it it).
The Verdict:- It’s the best surrealist stop-motion film of Alice In Wonderland that there is. Look, I think you're either you're going to be into the idea of a film like this or you’re really not. A review like this is probably not going to sway you to either way.
Tomorrow:- Well, films, innit?
* Heavy-handed satire. You’re definitely on the internet.
** If you don’t remember Murun, here he is in his downbeat, depressing glory:-
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