Friday, August 5, 2005

You're really weird.

Well, I've finally seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So I'll tell you what I thought - bear in mind though, this post will contain spoilers. I should probably start by saying that I had very high expectations for this film. As I have said before, my favourite childhood author is Roald Dahl. In addition to owning just about all of his novels, I have probably worn down my VHS copy of The Witches quite a lot. That was a particularly good Dahl adaptation, I thought. There have been others of varying quality (though Matilda was reasonably good). Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is still one of my favourite films and it was a movie that I'd watched quite often as a child. In primary school we actually did a play based on the novel and in preparation, we had watched the film a couple of times. So even from a young age, I've been very aware of the movie. Moreover, Gene Wilder never really puts a foot wrong - his portrayal of Wonka was brilliant. However, the 1971 film's biggest problem was primarily the fact that Dahl's original screenplay had been significantly altered. Although I loved - and still love - Wilder's Wonka, the fact remains that a great many lines were put into his mouth that didn't belong. This doesn't mean that I enjoy the movie any less, but it does mean that the film is less representative of the novel than it should have been. So, the idea of a Tim Burton version of this story excited me for a few reasons. The primary reason is simply that I enjoy Burton's work and I generally trust his creative decisions - he's very like Dahl, even in his own original work. When I think of all of the film makers out there, I can think of few who's general creative outlook would so reflect Dahl's own. Both Dahl and Burton understand how children think; they are aware that children love dark and grotesque fairy tales and they realize that children can find humor and fun in the darker aspects of life. The fact that The Nightmare Before Christmas made light of fairly serious issues (such as death) is a demonstration of this philosophy in action. Those who are offended by such material simply don't get it - it goes over their heads (or under their radar, perhaps). Either way, I think it really requires one to get into a particular mindset to enjoy - the mindset of a child. The second thing that excited me about the prospect of this film was that Burton didn't want to remake the 1971 film. Instead, he wanted to go back to the novel and adapt it in his own way. That pleased me, not because I felt that there were major deficiencies in the original movie (the movie as a standalone piece was fantastic), but because the original film missed some great opportunities to show us significant elements of the novel that were omitted. This includes not only aspects of Wonka's character, but also specific events and instances that people who aren't familiar with the novel may not be aware of. I really should say that my expectations for this movie were pretty much fulfilled. It remained true to the novel where I'd hoped it would and it deviated where I'd expected it to. The first thing that I noticed was probably the most obvious - the art design. Not only is it some of Burton's best, but it melds with this film on every level. From the art deco design of the factory to Charlie's funny little contorted home, everything has its place. I also really have no complaints about the interior of the factory itself - it's as in-keeping with the novel's descriptions as you could hope for, while simultaneously being very Burton. Again, I think Burton's own art style melds very well with the concepts and designs described in the novel. In terms of raw plot, I was happy to see a little more backstory this time. Not only did we get a great deal more on Wonka's history (from his first store to his competitors), but we also saw a great deal more about his past in other respects (the Indian palace and Loompa Land, for example). I had no complaints with any of these sequences and they reminded me partly why the book has fascinated me so much. That Grandpa Joe is narrating is even better - his character was fantastic and I really had no issues with any of the casting choices in general. Speaking of casting, I loved the grandparents and their individual personalities. I felt slightly iffy about Grandpa Joe from the trailers, but he couldn't have been more appropriate in the film. There were plenty of heartwarming moments before the factory visit, which only strengthened Charlie's character and those of his family. I generally enjoyed all of the other children as well - I think they played their parts as well as could be expected. Their characters were about as close to the novel as I could have wanted, so again, I really have no complaints about that. Were they better than the kids in the first movie? For the most part, I'd say yes. Mike Teavee in particular was significantly different from his 1971 counterpart - this is one of the differences that works to this film's benefit. Mike and the other kids have an ongoing tension with Willy Wonka from beginning to end, which helps to keep things a little more defined (and which serves to make their sticky-ends even more well-deserved). Also, Willy Wonka seems to develop a subtle affinity for Charlie from the very beginning, which is another positive change in this film. Charlie was not simply "one of the kids", he was noteably different from the outset. And I felt that's how it really should be. And then there's Willy Wonka himself. Upon watching this movie, a thought was confirmed to me: quite often, adults look at things in a very cynical and unfortunate light. I had heard that Depp's Wonka was incredibly weird and creepy and that there was some kind of Michael Jackson-like undertone. Huh? In all honesty, I never interpreted him that way. lol First and foremost, I think that a lot of adults cannot accept the idea of a child-like adult without inejecting some kind of sexual component to it. Why this is necessary, I don't know. But I can confidently say that I never noticed anything even remotely sexual or inappropriate during the entire movie. Yes, there was a kind of darkness about the way the children were punished, but Wonka himself didn't come across as some kind of pedophile. I think that's an incredibly warped reading of the character. Nor did I feel that Wonka came across as a Michael Jackson clone. Since when does a child-like adult need to somehow be an MJ clone? It's not as though Michael Jackson invented this concept. lol I didn't feel that Wonka's comments or demeanour were at all similar. In fact, Wonka's behavior reminded me of the kind of hosts you see on children's television shows. And this, says Depp, is where his influence came from. I can believe that. I didn't find Willy Wonka to be obnoxious or annoying and I didn't find him to be especially disturbing or particularly creepy. I thought he was endearing in a comical, innocent way. Even his back-and-forth with the children didn't irk me or annoy me - I thought all of that had an innocent charm to it, which again reflected the feeling I had with the novel. Was this movie darker than the original? Yes, I'd say so. But it depends how you interpret "darker", I think. For example, the new Willy Wonka's "darkness" is simply more obvious. This is also evident in the fact that his character is also more abrasive than the earlier version of Wonka. The earlier version of Wonka is a more fatherly character, I'd say. He does have a sense of darkness about him, but it's generally a kind of craziness without necessarily being directed at the children. In the boat ride sequence from the original film, Wonka went on a kind of crazy monologue that sort of came from nowhere. Whereas the new Wonka's darker side tends to be more specifically directed at the children and the adults. But Wonka isn't the principal change in tone, I don't think. The principal change in tone comes from the children, the art design and the Oompa Loompa songs. The children in this version are pretty obviously nastier than they were in the first (with the possible exception of Veruca Salt). The art design is also generally a good deal more odd, which is largely just a biproduct of Tim Burton's own inherent art style. And the Oompa Loompa lyrics are quite dramatically darker and nastier than they were in the first film. So I'd say that it's generally a darker film, for a multitude of reasons. But it's not so dark that children shouldn't see it - it is, in fact, a film that children will appreciate more than adults in many ways. And that's the point. Parents who don't take their children because "it's not a kids' movie" are missing the point, which is a shame. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention...the flashbacks. This seems to have been a slight point of controversy, as it's the only aspect of the film that really isn't like the novel. I was feeling a bit worried about what I'd heard, but I must say, I enjoyed the flashbacks. They did flesh out Wonka's character ever so slightly, but they also provided a relevant subplot that contributed to the film's ending. In a funny way, I felt like this was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory combined with Big Fish. But really, I had no problem with that, because nothing was being taken away from the core story - the core story was being added to. It can be a sensitive area, especially for avid fans of the novel, but I was quite happy with it. I enjoyed Christopher Lee (as I usually do) and I enjoyed the way everything came together at the end. It actually reinforced the idea that Willy Wonka isn't some kind of deviant or a man with questionable intentions, which makes such claims from viewers even more ridiculous. So, at the end of the day, I enjoyed the film and I would say that it's easily up there with any of Burton's other films that I've personally enjoyed. Do I prefer it to the original? It's really hard to say. I suppose I do prefer it, but that's only because it simply has more elements that suit me (and because it includes some aspects of the book that I consider important). However, I still love the original just as much and I still adore Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka as much as I did before. So that hasn't changed one bit. As a matter of fact, this entire experience has just reminded me that I need to buy Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on DVD and pre-order Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as soon as I can. Owning both is the way to go, I'd say. ~_^ Erm, I will respond to your comments from my last post next time, along with any I get on this post. I've done enough typing for now. I'm tired and it's late, so I hope everything was coherent.

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