Thursday, June 03, 2010

Alice in Underland




Tim Burton's interpretation of the Lewis Carrol adventure is big fun. There's been a version of this story for every stage of my life it seems from Disney to Jefferson Starship to the Matrix. Now that Johnny Depp and I have reached mid-life together, we have this new spin on the classic tale.

Alice, nineteen now and set up by her mom to marry a proper dud of a rich socialite, falls the down the same rabbit hole from her childhood. Only she thought it was a dream. She meets the same characters and lives basically the same story, but reworked by Burton. The themes in movie make for great discussion. The villian is the big headed ego centric psycho queen of hearts (played by Helena Bonham Carter) surrounded by sycophants with various fake exaggerated body parts. Poetic justice awaits, honey.

Other themes include the David and Goliath concept of the little dude willing to do the impossible and face terror incarnate because it's the right thing to do but no one will do it, believing you can do the impossible, a satirical look of good empire against bad empire and boths' lack of genuine virtuous heroes, and how necessary it is for normal, everyday people to go against the flow and do the right thing even if everyone says you can't.

Whacky? Weird? Yes to both. But visually fun and satisfying. If you're in Costo or WalMart, pick up the DVD like the Charming and Beautiful Susan and I did yesterday.






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1 comment:

Luann said...

Ahh. Glad to read your review. Ken and I have been talking about seeing it. In his former life, he played the King of Hearts in a stage performance. :)