Neco z Alenky (1988)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Jan Svankmajer

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (novel) and
Jan Svankmajer (writer)

Release Date:

26 March 1989 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Animation | Fantasy | Horror

Plot:

A memorably bizarre screen version of Lewis Carroll's novel 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', mixing...

Plot Keywords:

Bizarre | Stop Motion | Rabbit | Stop Motion Animation | Cult Favorite

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Kristýna Kohoutová	...	Alice
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Camilla Power	...	Alice (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

Alice
Nieco z Alenky (Czechoslovakia: Slovak title)

Runtime:

86 min | Argentina:86 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Czechoslovakia | Switzerland | UK | West Germany

Language:

Czech

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Czech Republic:U | UK:PG

Company:

Channel Four Films

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alice: Alice thought to herself... Alice thought to herself 'Now you will see a film... made for children... perhaps... ' But, I nearly forgot... you must... close your eyes... otherwise... you won't see anything.

Movie Connections:

References The Shining (1980)

Wanna give your kiddies nightmares for the rest of their lives?

About five years ago, when I had just graduated from high school, a friend of mine who had been to college introduced me to the works of Jan Svankmajer. He had checked out a VHS copy of three short films, Darkness/Light/Darkness, Male Games, and The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia. All three of them were works of great genius, and I immediately stored Svankmajer's name in my vault. So it's sad that it took me all five of these years to see another one of his works. I had thought about buying his Faust back when DVDs were dirt-cheap (do you remember those happy days?), but had passed over it for something else. Now I finally found another one of his films, Alice, this one a feature, his adaptation of Lewis Carrol's Alice's Adventures of Wonderland. And, wow, this is one frightening little film, a mix of live-action (well, one little girl) and stop-motion animation of characters like the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts. Stop-motion animation has always looked creepy, and Sankmajer knows it. He also knows that dead animals are scary, and he incorporates their bones into his animation. It makes the whole film more visceral and surreal.

There are two parts of this film that deserve particular attention. 1) the soundtrack. There is no musical score, and the only music at all is the tiny piece that plays over the closing credits. No, by soundtrack I am referring to the sound effects, and they are absolutely amazing. 2) the setting.The original novel and the Disney film set the story in a bizarre forest. Sankmajer sets the story in a delapidated house, with rotting and filthy wooden beams everywhere, creaky doors, and old cabinets. The setting is what makes the film particularly creepy.

As for standout scenes, the caterpillar is pretty awesome. The very best scene, though, is definitely the tea party, with the Mad Hatter and March Hare. Svankmajer's conception of those two characters and of the tea party is truly inspired, and ranks among the best scenes in cinema, in my opinion.

So is it perfect? No. The idea to have Alice speak all the lines, and then show her lips speaking such words as: "The Mad Hatter said" every two minutes grows annoying quickly, and the film would perhaps have been a masterpiece had this flaw been avoided. It seems to be in there for adding time, and it's truly unfortunate. I also wish that Svankmajer would have hurried up the beginning of the film, so as to get to other great scenes in the novel. It takes a half hour before Alice gets into Wonderland, and that's the only time the film grows boring. Whatever. This is still a great film. 9/10.