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DVD Alice in Wonderland
Fans of Lewis Carroll's classic novel for children will be fascinated by this startling 1966 interpretation by Jonathan Miller, a noted British theater director. Influenced by surrealism and Victorian architecture, Miller's black-and-white version of Wonderland is a dour and creepy place, not the frenetic and charming bustle usually depicted. A brunette Alice (Anne-Marie Mallik) wanders like a sleepwalker, rarely looking anyone in the eye, and has fractured conversations with the likes of the Mad Hatter (Peter Cook, Bedazzled), the Caterpillar (Sir Michael Redgrave, The Lady Vanishes), the Duchess (Leo McKern, Rumpole of the Bailey), and the Mock Turtle (Sir John Gielgud, Brideshead Revisited, Arthur). The result is probably an accurate picture of the adult world seen through a child's eyes--an unsettling and intriguing vision. Also featuring Peter Sellers as the King of Hearts and music by Ravi Shankar. --Bret Fetzer
Despite what a previous long winded, word regurgitating review said, the cast and direction is phenomenal, AS is the girl who plays Alice. Of all the Alice interpretations I have seen, this girl was the first to have the bored, world weary attitude that fits so perfectly in this film and in the book. FURTHERMORE, the cover art on this dvd is appalling, AND you will spot Monty Python's Eric Idle as an extra in the trial scene.
Be Prepared to Be Enthralled and Slightly Baffled
What a surprise that a gem like this exists!! I had never even heard that this was created until just recently. The 4 previous reviews all have very good points so I won't go into great detail. It is a disjointed affair, but well worth the trouble to delve into. The girl chosen as Alice seems years too old for the role though. If bizarre 60's movies are not something you are into, then I would advise those people against getting it. If you like weird films like Wonderwall or shows like The Prisoner, you may be able to enjoy this film. I find it fascinating and it is highly psychedelic. There is no doubt that this is a 60's take on Alice. Incredible camerawork with much detail put into camera angles and setting really add to the surreality of this work. Leo McKern is hysterical as the Dutchess. Peter Cook and Peter Sellers have some fun with their roles as do all the cast. No one has a very large role. This looks like it was a blast to make and should entertain anyone with an open mind. I would say that it is not geared toward children as many versions of Alice are. Most little kids will be confused and possibly disturbed. This is much more fun for grown-ups. See if you can spot the Monty Python cameo.
A Darker Wonderland
This release of BBC-TV's 1966 black-and-white Alice in Wonderland is very fine indeed. The film is a surreal, theatrical, and dark "Alice," designed as a dream version of Victorian life - there are no animal costumes here. The caucus race is a scene in a public school, the Caterpillar is a sort of headmaster, the trial is a massive church setting, and so on. Alice herself is almost completely impassive, and rarely speaks aloud; I found myself interpreting the whole thing as an autistic girl's skewed and nonsensical view of the world around her. Despite its short length, the film takes its time, and has a very dry sense of humor; I found it endlessly fascinating once I got into it, though. It's almost hypnotic - something greatly helped by Ravi Shankar's sitar music.
The picture quality is excellent, unusual for British TV of this period. Director Jonathan Miller personally contributes an excellent commentary track, discussing the film's themes, his actors, and why he felt a darker "Alice" needed to be made. The disc is rounded out with a short picture gallery, and a real surprise: the first-ever "Alice" film, a 10-minute silent from 1903, with commentary. Really my only complaint is the lack of subtitles for the feature film; Alice's own dialogue is frequently whispered, and to the casual ear can be hard to decipher. Otherwise, this is a great film with an excellent DVD presentation that demonstrates quality over quantity. I recommend it very highly.
This adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland mixes animation and live action to create a dreamlike world, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's simply a kid's film. Young Alice (Kristyna Kohoutová, spoken by Camilla Power) watches a stuffed and mounted rabbit come to life in her playroom and follows it through a magical drawer into a strange world that resembles a 19th-century toy store come to life, with a few specimens from a natural history museum thrown in. Czech animator Jan Svankmajer retains the familiar story elements but tweaks them with bizarre imagery brought to herky-jerky life with his spasmodic style of stop-motion animation. The caterpillar becomes a sock puppet with dentures, while other crazy creatures materialize as creepy skull-headed... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jan Svankmajer DVD Release Date: Released the 11 April 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This gorgeously designed theater production of Lewis Carroll's world-famous fantasy, based on a famous production from the 1930s, features an astonishing array of notable actors. Richard Burton is quietly touching as the doddering White Knight; Eve Arden spits out commands as the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts; Donald O'Connor plays the woeful Mock Turtle as a jaunty standup comedian; and such varied talents as Colleen Dewhurst, Nathan Lane, Maureen Stapleton, James Coco, Andre Gregory, and Geoffrey Holder fill out Carroll's phantasmagoria as Kate Burton (Richard's daughter) plays the title character in the classic blue-and-white dress and blond tresses. All the sets and costumes are meticulously based on the illustrations from the original books (the story line is a mix of... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Kirk Browning DVD Release Date: Released the 20 November 2001 Usually ships within 24 hours
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This 1966 masterpiece by Michelangelo Antonioni (The Passenger) is set in the heady atmosphere of Swinging London, and stars David Hemmings as an unsmiling fashion photographer hooked on ephemeral meaning attached to anything: art, sex, work, relationships, drugs, events. When a real mystery falls into his lap, he probes the evidence for some reliable truth, but finds it hard to reckon with. Vanessa Redgrave plays an enigmatic woman whose desperation to cover something up only seems like one more phenomenon in Hemmings's disinterested purview. This is one of the key films of the decade, and still an unsettling and lasting experience. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vanessa Redgrave - David Hemmings Director(s): Michelangelo Antonioni DVD Release Date: Released the 17 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This British film version of the Lewis Carroll classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is without a doubt the most faithful adaption to date! (except for the addition of the Looking-Glass twins, Tweedle Dee and Dum.). A surperb cast, lead by the talented Fiona Fullerton, who makes a splendid Alice, is supported by some of Britain's finest actors as the inhabitants of Wonderland; Sir Ralph Richardson as the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, Michael Crawford as the ever-tardy White Rabbit, Dame Flora Robson as the head-hunting Queen of Hearts and Peter Sellers and Dudley Moore as the mad March Hare and his sleepy sidekick, the Doormouse. The American popularity of he last two mentioned actors is why the film was shown overseas here in the United States. Miss Fullerton may seem a bit too old... More Info about this DVD Director(s): William Sterling DVD Release Date: Released the 01 June 1999 Usually ships within 24 hours
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Considered by many to be Federico Fellini's most beautiful and powerful film, La Strada was the first film to reveal the range of Guilietta Masina, whose poignant performance as the childlike Gelsomina recalls Chaplin's Little Tramp. The bubbly, waiflike Gelsomina is a simpleton sold to the gruff, bullying circus strongman Zampanò (Anthony Quinn) as a servant and assistant. Treated no better than an animal, Gelsomina nonetheless falls in love with the brute Zampanò. When they join a small circus they meet Il Matto (Richard Basehart), a clown who enchants Gelsomina and relentlessly taunts Zampanò, whose inability to control his hatred of Il Matto (literally, "the Fool") leads to their expulsion from the circus and eventually to the film's fateful conclusion.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Anthony Quinn - Giulietta Masina - Richard Basehart Director(s): Federico Fellini DVD Release Date: Released the 18 November 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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