VERSUS THE SCARECROW EPISODE 16: In 3D?!. I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites. You can read the rest of my series here.
Just a quick refresher: each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film. “….and here. We. Go!”
Well, not really. But I have yet to talk about animated films on Versus the Scarecrow so I’m dedicating an entire episode to them! This week I’ll be taking a look at the whimsical odyssey that is Spirited Away, the surrealist stop-motion film Alice, and I’ll reflect on Katsuhiro Otomo’s groundbreaking film Akira.
Alice (1988) Directed by Jan Svankmajer. Starring: Kristýna Kohoutová, Camilla Power. IMDB says: “A surrealist re-visioning of Alice in Wonderland.”
“…said the white rabbit.”
We all know the story of Alice in Wonderland. We either read the book or saw the animated Disney version. Alice follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole, unlocks a door, and she enters a magical world known as Wonderland. She encounters a chesire cat, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, etc. It’s a cutesy fairytale that everyone equates to drugs blah blah blah. Alice, is none of that. Yes, you meet signature characters, but they are nothing like you remember. In this bizarre fever dream of a film, Czechoslovakian director Jan Svankmajer turns the Lewis Carroll tale into a dark art-house hybrid stop-motion live-action film that truly needs to be seen to be believed. I’ll say this upfront; I didn’t care for the film. I felt it was boring at times and it felt like Alice (portrayed by Kristyna Kohoutova) was going through the motions. What kept me watching this film was the stop-motion animation. For what they were trying to accomplish, and the year they were trying to accomplish it in, they nailed it. The animation is fluid, creative, disturbing, but overall impressive. We watch Alice grow and shrink in size, animals run round looking like taxidermy scrap drawer creations, and the Mad Hatter and March Hare scene, while unbearable repetitive, is impressive with everything running like a fine oiled machine.
In Alice, Alice is playing upstairs when she watches a stuffed rabbit (taxidermy style) come to life, put on clothes, and run down a field to a table and drawer. She runs to the draw, climbs inside, and takes the plunge into Wonderland. (I’m assuming they call it that because they never come out and say where they are). From there Alice shrinks and grows her way through castles, homes, rivers, and many other interesting settings. A majority of the scenery, except for outside footage, is bland with little to no decoration aside from what Alice interacts with. In some of the more surreal scenes at the Queens palace, the color and fabric show, adding color to a rather dull looking film. And again, Kristyna Kohoutova is disappointing as Alice. There is no motivation and she often looks dead behind the eyes. Who knows, maybe that was the look Svankmajer was going for (being a Czech Art House film and all), but it just makes a rather dull film all the more, well, dull. I don’t remember there being a soundtrack and the only dialogue in the film is Alice giving voiceover to what the characters say, then cutting to a close up of her mouth, just her mouth, as she says, “…said the White Rabbit” or “…proclaimed the Queen of Hearts”. At first it’s interesting, then it gets creepy, and quickly becomes annoying.
The film is available on Netflix Instant Queue and if you enjoy stop motion animation, or are very fond of practical effects you will not be disappointed. But if you’re looking for a coherent story, decent soundtrack, or underappreciated performances, you won’t find it here.
Check back tomorrow to read the conclusion of episode 16 with my reflections on Akira. If you're interested in more, you can find the rest of the Versus The Scarecrow series here.