Alice in Wonderland (1966)(DVD)

This is one in a series of reviews that will eventually be posted for every Alice in Wonderland title available on Amazon. When the Tim Burton rendition of AIW with Johnny Depp was due out in 2010 I thought it might be a good time to go back and watch the benchmark Walt Disney production from 1951, which I saw -or assumed I saw- as a child. It was a chance to get reacquainted with the many varied characters from the story as sort of a warm up for the Burton film. Upon viewing the Disney classic I was astonished to realize that I had likely never seen more than a few clips (at most) of that beautifully rendered Alice in Wonderland. So much seemed brand new. Nor did I have a memory of ever seeing any other "Alice" production. Then I realized that I had never read the book! Wait a minute. Where then did my memory of the Alice story come from? The curiosity sparked by that question ultimately led me over the next two years to accumulate every version of Alice in Wonderland still in existence. Well over 40 by the way!This general commentary continues over in the review sections for both the 1951 AIW production from Walt Disney (Alice in Wonderland (Masterpiece Edition)) and the 2010 production starring Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland). As these are the two most well known Alice's, rather then attempt to add yet-another-review for those two films, it seemed like it might be a more fun use of the provided space to muse a bit on the popularity and remarkable longevity of the story spawned by Lewis Carroll in 1865, as well as to share with you a bit of what I picked up while watching these 40 or so renderings of Alice in Wonderland. All other Alice productions listed by Amazon have a specific review for that title.Review of this 1966 version...To use words such as "unique' and "unusual" to describe anything having to do with Alice in Wonderland is like calling the ocean blue. Still, this particular telling of the "Alice" story takes a point of view separate and apart from any other. It's the only Alice I have seen so far where the characters are not in costume (animal costumes anyway). What? No White Rabbit? No. No Caterpillar? Nope. No Mock Turtle? Negative. They're there, but the actors are not in makeup. That and other attributes makes this wonderland world more "real" than others. Alice doesn't fall down a rabbit hole, she walks into a tunnel. She wanders through, not sets on a stage, but mostly real buildings. In other words she really never leaves this [purposefully created as B&W] world.I find this fascinating. To manifest the Alice story in this way reinforces the idea that Alice in Wonderland is as much `archetypal' as anything else, and that a particular story teller can use the core elements of the Alice tale to make their own points. What is the point here? Perhaps it's the same as the point made in the closing credits of the original TRON, where a stop motion sequence of night freeway traffic in the "real" world mimics the mindless rush in the alternate-reality of the computer world that the lead character has just escaped from. Or maybe the film maker is suggesting what director Robert Altman said when commenting on the film; Six degrees of Separation, that in fact it may be more like only 3 degrees that separate us from each other... and by inference, one world from another, one reality from another.In this production, thirteen year old Anne-Marie Mallik wanders through her wonderland in quiet observation. The actress looks more like the original John Tenniel illustration of Alice than perhaps any other. She rarely speaks, but we hear her thoughts. She is mostly expressionless throughout her ordeal, seemingly unaffected by it... certainly not succumbing to it. In fact, this Alice is so deliberately without emotion I started to wonder if writer/director Jonathan Miller was intending what George Lucas intended when he created C-3PO. Lucas wanted a face sans of all expression so that we, the audience, would each read in to the character what we would. Perhaps that is what Miller was seeking. Or perhaps I am just reading into Alice's look a bit too much. ;>Miller actually does share his point of view about this Alice adventure in an article he wrote around the time the production was released on a British TV series called `The Wednesday Play' (google: "startrader the wednesday play season six alice in wonderland" for the article). Miller's point of view seems to be that in writing about Alice's trials and tribulations as she moved through Wonderland, Lewis Carroll was merely symbolizing the trials and tribulations of childhood. That explanation would help apply meaning to Alice's tendency to grow and shrink throughout her adventure, culminating in her ability to grow in size without the aid of potions or mushrooms in the final court scene, where the child stops allowing everyone to tell her what to do, and instead finally rejects the nonsense taking place around her.A few closing notes... we are of course in the psychedelic 60's at the point this version of Alice is tendered. So if this kind of Alice were to be made it seems this would be its time. The movie is layered with original music from Ravi Shankar, the Sitar musician who inspired the Beatles to infuse Indian music into their own sound. The sitar and oboe based sound track adds a soothing, other-worldly layer to the video and produces a rather hypnotic, "trippy" feeling. By the way, watch for the placement of mirrors in this film. There is one passage at least where Alice's reflection reacts to what is happening while Alice herself remains motionless.(PS - If you are a fan of dark and strange interpretations of Alice in Wonderland be sure to check out the film "Alice", by stop motion animator Jan Svankmajer (Alice).---------------All the Alice reviews in this series are on Listmania:1) Click on my user name (Everone's_a_critic)2) Click on 'Listmania!'3) The click on See 'Entire List'.

I have been always been a big fan of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and I really love this very unique adaption that director Jonathan Miller has created. Miller did a great job of telling Alice’s adventure in wonderland in a very surreal and simplistic manner. The film is shot in very high quality clean and clear black and white.Ann-Marie Mallik is excellent in portraying Alice as a very stoic young girl, as she is encountering the strange and unknown and attempting to remain calm and in control of herself in order to make sense of it all. It is as if her almost trance-like behavior helps her to deal with all the insanity and madness all around her. Underneath her young and angelic appearance, Alice posses intelligence beyond her years.Alice’s whisper-like and almost haunting inner monologs convey a sense of uneasiness and uncertainty she experiences while in her strange surroundings and attempting to regain her sanity.As in the book, Alice encounters a bizarre and dysfunctional cast of characters. Peter Cook does a great portrayal of the Mad Hatter, with his very quirky mannerisms. Sir John Gielgud plays a very out spoken and no nonsense Mock Turtle.Ravi Shankar’s creative use of the sitar and other Indian musical instruments further enhance this film by giving it a very dreamlike and almost transcendental quality.

I've never seen a production so close in spirit to the original book of Alice in Wonderland. At first the artifice of the styles of acting -- particularly the character of Alice -- seemed strange but it worked and I realized how smart this was for the director to do it this way. The production is -- like the book -- moody, shadowy, murky and wonderful.I re-read Alice nearly every year (since a young age and now well into...a later age). I also try and see every movie version. While the Disney cartoon captures the fantasy aspect best, I think this one captures the soul of Alice. My only wish was that Miller had developed this even further. One of the few on-screen Alices where I felt the actor playing Alice was a perfect match for the John Tenniel and Arthur Rackham illustrations from the books -- as well as perfect for the audience to identify with her and get inside her mind a bit.If you love Alice, find this one. The BBC DVD I ordered was terrific.

I liked this, yet I fell asleep about 6 times when watching it, yet I liked it. It's not for everyone. You'll probably like it if you like black and white photography, Victoriana, old movies just because they're old, if you collect versions of Alice in Wonderland, or just like weird movies. At times I couldn't figure out how someone could get this interpretation from Alice in Wonderland, at other times the story was very apparent. It was like looking through an old Victorian photo album. I like it, but many people will be bored to tears. I'm not sorry I bought it but many people might be. Sorry not to be more help, but you'll just have to take your chances on this one. My final guess is, if you're not a collector, antique buff or film freak you probably should avoid it.

This adaptation is stranger than strange and very different from others that I've seen but I like it. I don't really have time for a full review but I'll say that if you're like me and you love seeing different adaptations of the story, you'll probably like this one too.The seller ships very, very quickly and it will arrive in immaculate condition.For enthusiasts and collectors, 5 stars!

This is certainly one of the weirder takes on the Alice story.Don't expect to see any actors in tacky animal outfits or jazzy settings of the songs.Instead... well, imagine a young girl in the late 1800's who has just read ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Then she falls asleep. This film could be her dream. Instead of caterpillars and griffins, you get the various crusty academics, ecclesiastics, maids and governesses who inhabit her waking life.(Played, incidentally, by a superb cast).AS a lifelong fan of Lewis Carroll, part of me feels that I should passionately hate this interpretation - but oddly, I think it's my favourite of all the screen versions.Everything is disjointed and dreamlike. In most of the scenes, Alice is facing or staring away from what's happening. This sullen, wild-haired girl goes through the story in what looks like a state of total disinterest. When she speaks, it's in a sulky flat-toned voice.If you're a fan of the Alice story, I don't think you'll feel neutral about this film. You may hate it, or you may love it (perhaps, like me, you may love it without quite knowing why!)In any case, it's something you should really see at least once.Personally, I rented it, thought about it for a few days, then decided that I had to have my own copy"Life, what is it but a dream?" This version of ALICE captures that feeling more than any other I've yet seen. I think, ultimately, that's why it works for me.

Strange, haunting, surreal, satirical and unsettling - had the BBC not lopped off thirty minutes from Jonathan Miller's film of Alice In Wonderland (1966) then I think we would be looking at a masterpiece. As it stands, it is still a unique piece of work and it is hard to see how it could be bettered (unless, that is, those aforementioned thirty minutes can be found and restored). It is one of those projects where the right director, the right subject and the right cast seem to have come together at the right time. You cannot really repeat something like that.This version has a magic, a melancholy and a depth to it which is somehow best captured in Sir John Gielgud's film-stealing turn as the Mock Turtle.There are a few points of detail about Miller's Alice that I would like to clarify:In his "Director's Commentary" (which is well worth listening to), Sir Jonathan confirms that Ravi Shankar's sitar music was used on the soundtrack in order to suggest the presence of India - specifically the Raj - in the English psyche of the Victorian period. The music is not there because it is "a sixties thing". In alliance with one or two of the visuals, you can see that the effect of it is to suggest a nation "high" on Empire.One of the strengths of this production is that instead of using studio sets, Miller used, where possible, the interiors and exteriors of English buildings of the Victorian period (and their gardens) which were then still extant. This adds enormously to the atmosphere of the piece.He also chose to shoot it in black and white, and in naturalistic light, in order to capture the look and feel of Lewis Carroll's own photographs. Carroll - for those of you who might not know - was, amongst other things, a pioneering Victorian photographer, as well as the author of the Alice books.I would also say that Miller was extremely fortunate in his choice of cameraman, Dick Bush. Many of the scenes are not only beautifully composed, but also beautifully and deeply shot.Other than anything I might already have mentioned, my only real disappointment was that "Pig And Pepper" - my favourite chapter from the book - was not especially well realised in this adaptation (although Leo McKern is perfectly cast as the Duchess). Perhaps this particular scene suffered from the aforementioned cuts.The BFI print is lovely to look at.

This item was purchased as a gift for my granddaughter. It arrived in a timely way, and the item was as described. Thank you!

This is simply the best Alice adaptation around. This, along with Jan Švankmajer's "Alice", albeit a completely different animal, will never be bettered. Say what you will of Lewis Carroll. He might have been a kiddie fiddler, but he sure knew a good story when he saw one. Shot on 35 mm, this 1966 BBC production looks fantastic. There are some absolutely stunning shots here, and some very creative use of wide-angle lenses, giving it all a very dreamlike, hazy quality. And don't get me started on the soundtrack. It's heavenly. Yes, you read that right: heavenly. Why this hasn't been released in some shape or form is beyond me. The cast is a veritable who's who of British TV and film at its height (Sellers, Cook, McKern) and they all put in superb performances.The DVD comes with a host of interesting extras, including a fascinating behind-the-scenes programme in the studio with Ravi Shankar recording the soundtrack and a seldom seen 1965 BBC biopic, starring George Baker:* Director's commentary* Cecil Hepworth's 1903 silent film version of Alice in Wonderland* Dennis Potter's 1965 biopic, Alice, about the real-life Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Carroll's creation* Ravi Shankar Plays for Alice* Behind-the-scenes photo gallery by renowned photographer Terence Spencer