DVD Review: Alice in Wonderland

Alice In Wonderland
Produced and Directed by: Jonathan Miller
Based on the novel by Lewis Carroll
Starring: Peter Sellers, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Michael Redgrave, Willifrid Brambell, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, John Bennett, John Bird, Leo McKern, and Anne-Marie Mallik

Special Features:  Director's Commentary, Cecil Hepworth's 1093 Silent Film Version of Alice in Wonderland, Dennis Potter's 1965 biopic, Alice, about the real-life Alice Liddel, the inspiration for Carroll's creation, Ravi Shankar Plays for Alice, Behind-the-scenes photo gallery by renowned photographer Terence Spencer.

From the box:

Screen legends Peter Sellers, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Peter Cook, and Leo McKern star in this haunting and surreal adaptation of Lewis Carroll's masterpiece, directed by Jonathan Miller with original music by Ravi Shankar.


In this Victoria gothic masterpiece, filmed for the BBC in 1966, an enigmatic young Alice wanders through a Victorian landscape populated by the most bizarre and astonishing characters.  She gently questions each one in turn, not so subtly mocking their middle-class English values. Packed with extras from the BBC vault, this Alice in Wonderland is a feast for the imagination!

This 1966 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland caught me by complete surprise.  When I sat down, I was expecting to see rabbits and cats and a wonderland similar to the books. What I got was a confusing, almost surrealistic mess that was almost unwatchable.  This plays more like a pretentious thesis film than anything else. Any animal parts have all been replaced with humans who then act out animal sounds in the most excruciatingly annoying way possible.

All these brilliant actors seemed to sleep through their performances (When they weren't oinking, barking, or chortling), which may have been the point but I can't be sure.  Alice herself had all the charisma of a three-toed sloth.  Seriously, she had one facial expression through the entire film.

The special features are interesting but they do nothing to make up for the fact that this adaptation is bland, boring, and overall pointless.  It feels more like someone wanted to make an art film with all the pratfalls that come with it.

12 hours later and I'm not even sure what I watched.

Excruciating.

If you want to check it out, although I cannot imagine why you would, Alice in Wonderland is available now.