Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Alice au pays des merveilles (1949)


This film is a bit of an oddity as it was produced in France by Victorine Studios in two versions: French and English for the UK.  It is primarily stop-motion helmed by Lou Bunin, with Carol Marsh as a live-action Alice.  The live action scenes were all shot twice for the different languages, and each version has a different director (Marc Maurette for French and Dallas Bower for English).

Because Walt Disney was working on his animated adaptation at the same time which was to be released in 1951 (the same year as the English version of this one), the Disney studio arranged to have the existence of this film virtually snuffed out with legal battles, to prevent any confusion to audience goers.  The English version of the film barely found an audience, even on television where the 1933 picture overshadowed it.  Thus, the film faded into obscurity.

I initially watched the French version and decided to check out the English version just to clarify certain new elements that were added to the story, and I found the English version to have scenes placed in a different order, with some scenes only appearing in one version.  The two directors took all of the same footage and managed to make two very different films in tone and plot.  I shall attempt to highlight what goes where, but with very little information on these films, its easy to get confused between the two.


Original Source Breakdown

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chapter I: Down the Rabbit Hole - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The film actually begins with the real life Alice Liddell and her family, preparing for a visit from Queen Victoria in Oxford.  Charles Dodgson takes the Liddell sisters out on a boat ride to keep them occupied and out of the Queen's way and here he tells them the story of Alice's adventure.  While the Queen's visit didn't coincide with the boat ride, the book officially starts with a poem that recounts the actual boat ride Dodgson took with the girls, which is practically quoted verbatim here.  Once the story begins, Alice falls down the whole into a very surreal Hall of Doors sequence.

Chapter II: The Pool of Tears - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The story continues as normal and Alice ends up with the Mouse on the "Drink Me" bottle in the Pool of Tears.  Here, she sings a song about how weird this Wonderland place is.

Chapter III: The Caucus-Race and a Long Tale - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
The French and English versions differ greatly here.  The English version focuses on the animals gathering and arguing about who caused the flood.  They accuse Alice but their disorder is managed by one of the birds who insists that they must get dry first.  The Mouse recounts his history lesson to dry them all.  In the French version, the history lesson is gone and the Dodo leads them in the Caucus-Race instead (which takes place on a carousel).  So, both parts were filmed, but each was used differently.  In both versions, the gang of animals decide to pursue Alice, although their motivations differ depending on the language.

Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
In the French version, Alice starts exploring the Rabbit's house of her own accord, and in the English, Alice is sent by the Rabbit to fetch his gloves.  After the size changes and lizard abuse, the Rabbit leads the charge of animals to hunt down Alice for destroying his house, creating more tension an pursuit.  He teams up with the animals from the previous scene.

Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar - MOSTLY REMOVED
Alice briefly talks with the Caterpillar (and in the English version, she sings "Father William" as well).  She doesn't get any mushroom to eat, however.

Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
There is a big production as the Queen's army helps the Rabbit search for Alice, and a procession of Fish Footmen sing as they deliver the invitation.  Also, after Alice goes into the Duchess's house, we see the Knave of Hearts eating some of the tarts he had stolen.

Chapter VII: A Mad Tea Party - MOSTLY INTACT
The scene plays out like normal and the Dormouse even gets to tell some of its story before the "Twinkle Twinkle" song lulls him to sleep.  Alice then goes back into the door in the tree.

Chapter VIII: The Queen's Croquet-Ground - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Okay, things get difficult here.  In the French version, the Rabbit interacts with the gardeners and sings a song about how he came to be in his higher position.  In the English version, Alice watches the Rabbit perform this song when she peers through the door to the garden back in Chapter I.  So instead, she meets up with the Cheshire Cat for directions, and somehow ends up watching the Lobster-Quadrille well before that chapter.  Either way she ends up in the Queen's court eventually.  We see more of the croquet game in the English version, with Alice attempting to play and the Cat's head appearing.

Chapter IX: The Mock Turtle's Story - MOSTLY REMOVED/ALTERED
The Duchess appears very briefly during the croquet game.  After the Queen wakes up the Gryphon, things differ once more.  The Mock Turtle is entirely skipped in the French version.  In English, he tells just the beginning of his story.

Chapter X: The Lobster-Quadrille - MOSTLY REMOVED/ALTERED
In the English version, the Mock Turtle sings "Turtle Soup" and then other sea creatures sing the Lobster-Quadrille, even though the dancing lobsters were seen earlier in the film.  The French version goes straight to the Lobster-Quadrille, after which, the sun sets as the Gryphon laughs his laugh.

Chapter XI: Who Stole the Tarts? - MOSTLY REMOVED/ALTERED
The singing fish once again kick things off in the French version.  Only the Hatter appears as a witness and he brings his whole tea set with him.

Chapter XII: Alice's Evidence - MOSTLY INTACT/ALTERED
Alice only shows up when she is called to be a witness.  At this point the versions both follow the book to the end, where Alice wakes up on the boat as Dodgson finishes his story.

Through the Looking-Glass - NOT INCLUDED

Review:
Before watching this one, I heard a lot of negative reviews.  But as I was watching the film, I found myself really impressed with the production.  The surreal dreamlike quality was enhanced by the stop-motion puppets that inhabited the world.  The fact that it was in French meant that I had a layer of obscurity to get through, but fortunately I know enough French and the original story well enough, so I was rarely lost.  This seemed to be an incredible version.

Once I watched the English version, however, I realized why this was so despised.  The editing of the scenes in the English version is all over the place.  Moments are out of order for seemingly no reason, and there is a lot of stilted dialogue and sharp edits between scenes.  I'm not sure why Bower directed his version of the film this way, but the Maurette cut is far superior.


The picture quality is better in the French version and more of the animation is intact.  Unfortunately, the French version doesn't have everything (the Mock Turtle for instance), but it is still an enjoyable watch.  In fact, having the Gryphon without the Mock Turtle to balance with made him a far more sinister and crazy character as he was always laughing at Alice and keeping her disoriented.

Version differences aside, this adaptation must be the truest and best that I've seen thus far.  By incorporating the Dodgson/Liddell scenes as the frame work for the film, the audience gets to understand more of the historical context in which the story was written, which I feel adds so much depth to the original tale.


Also, the additions to the story are welcome and make the plot feel a lot less random.  The White Rabbit is almost the second main character as we often see his actions with the other inhabitants of Wonderland without Alice there to witness them.  I know this is supposed to be Alice's dream and its all about her perspective, but it was cool to see another side of Wonderland in this fashion.  The Queen's Court has much more of a presence throughout the story, but it doesn't replace or step on the toes of the original story.  It's just added bonus material that makes the film that much richer.

While the 1933 film definitely felt like the first movie adaptation, this one is it's own stylized production.  The visuals are incredible and unique and it keep the feeling of having a dream/nightmare intact the whole way through.  Just make sure you are sticking with the French version.  Hopefully you can find one with subtitles, because the English version is a convoluted cut up mess.  Maybe one day, someone will edit an ultimate version that incorporates all of the animation from both.  Maybe.

4.5 out of 5 Tartes des la Reine (French Version)
2.5 out of 5 Queen's Tarts (English Version)

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