Jabberwocky (1977)

In a bit of a change from the normal Carrollian adaptation, Monty Python member Terry Gilliam decided to only adapt the famous "Jabberwocky" poem as his first solo-directorial feature.  While it borrowed much of the humor, look, and style from the previous Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this film also set up much of Gilliam's own personality and tone that would be present in his later films.

Expanding upon the short tale told in the poem means that there is a lot of added content and characters and the story, in fact, differs drastically from the original as a result.  There is no specific connection to the Wonderland universe, although the behavior of the inhabitants would definitely not be out of place in the original books, so it almost works as a historical prequel.  Being so far removed, I'll just provide a short synopsis in the Original Source Breakdown.

Original Source Breakdown

Through the Looking-Glass
Chapter I: Looking-Glass House - ALTERED
The official "Jabberwocky" poem appears in snippets throughout the film as being told by a street-performing puppeteer.  The first verse opens the film and most of the tale is included.  The extra creatures of the Tulgey Wood are excluded and the Jabberwock is the only monster.  In fact, it is mostly referred to as "The Monster" by the citizens of the kingdom.  It appears as a giant puppet suit worn by an actor that mostly mimics the original illustration.

Dennis Cooper is a young barrel-maker's apprentice who leaves to make his mark in the "big city" after his father passes (and disowns him).  He is naive and helpful and often finds himself accidentally bouncing around from situation to situation.  The kingdom is being tormented by the Jabberwock which is bad for morale, but great for the economy.  While the merchants try to prevent the King from finding a knight to slay the beast, he holds a tournament to find his strongest warrior.

Through a series of misunderstandings (after being mistaken for a prince by the Princess), Dennis ends up taking the role of squire for the champion knight Red Herring.  As the two set forth to slay the beast, they encounter the Black Knight, hired by the merchants to protect the beast.  When the Jabberwock arrives, all are killed except for Dennis who, accidentally, defeats it.  He returns with the head of the monster and he is given the kingdom and the Princess's hand in marriage, even though that wasn't at all what he wanted.

Review:
This film isn't a smashing success, but I enjoyed so much of what it did and tried to bring to the table.  If you're expecting a consistent level of humor on par with Monty Python's other works, you won't find it here.  Instead, Gilliam tried to fully flesh out the world of the Jabberwock, opting for a parody of fairy tale tropes and romantic adventures.  What would a medieval Wonderland look like?  Well, it's probably very close to this one.

Everything is designed to subvert your expectations.  The "hero" doesn't have any desire to be one.  He just wants a steady job and to marry a homely, disrespectful neighbor girl.  All of his true skills for planning and efficiency are ignored and don't even come during his encounter with the beast.  Even the expectations to the subversions are thwarted.  When it's announced that there will be a jousting tournament to find the champion, I expected a Shrek-like scenario where Dennis would come out the unintended victor.  But nope, he never even gets into the tournament field.  Instead, in silly Python fashion, the tournament is replaced with a giant game of hide-and-seek in one of the films funnier scenes that felt as if Carroll had designed it.

There's a lot of social commentary going on in the plot, specifically in the relationship with the old King (who has lost touch with the plights of modern society) and the merchants and bishop (who chase after the profit that the Jabberwock has brought their trades).  And the Princess's insistance on marrying a Prince (because that how it happens in all the books) is taken to its absurd extreme.  Even the Herald is a slave to his position even though he has no idea how to properly execute his duties.  This idea of everyone being trapped in the role designed for them is great and thus feels like a missing chapter from Looking-Glass.

Where the movie falls short is that Gilliam had not yet perfected the art of sustaining his story.  There are a lot of funny moments that are connected by boring slogs of character business that could have been edited away.  Dennis's aimless journey really does feel aimless, but not in a tightly structured way.  It's more of an excuse to see different parts of the kingdom.  The fact that the tournament lasts two days, and thus two scenes, feels kind of repetitive, and it could have been better structured to cut out the first day.  We get all of the funnier jokes in that second day (with the body count of knights rising and the spectators getting covered with more blood each time the camera cuts to them).

I liked that this was the first adaptation I saw that really tried to expand on world-building in the Wonderland universe, without making it all about Alice and "dark reimaginings."  Despite having so much new material, it didn't feel as if it clashed with the stories we are familiar with.  A lot of the "modern" adaptations make the world feel too much like our own world, but by setting this in the distant past which is already a bit fantastical in our minds, it works perfectly.  It's a fun medieval film that would fit right alongside the best of them.

4 out of 5 Turnips