[Movies] Alice in Wonderland
I'm not using my review tag or icon because this isn't really a review, it's more of a discussion.
The plot was okay, the visuals were pretty. The acting is really the best part, but how can it be anything else with the spectacular cast? And not even talking about Depp here (I'm actually ambivalent about his interpretation of the Mad Hatter). I left the theatre feeling content, but not amazed.
Not until later.
It's an example of Fridge Brilliance at its finest. (TV Tropes link. You've been warned. Please read the rest before clicking or you may never know what I'm about to say.)
The actress and character who really intrigues me? The White Queen and Anne Hathaway's interpretation.
Why am I so intrigued by her?
Because on further reflection, I'm quite convinced that the White Queen is capable of far more twisted things than the Red Queen could ever imagine.
It's in the small things. It's in the subtleties of Hathaway's performance. It's in lines that have double meanings, and lines that give us far more information that it seems at first.
Tell me the expression on the White Queen's face when Alice hands her the vorpal sword isn't one of near ecstasy.
"You can't imagine the things that go on in that place." "Oh yes I can." She can? Because she's seen them, or because they are child's play compared to what goes on inside her own mind?
The Red Queen accuses the White Queen of attempting to manipulate her, and of having manipulated their parents. In fact, it's hinted that the White Queen manipulated their parents so much as to have them hand her the crown rather than her sister, who was the eldest and thus heir by right of succession. The White Queen (don't ask me to remember their names, I can't) was born beautiful, with a normal-sized head. Was she spoiled because of this? How manipulative is she, really? After all, she manipulates Alice to taking up the vorpal sword and facing the Jabberwocky.
Then, when she regains her crown, there is a real, heavy sense of her regaining power, and it's in her voice as well. And her punishment for her sister is really worse than the death she claims she won't give because it goes against her vows.
Speaking of these vows, what's that all about? When I first started down this line of thought, I concluded she took the vows to keep from giving in to the violent, sadistic urges she felt. I still think she knows very well what she's capable of, and has taken measures against becoming what she is capable of becoming. And yet... that punishment. She took sadistic glee in meting it out. It's in her face and in her eyes. She knew very well what she was doing was far worse than execution.
I almost feel sorry for the Red Queen. Her cruelty is childish. Oh, she's cruel all right, and nasty, and mean, but she's not really sadistic. She doesn't take pleasure in death. In fact, she doesn't seem to understand it's weight at all. She's like a child that rips the heads off her dolls, knowing someone will put them back on later, or will replace them. Her servants are dolls, toys, and can be replaced.
The White Queen understands death. She knows what it means to order someone's demise, she knows and some part of her likes it. She would like nothing more than to take up that vorpal sword herself. But for her vows.
Anne Hathaway seems to be channeling Snow White/Giselle from Enchanted in her physical movements, but believe it or not it's the over the top movement that allows the subtlety of Hathway's performance to really shine. Watch her face. Listen to her voice. That's where her real performance is, and I'm really impressed.
So there.
Oh look, I was right:
Anne Hathaway as Mirana of Marmoreal, the White Queen. Her character does not require digital manipulation.[21] Hathaway summed up her character with a caption on a magnet of Happy Bunny holding a knife; "Cute but psycho. Things even out."[22] She is very eccentric and dramatic.[19] According to Hathaway, "She comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen. She really likes the dark side, but she's so scared of going too far into it that she's made everything appear very light and happy. But she's living in that place out of fear that she won't be able to control herself."[23] Hathaway describes her interpretation of the White Queen as "a punk-rock, vegan pacifist", with inspiration drawn from Blondie, Greta Garbo, and the artwork of Dan Flavin.
I don't know if I should be deflated because I'm apparently late to the party, or if I should just applaud Burton and Hathaway more for being able to convey this so well with so little.
I'm enjoying this movie more in the post-viewing contemplation than I enjoyed it in the theatre. I would actually like to see it again to see if I can pick out any more nuances to support my theory about the White Queen.
The plot was okay, the visuals were pretty. The acting is really the best part, but how can it be anything else with the spectacular cast? And not even talking about Depp here (I'm actually ambivalent about his interpretation of the Mad Hatter). I left the theatre feeling content, but not amazed.
Not until later.
It's an example of Fridge Brilliance at its finest. (TV Tropes link. You've been warned. Please read the rest before clicking or you may never know what I'm about to say.)
The actress and character who really intrigues me? The White Queen and Anne Hathaway's interpretation.
Why am I so intrigued by her?
Because on further reflection, I'm quite convinced that the White Queen is capable of far more twisted things than the Red Queen could ever imagine.
It's in the small things. It's in the subtleties of Hathaway's performance. It's in lines that have double meanings, and lines that give us far more information that it seems at first.
Tell me the expression on the White Queen's face when Alice hands her the vorpal sword isn't one of near ecstasy.
"You can't imagine the things that go on in that place." "Oh yes I can." She can? Because she's seen them, or because they are child's play compared to what goes on inside her own mind?
The Red Queen accuses the White Queen of attempting to manipulate her, and of having manipulated their parents. In fact, it's hinted that the White Queen manipulated their parents so much as to have them hand her the crown rather than her sister, who was the eldest and thus heir by right of succession. The White Queen (don't ask me to remember their names, I can't) was born beautiful, with a normal-sized head. Was she spoiled because of this? How manipulative is she, really? After all, she manipulates Alice to taking up the vorpal sword and facing the Jabberwocky.
Then, when she regains her crown, there is a real, heavy sense of her regaining power, and it's in her voice as well. And her punishment for her sister is really worse than the death she claims she won't give because it goes against her vows.
Speaking of these vows, what's that all about? When I first started down this line of thought, I concluded she took the vows to keep from giving in to the violent, sadistic urges she felt. I still think she knows very well what she's capable of, and has taken measures against becoming what she is capable of becoming. And yet... that punishment. She took sadistic glee in meting it out. It's in her face and in her eyes. She knew very well what she was doing was far worse than execution.
I almost feel sorry for the Red Queen. Her cruelty is childish. Oh, she's cruel all right, and nasty, and mean, but she's not really sadistic. She doesn't take pleasure in death. In fact, she doesn't seem to understand it's weight at all. She's like a child that rips the heads off her dolls, knowing someone will put them back on later, or will replace them. Her servants are dolls, toys, and can be replaced.
The White Queen understands death. She knows what it means to order someone's demise, she knows and some part of her likes it. She would like nothing more than to take up that vorpal sword herself. But for her vows.
Anne Hathaway seems to be channeling Snow White/Giselle from Enchanted in her physical movements, but believe it or not it's the over the top movement that allows the subtlety of Hathway's performance to really shine. Watch her face. Listen to her voice. That's where her real performance is, and I'm really impressed.
So there.
Oh look, I was right:
Anne Hathaway as Mirana of Marmoreal, the White Queen. Her character does not require digital manipulation.[21] Hathaway summed up her character with a caption on a magnet of Happy Bunny holding a knife; "Cute but psycho. Things even out."[22] She is very eccentric and dramatic.[19] According to Hathaway, "She comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen. She really likes the dark side, but she's so scared of going too far into it that she's made everything appear very light and happy. But she's living in that place out of fear that she won't be able to control herself."[23] Hathaway describes her interpretation of the White Queen as "a punk-rock, vegan pacifist", with inspiration drawn from Blondie, Greta Garbo, and the artwork of Dan Flavin.
I don't know if I should be deflated because I'm apparently late to the party, or if I should just applaud Burton and Hathaway more for being able to convey this so well with so little.
I'm enjoying this movie more in the post-viewing contemplation than I enjoyed it in the theatre. I would actually like to see it again to see if I can pick out any more nuances to support my theory about the White Queen.