For a moment, life doesn't seem quite so bad...
For a moment, I kind of forgot to be sad...
I was so skeptical going into this movie. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it manages to capture a bit of cinematic magic, which has become increasingly rare in these cynical times. I loved all of the original songs, and every time I heard strains of "Pure Imagination," tears started squirting out of my eye balls. The message is heartfelt and the film itself is vibrant and full of color. There is one sequence in particular that stands out to me and solidifies it as a prequel to the Gene Wilder classic. Timothée Chalamet's younger portrayal of Willy Wonka acts as a loving homage and I can see the two existing side by side harmoniously. Not to mention, Hugh Grant is the bestest little Oompa Loompa. Between D&D and Heretic, I feel like he's having another career renaissance.
I've been analyzing why this film appeals to me so much and there is a real deep-seated sadness that runs throughout it. It's basically about unhappy people who are desperately trying to improve their worth through magical means. Wonka's chocolate promises to take their pain away and usher them into a land of infinite possibilities where the laws of real life no longer apply. I never realized how much melancholy and pathos this story contained. But it's within that inherent framework, along with Wonka's childlike sense of wonder and eternal optimism in the face of impossible odds, that really enhances the whole experience for me (along with the 1971 film). I give it an enthusiastic:
4½ levitating hoverchocs out of 5
2 comments:
This one was noteworthy, to me, for a reason that transcends itself. I picked up on the submerged storyline, and I thought it was absolutely wonderful. But, on the surface, there were things that were just too convenient. Got me walking down the path of something having to work on the surface, regardless of what’s going on beneath. No matter how good what’s buried is, if what’s being shown on the surface is borked…
And, vice versa.
This obviously applies to two specific Sentai series, which succeed and fail in mirrored ways.
I might well be holding them against Wonka. No, I know I am. Someday, I might end up snagging it, and loving it without reserve, without being weighed down by my own bullshit. Because, it is exceptionally good, does absolutely line up with Wilder’s, and I’m aching to have a thing for Timothée XD
A World of Your Own is fucking transcendent.
Glad to hear you liked it. I saw it three times. First time, I would have given it a 3.5. Second time, it jumped up to a 4. Third time, it was nearly perfect to me. Only reason it doesn’t get full marks is because the original holds that spot for me.
But there’s a real gentleness about it that reminds me of childhood, and an underlying sadness, which speaks to me now.
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