Sunday 14 March 2010

Alice in Wonderland: Review Pertamaku!

Lepas tengok "Alice in Wonderland" dekat Cineworld Woodgreen minggu lepas I was telling myself - "Kena tengok sekali lagi ni sebelum buat review".

The reasoning behind this is just how much of psychoanalysis I was doing while the film was running, since aku agak familiar pasal buku-buku Lewis Caroll - "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland" & "Through The Looking Glass, & What Alice Found There" in which Disney's 1st Alice (1951) was based on (assuming this is a direct sequel to that particular production). Dua buku ni merupakan antara exposure terawal aku kepada psikoanalisis. And as far as I am concerned & would like to interpret:

"Wonderland only exists in Alice's distant mind. Whatever happens in Wonderland berkait rapat dengan condition psikologi Alice. "

So lepas 15 minute running time film tu (pre-Wonderland), aku dah speculate, changes dekat Wonderland mesti ada kena mengena dengan changes within Alice herself. Especially considering how complicated her life has become since her last visit.(bapak mati, family nak miskin, nak kahwin ngn mat jongang, pressure society 19th century yang superficial). So lpas her trademark rabbit hole descent (which dalam buku original describe jatuhnya itu perlahan-lahan, tapi kali ni bapak laju dan brutal. Ada maksud? No?) aku tak boleh berhenti cuba mentafsir satu per satu square foot Wonderland, and it's direct representation to Alice's current conscious mind. And at the end I'd very much like to ask enchik Burton:

"What the hell is going on in YOUR 'Wonderland' Tim??"

Like seriously, aku tak faham! Jangan misunderstand, aku tak frustrated, malah aku tersenyum dan rasa tercabar sebab aku masih tak dapat nak speculate apa simbolik Red Queen's reign of tyranny. Heck apa simbol Red Queen's own being and nature pun aku tak faham, (ni bukan credit pada Burton, tapi Caroll). Kenapa Alice dimake-up dengan pucat dan merah matanya? Kenapa Doormouse dah sober? Kenapa Tweedledee & Tweedledum dah botak?

What the hell, see this is why I was telling myself to have a second viewing before reviewing. Cause this is not going anywhere! Oh well, apa-apa pun, in a way - A film's 1st viewing determines the most. And most reviews are made after only one screening regardless.

Apa yang aku dapat however is Mad Hatter's origin and representation. Dari apa yang aku perhati, aku speculate yang Hatter is the representation of bapak si Alice, yang di dunia sebenar dah arwah. Note repetisi - "Yes, I'm afraid you've gone completely bonkers. Mad! But you know what? All the best people are" (kata Burton pada diri sendiri). Dan tak payah cakapla, betapa father-figure-ish-nya (if not half-incest/pedophiliac) hubungan Hatter dengan Alice sepanjang filem. Bercakap fasal si Hatter ni, aku rasa Abang Depp bole buat way better than that lah, if he is given the complete creative freedom to re-invent the character instead of sekadar topup the 1951's version of Hatter (note: lidah pendek) dengan sedikit make-up dan pin-pin yang tercucuk kat topi.

Dan satu lagi yang gua tak boleh belah - NAK JUGAK buat scene Epic Fight ala-ala Lord of the Rings kat hujung filem! Come on Tim, you know that's not your thing! Leave it to Peter Jackson!

Ramai orang yang tak suka filem ni, ramai jugak yang suka. Bak kata orang British - "It's like marmite -You either love it, or hate it". Ah jahanam! Aku aneh! Aku still tak boleh decide sama ada aku suka atau tak.

I know one thing though - It could be just aku yang tak terror interpret, and tak paham most things. Tapi kalau Pak Cik Burton tak guna format asal Lewis Caroll dalam mirroring Wonderland dengan mental condition Alice (note: Through the LOOKING GLASS, & What Alice Finds there. Looking Glass - Chermin. Make Sense? No?). Maka sial lah kau encik Burton kerana membazir kudrat otakku! Dan pointlesslah cerita itu! Dan kalau ya kau ikut format Caroll, then gua salute you lah, sumpah khayalan representasimu tingkat tinggi.

Monday 1 March 2010

My Counter-Attack to Trash Films

Just thought that I would start the blog by putting my own stuff up first.




Sila beri pendapat anda, ia sangat diharapkan!

Ntah konsisten entah tidak!

Beberapa sebab aku mulakan blog filem (emphasis; Malaysian films):

1. Aku ada banyak benda nak cakap pasal industri filem nasional, tak ramai orang yang dengar pun.

2. Baca blog Ajami Hashim & Binfilem - seronok! Dan aku yakin mereka seronok menulis jugak. Aku pun nak jugak, lantaklah kalau takde orang baca.

3. Sebab aku yakin pendapat aku bermanfaat(kah?)

4. Blogger dapat attend press premiere (sebab utama ni - tgk filem free!)

Maka, here I go. I'm getting vibes that this blog would be multilingual most the time. So might as well get you guys used to the rojak taste!

Might not be able to post too much for now, not until I graduate at least.