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.

3 comments:

  1. oklah tu dik..

    rebiu filem boleh saja dari apa pun pandangan kita bergantung pemahaman apa yang dapat :)

    imho, AIW adalah mimikan jalancerita THE MATRIX

    Alice=Neo (the one), Absolem=Oracle, MadHatter=Morpheus, Wonderland=Matrix, KnaveOfHearts=AgentSmith

    tapi TM juga ialah tribute kpd AIW..morpheus kata kpd neo "follow the rabbit hole"..hahaha!

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  2. The Matrix adala antara filem genre "postmodern cinema" terawal dengan sejuta reference. Wachowski brothers pun cite the original Lewis Caroll novel as one of their main influence. Bkn saja sepuluh kali penggunaan perkataan "rabbit hole' dan direct reference "follow the white rabbit". The Matrix jugak reference the 'Holy Trinity' = Morpheus, Neo, & Trinity (duh). Dia reference concept 'video game' - Masuk dunia lain, lawan orang jahat, selamatkan dunia.

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  3. only now i got to now this blog exist...

    ReplyDelete