Call me a purist, but a twenty-something Alice just doesn't work: Alice's adult pretensions are completely undermined. Kate Beckinsale plays a mother reading Through the Looking-Glass to her daughter, and when prompted by her captive audience to "believe" in Looking-Glass House, finds herself transported to Carroll's world, re-enacting almost word for word Alice's adventures. I'll be honest: Henderson's Looking Glass is certainly not the best Alice, but does have a few moments that hint at what could have been. And thus, naturally, all my expectations were met. Naturally, jaded Alice fan that I am, sliding John Henderson's 1998 Kate Beckinsale vehicle, Alice Through the Looking Glass, into my DVD player didn't arouse any great expectations. Such interpretations are usually bright and vivid, and perhaps attractive to young eyes, but ultimately, by either simplifying Carroll's sophisticated word play and mathematical intricacies, or downplaying the morbid and dark undertones (death jokes come thick and fast in the novels), fail to do justice to Alice or stand on their own as films of any distinction.
The vast majority of Alice films, usually produced for television, make the fatal mistake of treating Alice as, first and foremost, a children's tale. Sadly neither are available in Region 4 and the best we have on offer is Disney's Alice in Wonderland, a film that, although unfaithful to Carroll's plot (and wit), embraces the nonsense of Wonderland nicely. Jonathan Miller's 1966 production for the BBC is brilliantly mad and Jan Svankmajer's nightmarish stop motion adaptation Alice (Neco z Alenky) dwells on the novels' dark undertones. Sadly, though, very few live up to the nonsensical genius of Carroll's books and the few that do manage to scale the same heights as their source can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare. Since then, both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass have inspired countless film productions worldwide. In 1903, Cecil M Hepworth produced the first film version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Trailer- Star Struck, Pirate Islands, Ocean Girl, Black Beauty If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD
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