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Horrorland?

sgb90's picture
Submitted by sgb90 on Wed, 03/24/2010 - 6:10pm

 Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is given a brutal, disturbing interpretation by Svankmajer in Neco z Alenky. In this darker portrayal, there is not much that is freeing about Wonderland, after all. Wonderland (or shall we call it Horrorland?) becomes the expression of the deepest, most disturbing, recesses of consciousness, from which Alice cannot escape. The narration in Neco z Alenky in particular draws attention to the fact that all the characters Alice encounters are figments of her own mind, as the camera zooms in on her mouth as she (rather eerily) speaks for each character. Neco z Alenky takes some of the disconcerting/whimsical aspects of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, such as the Queen's orders of execution, to a violent and grotesque extreme (the rabbit actually cuts off heads with a pair of scissors). This film has given me an alternative way of viewing Alice's experiences, as the deconstruction of norms is displayed as a violent, rather than playful, act.

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Shayna S's picture

A Different Parody

Submitted by Shayna S on Wed, 03/24/2010 - 7:07pm.

I agree with you in that Neco Y Alenky takes Alice in a darker tone than the books seem to. You say (and, again, I agree) that both versions are about the deconstruction of norms, but the movies does this in a violent manner unlike the books, which use a playful tone. Would this change what is being parodied? Both play on our conceptions of norms, yet is each version playing on different norms? It seemed that while Neco Y Alenky shared a few scenes from the books, the movie focused more on the disturbing images while the book centered around word play. Perhaps this is one of the changes that happen with a transition from text to video. In a book, the text is the medium through which the story is told, as the video is with the movie. It would make sense that a parody or satire would center around toying with the main medium. However, as I already stated, I think the two versions differ in what they are parodying because of their genres of book and movie. 

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