Dir. Tim Burton, UK/US, 2005, 115 mins
Cast: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Christopher Lee, James Fox, Helena Bonham-Carter, Noah Taylor, Deep Roy
Remember the chill when you first saw Middle-Earth materialise from your mind’s eye and onto the big screen? Well, cast your mind back even further, to the day your teacher in infant school gathered you at her feet and began to read aloud the story of a quiet, impoverished boy called Charlie Bucket who won a golden ticket and went to visit the magical chocolate factory belonging to the ever-so-mysterious Mr Willy Wonka. Now, hold that image, open your eyes, and gaze in wonderment as that integral part of your childhood begins to unfold at the hands of the undoubted master of the modern gothic fairytale, Tim Burton.
Charlie (Highmore) lives with his parents (Taylor and Bonham-Carter, with just the right degree of pathos) and both sets of grandparents, in a ramshackle wooden house, tiny and almost derelict yet curiously more alive and full of character than the stark expressionistic suburban sprawl around them. Poverty and squalor are apparent in every cramped inch of the frame, yet the Bucket family cheerfully accept their lot in life, surviving on cabbage soup and, once a year, Charlie gets a chocolate bar for his birthday, which he selflessly shares with the six adults. This year, however, Charlie hopes it will contain something even more special – a golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Grandpa Joe (Kelly) used to work there and is full of tales of fabulous palaces made of chocolate, and how, fearing spies, Mr Wonka sacked all his staff and shut down the factory, only to re-open with no-one ever seeing anyone going in or anyone ever coming out.
It’s not looking good for Charlie, the odds are definitely against him, particularly when the winners of the tickets begin to crawl out of their privileged holes – there’s the spoilt Veruca Salt whose daddy bought up entire stocks of Wonka bars and had his staff at his nut factory tear off the wrappers until one was found, and Augustus Gloop, the big fat boy who eats so many of the bars that he couldn’t fail to find one. But, as in all good fairytales, providence steps in to lend a hand. After finding a ten-dollar bill in the snow, Charlie buys himself one more bar, and there it is – the last golden ticket. Charlie, together with Grandpa Joe, are set for the trip of a lifetime and what’s more – it’s tomorrow!
As the motley assortment of children and adults gaze up at the Lowry-like factory chimneys and façade, awaiting their host, the show really begins to start when plush red curtains are drawn and we witness a macabre puppet show in which the mechanics go wrong and the marionettes burst into flames. And here we have it – a childhood fantasy with dark overtones. Mr Dahl would be proud.
Johnny Depp as the pale-faced, mad-eyed, purple-gloved Willy Wonka is a creepily enjoyable creation. Whilst remaining faithful to the book, Burton has created a backstory to the Wonka character with Depp portraying him as a loner, locked inside his factory with just the miniscule Oompa-loompas for company. A strange creature, Wonka is childlike, but one who cannot communicate or even likes his new playmates. Depp has denied it, but there are rumours that he based the character on Michael Jackson, and the evidence speaks for itself. Despite the opulent surroundings he inhabits a sad, self-contained world. Poignantly, he reaches for cue cards to illustrate their tour, demonstrating the loving preparation he has put into this day, set against his distinct lack of communication skills, and the fact that he really is not equipped to handle what should be, for a successful businessman, childsplay. It is Willy Wonka rather than his guests who is most nervous. Through flashbacks, we learn that as a child he was denied candy by his dentist father (Lee), causing him to run away, loving chocolate instead of his father, making it his life. Emotionally scarred, he can’t even bear to say the word ‘parent’.
The visitors ensuing journey through the chocolate factory is a moral tale, as one by one each of the children, through their own greed and selfishness, are disposed of in suitably fitting perils. Augustus WILL insist on scoffing as much molten chocolate from the chocolate river and falling in; Veruca just HAS to have one of those cute little squirrels; Violet Beauregarde CANNOT resist seeing a stick of gum without popping it in her mouth, and Mike Teevee WON’T be stopped from flying through the air in millions of little pieces, despite what his father and everyone else has to say.
Each child’s demise is greeted by an array of Oompa-loompa’s (all played by Deep Roy) giving a hearty musical rendition on why they deserved their come-uppance. Using Dahl’s verse, Danny Elfman (who voices the songs) creates a pantomime pop video for each, each in a uniquely different and very post-modern style. From axe-guitarists to synchronised swimming routines, he meets the challenge head-on and, in what could have been monotony, he presents us with four great show-stopping numbers.
Finally, only Charlie and Grandpa Joe remain and, the famous great glass elevator putting in an appearance, the real reason why Willy Wonka has finally opened his factory doors becomes clear. However, in this version, it isn’t just the children who have lessons to learn, and not just Charlie who is hoping for a happy ending…
As we have come to expect from Burton, the set design is gloriously surreal and over the top, the overgrown candy flowers, the chocolate river and the viking style boat then counter-pointed with glaring, geometric-patterned but predominately dazzling white rooms, in a bizarre mix hyper-reality.
Both Burton and Depp have taken the story and its characters and have delivered a tale that remains faithful to the book and which then develops further. So the ending is changed ever so slightly – you get the feeling Mr Dahl would be saying, “ah yes, I should have thought of that!”
What is most pleasing, however, is that whilst we and Roald Dahl’s family applaud the adherence to the tone and themes of the original novel, the film does not really invite comparison with the earlier Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder. That whimsical version is Wonka-lite, its place in our hearts intact as it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with The Wizard of Oz, The Muppet Movie and Bambi. It will be fondly remembered by nostalgic adults and today’s toddlers, whilst this movie appeals to the post-sevens and to the dark side of those same nostalgic grown-ups. In other words, you can have your chocolate and eat it.
Now that really is a treat.
Jean Lynch
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is released on region 2 DVD on 21st November by Warner Home Video
The two disc set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory DVD includes the following special features:
- Making-of Featurettes:
- Chocolate Dreams: Learn about Tim Burton's vision for the film and how he adapted the story
- Different Faces, Different Flavours: Meet the actors and learn about the characters they play
- Designer Chocolate: Learn about the film's production design
- Under the Wrapper: Go behind-the-scenes to see how the film's special effects were created
- Sweet Sounds: Watch the creation of the 4 Oompa-Loompa songs by composer Danny Elfman
- Attack of the Squirrels: See how real squirrels were trained to perform in the film
- Fantastic Mr. Dahl: Learn about author Roald Dahl's life story and extraordinary body of work
- Becoming an Oompa-Loompa: See how one actor, Deep Roy, was turned into a multi talented army of Oompas
- DVD Menu Challenges:
- Oompa-Loompa Dance
- The Inventing Machine
- The Bad Nut
- Search For the Golden Ticket
- DVD-ROM (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory PC game demo and web links)
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