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by Victoria Alexander Yes, this weird character that director Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp have created looks a lot like the NOT GUILTY Michael Jackson: The dark pageboy, the costume, the high heels, the white face, the strangely pitched voice, the severe anorexia, and the fascination with recreating Candyland. But there is one big difference that sets Willy Wonka apart from MJ. Willy Wonka doesn’t like children. In fact, Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) is afraid of them. He doesn’t want them even talking to him. He cringes when one little girl attempts to embrace him. Okay, he doesn’t seem to like people either (that’s why he has tiny Oompa-Loompas (Deep Roy) around. Apparently, miniature people are easier to train. We don’t even see Willy Wonka at first. We just see the back of his head and hear his voice. He is the mysterious craftsman of a Wonderland everyone talks about. This year, Mr. Wonka has decided to allow five children into his fortress-like factory. Gold tickets are randomly placed in chocolate bars and sent around the world. Mankind goes into a frenzy for these tickets. The first four tickets are found by an awful lot: Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), a fat German boy; Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), a spoiled English girl; Violet Beaurearde (AnnaSophia Robb), an American chewing gum champion; and Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), a serial-killer-in-the-making boy. English boy Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), through a miraculous moment in world history, finds the last ticket. Cherub-like Charlie is so poor both sets of his grandparents sleep in the middle of his falling-over shack in a tiny bed in modern day England. His mother (Helena Bonham Carter) prepares cabbage soup every night. His father (Noah Taylor) works putting caps on toothpaste. Charlie does get a present for his birthday every year: a Wonka chocolate bar. Charlie is so sweet he wants to sell the gold ticket and give the windfall money to his family; but sagely, his grandfather, Grandpa Joe (David Kelly), tells him “they” are always making more money. But there will only be five tickets. So off Charlie goes, as well as the other children, accompanied by a relative, to the Wonka Chocolate Factory. Charlie takes Grandpa Joe who once worked for Mr. Wonka at the factory. More
than a celebrated tour of the Factory, Willy promises there is a
Wonka has such glorious, enterprising ideas for the future of chocolate! Yet, Wonka is woefully insensitive to the hapless tragedy that affects each candy-insatiable kid. The psycho crisis troubling Willy Wonka is routed in, of course, the ugly relationship he had with his father. Willy can’t even say the word “parent” without gagging. In the newly developed backstory by Burton and the book’s adapter, John August, Willy’s father (Christopher Lee) is a dentist; and young Willy is given a strange contraption to wear to straighten his teeth. Poor Willy’s teeth brace surrounds his head like a vice. Hence, Willy has perfect but giant teeth. Incidentally, Burton’s paramour, Helena Bonham Carter, also appears to have a new set of Hollywood teeth. There is not an old person in the cast without rotting, big teeth. And Mr. Bucket works in a toothpaste factory. Wonka has Daddy issues. He makes chocolate and candy because his pop wouldn’t allow him any since it causes tooth decay. This inspires the defiant Willy to become the King of Chocolate. He proceeds to fill the world with tooth-decaying candy. I know the kind of sexual significance Freud would attach to this. This daring re-interpretation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 classic is a riotous, seductive extravaganza filled with the happiest of songs sung by an old, weird looking man-in-multiple. Wonka, as played by Depp, treats the children like venomous intruders. Thankfully, he will have to accommodate the children and their frightened relatives for just one day. Burton and Depp have cleverly stripped the nagging tremor that Wonka is gay or just too odd to be around children from the audience’s mind. Wonka likes his world void of children. He has no use for them. As structured by Depp’s fearless, imaginative investment in the character, Burton further separates Wonka from any sexuality by surrounding him with only one person playing the Oompa-Loompas. Deep Roy is nobody’s idea of a sexual playmate. The musical numbers, all featuring the Oompa-Loompas are delicious. I especially loved the nutty scenes referencing 2001, PSYCHO, and the Beatles. And what of the ending? Well, all ends in good fortune and merriment, but Willy’s mean daddy is still alone. The Daddy issues are unresolved and will continue to fester in Burton’s psyche. This is not a friendly movie since the kids are selfish, greedy monsters out to win Wonka’s top prize. It is an anti-family film embracing the dark aspects of creating one’s own world. And the consequences? Wonka doesn’t care. He is amused the children’s true natures damn them. By the way, have we all forgotten that chocolate is an aphrodisiac? Supposedly, the original 1971 film, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” starring Gene Wilder is an American classic (like CITIZEN KANE and GONE WITH THE WIND). I disagree. It is not only not a classic, it is not sacred. Why not remake it with today’s technology and Burton’s bold use of CGI magic and sophistication? Burton and Depp love the idea of the child-man with a mean streak. (After NEVERLAND, CHARLIE, and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 1, 2, and 3, Depp should accept the fact that he is now over 40 and leave the child-man roles to other actors.) The dazzling invention of the fudge mountains, chocolate waterfalls, and ride through the jungle of candy only helps corrupt the children. The best parts of CHARLIE are the glass elevator that transports Wonka and Charlie around the factory and the various incarnations of Oompa-Loompas. If you cherish the original WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, you can easily enjoy Burton and Depp’s delightful modernization without contempt; if, like me, you are not lighting candles to Wilder’s Wonka, this is the new modern classic of Dahl’s book. CHARLIE
AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Credits: Cast: MPAA rating: PG
by Victoria Alexander |
