Switzerland, UK. Germany, 1988
86m
35mm film, Eastmancolor, 1.37:1
mono, Czech
Reviewed at The EOFFTV Review
A Swiss/British/German fantasy film mixing live-action and stop-motion animation directed by Jan Svankmajer.
Plot Summary
Alice falls asleep and finds herself in a an almost post-apocalyptic landscape, a single ramshackle room sitting in a seemingly featureless wasteland. A stuffed white rabbit comes to life, tearing itself painfully off the bails that hold it in place and, spewing sawdust from a gash in its stomach, flees to a desk sitting incongruously in the wastes and disappears into a drawer. The curious and fearless Alice follows, finding herself in Wonderland, a series of connected rooms, a dank, miserable subterranean nightmare full of food laced with potentially lethal sharp objects, bizarre, partly mechanical creatures that are constantly harassing Alice and everyday objects that turn into traps for unwary children.
Premise
Credits
Crew
Directed: Jan Svankmajer
© 1988 Condor Features
reVision in association with Espace Vidéo Européen present a film by Jan Svankmajer. A Condor Features production in association with Film Four International and Hessischer Rundfunk
Executive Producers: Keith Griffiths, Michael Havas
Producer: Peter-Christian Fueter
Associate Producers: Hannes Bressler, Paul Madden
Scripted: Jan Svankmajer
Inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
Director of Photography: Svatopluk Malý
Editor: Marie Zemanová
Sound: Ivo Spalj, Robert Jansa
Animation: Bedrich Glaser
Designed: Jan Svankmajer
Cast
Kristýna Kohoutová (Alice)
Camilla Power (spoken by [English language version])
Alternative Titles
Alisa – Serbian title
Coś z Alicji – Polish title
Liisa ihmemaassa – Finnish title
Něko z alenky – Czech title
Nieco z Alenky – Slovak title
Qualcosa di Alice – Italian title
A Viagem de Alice – Brazilian title
Αλίκη – Greek title
Алиса – Russian title
Сон Алёнки – Russian title
アリス – Japanese title
References
Periodicals
Afterimage no.13 (Autumn 1987) pp.51-53 – illustrated interview with Jan Svankmajer (Svankmajer on Alice)
City Limits no.368 (20 October 1988) pp.27; 29 – review; interview with Jan Svankmajer
Film-Echo/Filmwoche no.9 (12 February) 1988 p.44
Films and Filming no.409 (October 1988) pp.29, 30 – credits, review
Imagine no.30 (April 2010) pp.40-42 – illustrated article (Jan Svankmajer by James Clerk)
The Listener vol.122 no.3145 (21 December 1989) pp.49 – review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.55 n658 (November 1988) pp.319-320; 320-321 – credits, synopsis, review; article
Positif no.346 (December 1989) pp.46, 47 – illustrated credits, review
Screen International no.676 (29 October 1988) pp.18
Sight & Sound vol.1 no.5 (September 1991) pp.60 – video note
Sight & Sound vol.20 no.4 (April 2010) pp.35-38 – illustrated article (Alice through the lens by Mark SINKER
Sight & Sound vol.56 no.2 (Spring 1987) pp.124-125 – illustrated article
Time Out no.948 (19 October 1988) pp.16-17; 29 – interview with Jan Svankmajer; review
Variety 24 February 1988 pp.420
