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Dreamchild
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by Edde Entertainment
Sales Rank: 56466
Price: $9.99
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This 1985 film from Britain offers up the only possible reason the extraordinary British writer Dennis Potter could be involved with a project also featuring the talents of Jim Henson's Muppets. The subject is the awkward relationship between Charles Dodgson (Ian Holm), better known to the world as Lewis Carroll, and Alice Liddell (played by Coral Browne as an adult), as it was in the 19th century when Liddell inspired Carroll to create <I>Alice In Wonderland</I> and <I>Alice Through the Looking Glass</I>. The full account of that bond is finally told by Alice in 1932, as she arrives in New York City to participate in the 100th anniversary of Dodgson's birth. Flustered by press and public attention, Alice releases her repressed memories from that time, and Henson's factory does a wonderful job creating bold realizations of the author's characters and settings. Both dark and light, <I>Dreamchild</I> is a mesmerizing spectacle with inner portraits of two quite dissimilar but equally vulnerable people. Holm is excellent as the stammering, often ridiculed Dodgson. <I>--Tom Keogh</I>
Viewer Reviews
The centenary of Lewis Carroll's death is fast approaching, and the inspiration for Alice (Coral Browne) is coming to America for the festivities. She is a proper old woman with a sharp tongue and with very little interest in revisiting her childhood memories. It is only when an out of work reporter (David Gallagher) enters the picture that she decides to open up, and then only because she is paid for it. The memories are painful because of the strange fascination that Carroll (Ian Holm) had for her (Amelia Shankley), but upon reflection she is able to come to terms with it.
An interesting take on the story of Alice in Wonderland, much the same way that Hook was a new slant on Peter Pan, Dreamchild alternates between childlike fantasy and very mature themes. It opens with Jim Henson's puppets and automatically one assumes the story will be juvenile, but first impressions are decieving. Most of the puppets are rather menacing, evidenced especially in the scene with the Mad Hatter. He looks like he has been decaying for years with his green skin and pinkish eyes. The March Hare is equally terrifying because of his threatening behaviour, matted fur, and large teeth. The scene is very telling of Alice's fear of her past and how much she has neglected it.
The story is set in the 30s and the sets and costumes are done very well. Nothing seems overtly showy and the actors seem comfortable in their surroundings. In the scenes of Alice's childhood, the outdoors are illuminated brightly and beautifully so as to convey a sense of happiness.
The most memorable part of this movie is the ending. It is an emotional close to an unusual story acted brilliantly by Holm, Shankley, and alternately Browne, and credit is due to director Gavin Millar for bringing it together so well.
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