One of the finest adaptations of the Lewis Carroll classic, Jonathan Miller’s Alice In Wonderland is singular, surreal and beautiful. A psychedelic phantasmagoria, this Alice feels like the epitome of sixties counterculture, evoking early Pink Floyd, Timothy Leary and Granny Takes A Trip vintage clothing. It’s all reinforced by Ravi Shankar’s lovely score, and the fish eye lens /angular photography by Dick Bush.
Anne Marie Mallik in the title role isn’t likeable in the sligtest, a petulant and stroppy little madam. But this makes perfect sense, as she’s on the cusp of womanhood, and surrounded by oddball adults indulging in pointless games and elliptical wordplay which goes nowhere.
What a stellar supporting cast, too: Michael Redgrave as the Caterpillar; Wilfrid Bramble as the White Rabbit, and the Ultimate Luvvie himself, dear dear Johnny Gielgud as the Mock Turtle. Try as he might though, Peter Sellers cannot outclass Peter Cook as a particularly snide and creepy Mad Hatter, who gets the best scenes.
There is, in short, no concession to making the film cute or Disney- fied (Miller hated the Disney version) but rather, a focus on the “spare the rod and spoil the child” Victorian era . A nightmare it may be, but it’s an eccentric, strangely charming one.
Out Now on DVD via BFI.
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