A Deeper Groove. Perception and Perspective®™

Enchantment With A Purpose

by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved

The moment it became known that director Tim Burton was going to make a feature film adapting author Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, one could anticipate two things.

One, that Burton would present a unique cinematic experience. With a maverick crew including screenwriter John August and composer/longtime creative partner Danny Elfman, and a phenomenal cast featuring Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee, David Kelly as Grandpa Joe, Freddy Highmore superbly portraying central character Charlie Bucket and the incredible Johnny Depp bringing a whole-new "wonkiness" to Willie Wonka, Burton unleashes all the satiric genius and narrative heart which characterizes his moviemaking artistry.

The second point is that Burton's film would inevitably attract a crowd of naysayers who feel that no one should touch "their" memories of the Gene Wilder film made some 30 years before, WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Wilder himself, a gifted master of stage and screen, is reported to have gone on record as denouncing the Burton film as a remake of his film; attesting that Burton and his associates made their film only to make money.

Such comparisons are unfair and unfortunate, since they are totally off the mark. Burton's film is no remake of the Wilder vehicle, which was primarily a showpiece for the music of Broadway composers Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The fact is that the Wilder film paid little to no attention to the ingeniously subversive whimsy of the Dahl original. Tight and catchy though it may be, Wilder's film bears little of the ethical impact that continues to make Dahl's work a hallmark of Children's stories for all ages.

Burton's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY takes Dahl's monumental book into full account at all levels. Elfman's adapting of Dahl's original lyrics into the outrageously telling Oompa-Loompa song & dance numbers is a clear signal that this film is a purely inspired improvisation upon an untapped original source, playing second fiddle to no one. Only a diversified musicmaker such as Elfman could have pulled off the genre-crossing orchestrations which enrich this film.

For a composer whose roots stretch from the avant groove of Oingo Boingo to the wry symphonic portraits which embody many a film of the past 15 to 20 years, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY represents a signature moment in this amazing career.

Depp continues to amaze audiences with his daring ability to portray the human condition at any level, always with compelling conviction and a healthy dose of self-depreciating wit. Depp's Wonka is a study of precocious vulnerability and dogged drive. We find out that much of Wonka's creative impulses and inner needs stem from his own missing childhood, setting up the soul of this film and a particularly moving climax. Christopher Lee, whose current resurgence as a master thespian was sparked by his brief-but-pivotal role in Burton's SLEEPY HOLLOW, is no less pivotal here, and a joy to experience. Joyous, too, is the highly-energized, gleefully-diversified performance of Deep Roy as all the Oompa-Loompas!!! Give this man whatever he wants!

A special kudos must go narrator Geoffrey Holder, the multi-talented artist whose cacao-rich voice alone made the word “Marvelous” a profound source of Third World pride and audacity in the 1960s. The twinkle in his tone still tells volumes...

Top honors for acting, however, has to go to Freddy Highmore, whose first experience with Depp in FINDING NEVERLAND was an unforgettable triumph. Even more telling in the Burton film, Highmore's youthful naivete is tinged with an incredible emotional range and knowing depth which is the center of this film. If Burton's film is vital in restoring the integrity of Dahl's original work, Highmore's performance singularly restores Charlie Bucket as the story's central character; rescuing him from the hapless sidekick role that the Wilder film placed the character into. Young Highmore, in turn, provides Depp's Wonka with the platform for an equally magnificent, powerful performance.

Of course, applause must be given to all the specialists who breathed their technical wizardry into this film, optical, digital, and otherwise. For Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, we are treated to a marvelous scape of original ingenuity, winding its merry way through Wonderland, Looney Tunes, and The Yellow Brick Road without being derivative of other achievements, or technocratic with its effects. The story, its players, and their performance take center stage, complemented by all who shape its considerable podium, sturdy framework, and vast tapesrtry.

The two-disc Warner Brothers Deluxe Edition is the best way to fully appreciate all the works that Burton, cast, and crew lovingly put into this film. A prime case for why DVDs are so special, this edition delves into all aspects of this production, and includes a fine vignette on author Dahl himself (whose family worked hand-in-hand with Burton here).

Everything about this film is wondrous. From its macabre opening amidst the gear-steady mechanizations of assembly-line procedure, to the first look at the Buckets' crooked home of hard-fought harmony amidst the cookie-cutter sameness of urbanized regimentation, you've walked into the off-minor world of the surreal and the substantial which is uniquely Tim Burton's. Equally vital, this film aptly reflects upon the wild n wooly, warmingly wise world of Roald Dahl. It's nice to see this great book become a direct source for an equally inspired film, at long last.

Burton's ability to spin contemporary folktale from a lackluster society and, in turn, forge his own timeless myth full of missive and vibrant spirit, has itself become the stuff of legend. From the miracle of setting a more dramatic Batman in cinematic motion, he has grown to weave the deep enchantment of a blade-handed waif with sensitve touch, and has exposed the unlikely heart which beats in the most shameless teller of tall tales.

For Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Burton shapes a fresh approach to the most ageless of queries. Reminding us that adults must provide children with the loving guidance, balanced drive, and healthy means by which to attain a brighter future, the tale's resolution stuns us all with how thoroughly a child -in turn- can give birth to the adult within us all. -fini-