One Book and Two Different Wonkas - Essay Example

One book – Two different Wonkas The time period and the stage of cultural and technological developmentare the factors to influence every work of art, especially in the course of the last 100 years. As technologies began progressing vigorously, it had opened a new way for artists – since that time, digital art (and particularly cinematography) has become an inseparable and important part of the world’s cultural heritage and a perfect reflection of society’s development. It is well known that many stories persist in films for years, being screened and remade be different crews in different time lapses. However, despite sharing the same plot and being based on the same real life story, legend or literature work, adaptations separated with decades tend to be very different in the way they look, the way they are created and perceived. For this paper, I would like to focus on two adaptations of the charming fantasy book written by Roald Dahl in 1964, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. These are both present the same story, but the films look very different due to distinctive authentic styles: to my thinking, the latter is especially recognizable in the version directed by one of the most extraordinary modern directors, Tim Burton. Moreover, these two versions of the book adaptation bear traces on the epochs they were created in. Two large filmmaking companies, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, released the first version of the movie in 1971. It was directed by Mel Stuart and featured brilliant Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The new film saw the world much later, more than three decades after the first one. Here, the filmmakers restored the original name of the book, titling the movie “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. This version was also controlled by Warner Bros., which involved Tim Burton as a director. The story shared by the movies depicts a boy from a very poor family, Charlie, who readily shares all hardships with his family, loves them and cares for them much. At the same time, the second focus of the story is cast on the strange factory of a mysterious gentleman, Willy Wonka, which produces the most unusual and delicious sweets in the world. Once he decides to provide a tour around the factory for five children, who will be lucky enough to find golden tickets inside Wonka chocolate bars. The narrative shows how human vices drive 4 of 5 children out of the competition for a lifelong chocolate supplies, and – on the other hand – how human virtues and good character traits lead a person to deserved happiness. Generally, the stories of the two films are similar, but these are mainly details that make them different. Particularly, I have noticed two main differences: focus of the movie (on certain events) and backstory. The 1971’s version grants almost a half of the movie to events preceding the factory tour, whereas this fragment is reduced in Burton’s variant. In the latter, focus shifted to the tour itself and the way characters showed their worth during it. However, Stuart’s version focuses much on the worldwide hysteria connected with the search for golden tickets. Secondly, Burton deployed backstory in order to place the narrative better in place and time and fill in the gaps in viewers’ perception of the film. On the other hand, the authors of the first version avoided any flashbacks. Moreover, in terms of details, I would like to mention that, for Veruca Salt, there were geese with golden eggs in the first version and squirrels in the second. In addition, Mike Teavee came with his mother and Violet came with her father in 1971’s film, whereas it was vice versa in Barton’s version, though Mike’s parent was still a geography teacher. However, except mere dissimilarities in narration, the movies are very diverse in terms of style, atmosphere, structure, and methods deployed in production. Burton’s film features numerous flashbacks to the past of Charlie’s grandfather and Wonka: the former tells about the story of the factory in the context of his life (he used to work there), whereas Willy Wonka recalls his unhappy childhood. These infusions of memories created by Burton create a kind of personal context, showing the other side of Willy Wonka’s personality and create a greater understanding of his motivation. It is also reasonable to mention the episode with the chocolate palace for an Indian prince. This scene was inserted on Burton’s initiative and contains an allusion to Bollywood, as the director admires Indian cinema. On the other hand, the structure of Stuart’s movie is more solid, with the narrative being placed entirely in the present (at least, visually, as Wonka recalls how he found Oompa Loompas). In the earlier version, the character of the protagonist wasn’t developed explicitly, thus Willy Wonka looks distanced from the outer world and ordinary human life. The style of each movie was definitely dictated by the epoch. “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is, to my thinking, more solid in genre, a fantasy with elements of musical. Generally, the atmosphere in the movie is rather positive and fanciful, and it is settled by the first few minutes of the movie and the mise-en-scene of a candy shop, where children come after classes to be treated by a kind candy man. Moreover, the sets and props – as well as clothes of the characters – look rather fairy and positive. The effect is enhanced by the symphonic soundtrack, which is also very positive and is associated with childhood and fairy tales. However, overall positive atmosphere is balanced by numerous sad and even cruel realia. The society of consumption which became reality for America in 1950’s-1960’s with the rise of pop culture, is illustrated in this cult movie, too. TV, mass media, tons of chocolate bars and overwhelming obsession about golden tickets reflect – to some extent – the condition of the contemporary society. Moreover, poverty is demonstrated in a way that is far from magic. A teacher derides Charlie, because he could afford opening only two Wonka chocolate bars. Speaking about “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005), I would like to mention that this film was created in the postmodern American society with its own aesthetics and consumer culture, which has grown much stronger since 1970’s. According to Hayward, one of four typical features of postmodernist aesthetics is bricolage, which means synthesis and combination of different textures, genres, discourses and styles within a single movie (Mircea, 2013). Tim Burton often uses unexpected combinations in his works, and this one isn’t the exclusion. This movie couldn’t be identified by one single genre or style. Here, fantasy elements of the story – visual or the narrative itself – are combined with peculiar soundtrack by Danny Elfman (even the opening credits’ music imposes a kind of sinister impression, weird and sinister. Moreover, it is the scene with the singing dolls at the entrance to the factory, where the installation is afire. On this example, one can see importance of mise-en-scene as a complex means for placing the narrative and creating necessary atmosphere. Music, design elements and colors help to create a mood and hinting at the state of mind of a character (Barsam, 2010). Whereas in the older version, Wonka appears as a joker in the sunny day; the mise-en-scene of this episode in Burton’s movie, with melting plastic of dolls and a dull winter day, creates a sombre undertone. At the same time, views of Wonka’s workshops impress with saturated colors and fancy trees, flowers and mushrooms made of sweets. The movies’ styles also differ greatly in terms of visual effects and means of production. Firstly, these are colors: from the very beginning of Stuart’s film, colors are rather natural and typical for the time period (rather soft, nothing oversaturated); however, Burton uses contrastive color schemes, opposing dull winter exteriors with navy blue undertone to extremely bright and saturated colors of the factory’s exteriors and Wonka’s garments. Furthermore, I think that the new version is perceived as more dynamic – probably, because the bulk of the movie is devoted to the factory tour rather than details story of golden ticket hysteria. Moreover, Johnny Depp’s Wonka seems to be more eccentric than his predecessor, who is calmer and more distanced. In the new Wonka, the viewer sees a weird mad genius obsessed with his factory, but we also see a human being with childhood and problems, owing to the backstory mentioned above. Probably, at least visual differences in style and methods are distinguished in the versions of the scene, where characters enter the workshop with all eatable things and a chocolate river. First, it is the manner of shooting that differs. Taking the capacities of 1970’s filmmaking into account, one can easily see the difference in shots of the same sets and scenes. The scale of props differs much, as well as films’ budgets. As far as 1970’s were marked by financial depression in Hollywood, it is natural that decoration weren’t extremely lavish. Moreover, filmmakers of that time didn’t have technological means for creating computer generated imagery (CGI) or any types of complex visual effects. That is why we see only minimum of them (e.g., when Gloop gets into the pipe). On the other hand, advanced filmmaking technologies enabled use of more complex and sophisticated visual effects in Burton’s film. For instance, it was one actor, who played all Ooompa Loompas, and this was achieved due to technological advancement. However, it is known that sets for the workshop were almost entirely real, with chocolate river, waterfall etc. This was Burton’s initiative for making young actors feel themselves comfortably and naturally. Of course, this predetermined methods of camera work and hence freer use of long shots, forced perspective and oversized props, as sets were larger, naturally looking and dynamic. In the older version, instead, use of long shots is considerably minimized, because sets were smaller and static. Generally, time period of production and cultural background affected much films’ appearance. Both films contain hints and allusions to the actual conditions in American society. Moreover, four children – except Charlie – seem to be manifestations of eternal human vices, and the whole story seems to be telling about eternal human values. Augustus Gloop, the owner of the 1st ticket seems to be metaphorical reflection of American consumption culture and fast food traditions. Moreover, this character grows bigger in the second version, which can be identified with the ever-growing harmful effect of this culture. Talking about 1970’s as a period when modernism still thrived, we come to deal with Westerns as “Hollywood modernist fare” or one of the most popular genres in cinematography (Boggs and Pollard, 2001). Thus, we see Mike Teavee being obsessed with Western movies in the version of 1971’s, the characteristic understandable for 1970’s Americans. Moreover, another difference in this scene emphasizing two different epoch in the movie versions is the fact that 1971’s Mike is fond of TV, and the new one is obsessed with playstations. This points to changing realia of American society. To draw a conclusion, I would like to mention that both films are cult and extremely good-looking: watching each of them imposes direct associations with time. Even though this is the single story, it has acquired different colors and character due to differences in time, technological development, directors’ authentic styles and influence of social background. And these differences are completely natural, as we all are people of our time, and the epoch leaves deep imprints on everything we do and especially such a widespread and popular art as cinema. Works Cited: Barsam, Richard Meran., & Monahan, Dave. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd, 2010. Boggs, Carl, and Tom Pollard. "Postmodern Cinema And Hollywood Culture In An Age Of Corporate Colonization." Democracy & Nature: The International Journal Of Inclusive Democracy 7.1 (2001): 159-181. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Dec. 2014. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, Helen Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor. Warner Bros. 2005. Film. Mircea, Eugenia. "The Postmodern Condition Of Cinema In Hollywood Culture." Scientific Journal Of Humanistic Studies 5.9 (2013): 106-113. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Dec. 2014. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Dir. Mel Stuart. Perf. Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Jack Albertson. Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures. 1971. Film. Read More