Alice

1988 ‘Neco z Alenky’ Directed by Jan Švankmajer

A memorably bizarre screen version of Lewis Carroll's novel 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. The original story is followed reasonably faithfully, though those familiar with this director's other films won't be the least bit surprised by the numerous digressions into Svankmajer territory, living slabs of meat and all. As the opening narration says, it's a film made for children... perhaps?

Kristýna Kohoutová

Director

Jan Švankmajer

Writers

Jan Švankmajer Lewis Carroll

Channel Four Films

horror adventure comedy animation fantasy

86 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Bruno ★★★★½ 12

Absolutely genius!! Jan Švankmajer's Alice is a deliciously dark take on Lewis Carroll's novel, with some of the best stop motion I've ever seen. I loved the way the animation meshes with live-action scenarios and how this film always made me feel frightened, delighted, perplexed and in awe by the stunning imagery. The humor is really great, making it quite an entertaining watch . Also, there are plenty of surreal and even disturbing moments, which reminded me of David Lynch's style of filmmaking at times. I had previously seen Švankmajer's terrific short called Darkness, Light, Darkness and I can definitely notice many interesting resemblances, particularly in one scene. He manages to capture that feeling of entrapment and chaos once again very well, going even further. I am extremely overwhelmed by the level of inventiveness here and couldn't recommend Alice enough!
Review by Sally Jane Black 1

At the point where sock inch worms burrowed through a wooden floor, I had to ask "how did he even think of this?" Moments later, the caterpillar began talking to Alice, and I realized where it came from, but for a moment, my mind reeled at the staggering sideways thinking that would bring Svankmajer to that interpretation. When Alice (little form) twice missed reaching for a chair, I stopped to ponder how much extra work it took to craft that natural motion. Were it a human actor, sure, it might even have been a real mistake, but this was stop-motion, where I am given to understand that every little movement is a lot of work. Svankmajer felt those two misses were important enough to do the work, though, and that's beautiful.
Review by Anthony Le ★★★★★

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Part of Essential Films To Watch

"Alice thought to herself 'Now you will see a film, made for children, perhaps. But, I nearly forgot; you must close your eyes, otherwise you won't see anything."

For me, Jan Svankmajer captures the story of Lewis Carroll's classic Alice In Wonderland like no one has before, and perhaps provides the best representation of the story. Sure, something like Disney's Alice In Wonderland is probably more of an accurate representation of Carroll's initial concept, but Svankmaier adds an interesting twist that hasn't been brought to light. He uses Carroll's storyline as a tool to exhibit surrealism, and it's the perfect vessel - starring deranged characters and an absurd…
Review by Thomas Flew ★★★★½

"Now you will see a film made for children. Perhaps. But I nearly forgot. You must close your eyes. Otherwise, you won't see anything."

'Alice' is by far the best adaptation of Lewis Carroll's novel I've seen, perfectly encapsulating the instinctive and spontaneous nonsense that makes up a child's mind. With unforgettably bizarre and amusing imagery, and a distinctly surreal atmosphere, Jan Svankmajer has taken what he wanted from the original novel and discarded everything else, creating a vaguely faithful but still totally unpredictable film.

With very little dialogue - all of which is spoken or narrated by Alice - and a complete lack of a soundtrack, 'Alice' immediately feels a little bit odd. That said, this was a great…
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★ 4

The narrative of the 1988 Czech film Alice is rather faithful to Lewis Carroll's original story but visually the film is both impressive and imaginative.

Jan Svankmajer brings the story to life through beautiful use of stop-motion and bizarre, unorthodox props. Although, my main issue is the film's length, at 86 minutes the movie feels too long and the majestic visuals grow a bit repetitive. Needless to say, towards the 40 minute mark I was losing interest and getting sort of bored. This is where the fact the story was such a faithful adaptation may have hindered it, I knew what was going to happen and the visuals/style alone wasn't enough to keep my full attention.

Alice was still an incredibly memorable and creative adaptation and I can clearly see why people love it dearly.
Review by Robert Beksinski ★★★★½ 4

I wonder if Lewis Carroll a.k.a Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (or vice versa) would ecstatically approve of this adaptation of his work or be mortified in terror? I guess it is even possible to be both simultaneously in the face of such imaginative yet demented surrealism. Personally speaking away from the late Mr. Carroll's behalf, I can easily say this is not only my favorite retelling of his story but genuinely envisions the fantastical tale in the correct manner and tone.

My first brush with the Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer was bound to happen sooner or later with how avid I find myself in that particular form of art. The fantastical and macabre dream like structure(less) of surrealism has always fascinated…

Recent reviews

Review by Stephen Huseby ★★★★

March Around the World 2016 - 14th Stop: Czechoslovakia

Scavenger Hunt 12 (March 2016) - Task 29: A film made in or by a country that no longer exists (Czechoslovakia)

An incredibly visionary take on the classic children's story. This wasn't just a film for children, it felt like the product of a child's mind, logic and all. At times surreal, at times sickening, at times strange and at times silly, this film is so many things wrapped in one. But most of all it is a complete labor of love, and you have to respect that.

There was plenty in there that had me shaking me head saying, "Wait... what?" and "Umm... okay then..." not least of all the…
Review by Kurt Huseby ★★★

tspdt 798 2015
actor: Kristýna Kohoutová as Alice
character: Alice by Kristýna Kohoutová
Review by booth_alastair ★★★½

psychological re-telling of modern classic.
Review by Tom Morton ★★★½ 2

March Around the World #6: Czechoslovakia

"There's just one thing that annoyed me about Jan Svankmajer's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland"

...said Tom.

"See if you can guess what it is."

...said Tom.

Actually there are a couple of slightly odd decisions that count against this film, which is a shame. The good stuff - the unique and insanely creative visual style, mixing stop-motion and live animation to perfectly create Wonderland and the many strange folk who live there - is SO good that the flaws really stand out. The "cut back to Alice's mouth after EVERY LINE OF DIALOGUE" thing is the worst, the pacing another, probably not helped by not having any score or music whatsoever. Awkward silence. Mouth. Awkward silence. Mouth. But everything else in between - wonderful.
Review by ax el ★★★½

A visually appealing movie with beautiful practical effects that will leave you wanting more! Perhaps one of the best film renditions of the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Review by aldy ★½

Alice was really just an excuse to show off the stop motion and production design. The storytelling wasn't very engaging and the movie relied entirely on you already being familiar with the story of Alice in Wonderland to make much sense. The stop motion was, I'd imagine, pretty remarkable for its time, but it really could have done with more frames so as to have more fluidity. The rabbit doll was incredibly creepy though, every time he licked something… *shudder*

Part of Letterboxd Season Challenge 2015-16
Week 6: Eastern European Week
Review by Mike D ★★½

Wut
Review by Samantha ★★½

This had lots of strange imagery but didn't really have anything else. I got a bit tired of it about halfway through since it felt repetitive.
Review by lisalisa ★★★★

tfw you will never have a qt3.14 daughter to help with in coping with her transition into adulthood filled with the potential of wage slavery, mental instability, a failed marriage, ungrateful kids and the inevitable realisation that at the end it was all just a dream.

I thought to myself.