Line #37 Film/Alice1988


1	[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/necozalenky_4241.jpg]][[caption-width-right:282: [[CoversAlwaysLie The cover almost makes it seem whimsical...]]]]
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3	->''"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."''
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5	''Něco z Alenky'' is a film, part live-action and part animation, made by [[UsefulNotes/TheCzechRepublic Czech]] stop-motion animator Creator/JanSvankmajer in 1988, called ''Alice'' outside of the Czech Republic.
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7	This surrealist adaptation of Creator/LewisCarroll's ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'' is remarkably faithful to the original work, condensing most of the dialogue but painstakingly preserving much of the plot. Where it really deviates is in the strange appearance of the Wonderland creatures and in the dreary atmosphere it evokes. Švankmajer's Wonderland is populated by speaking skeletons, sawdust-filled animals, and animated objects. The film is devoid of music, and all creatures are voiced by Alice herself, in jarring cutaway closeups of her mouth as she narrates their lines, and her adventure seems to entirely take place inside of an impossible, poorly-lit and labyrinthian house.
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9	Though well-received by critics, it is not a popular version of the story. This may have something to do with a saturation of both [[{{Grimmification}} grimmificationed]] and [[{{Disneyfication}} disneyfied]] Alice adaptations, despite it not quite falling into either category. It also has quite frightening, but amazing imagery, which has made it a CultClassic. Creator/TerryGilliam said: "Jan Svankmajer's stop-motion work uses familiar, unremarkable objects in a way which is deeply disturbing. The first film of his that I saw was ''Alice'', and I was extremely unsettled by the image of an animated rabbit which had real fur and real eyes. His films always leave me with mixed feelings, but they all have moments that really get to me; moments that evoke the nightmarish spectre of seeing commonplace things coming unexpectedly to life."
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11	----
12	!!''Alice'' provides examples of:
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14	* AdaptedOut: The Cheshire Cat doesn't appear in the movie. Nor do the Duchess and her Cook (the White Rabbit takes their place as the Pig-Baby's caretaker), or the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle.
15	* AllJustADream: Just like in the novel Alice has dreamt all the events. [[OrWasItADream Or...?]]
16	* AmbiguousEnding: Like the novel, the film ends with Alice waking back up in the real world (in this case, in her room). However, [[spoiler:Alice notices the glass case that the White Rabbit ripped itself from is broken and the Rabbit is gone. This makes it unclear if the dream is over or if Alice is still in Wonderland]].
17	* AndYouWereThere: Toys in Alice's room being Wonderland characters was also used as a motif, though in a more sinister way than other adaptations that use it.
18	* AnimateInanimateObject: Stuffed animals, skeletons, playing cards, socks all come to life.
19	* BiggerOnTheInside: Alice frequently gets places by going through what look on the outside like regular-sized drawers.
20	* BodyHorror: The White Rabbit has stuffing coming out of its belly.
21	* ButtMonkey: Alice tends to get beat up quite a lot by the creatures, not to mention being set on fire at least once.
22	* CreepyDoll: Alice becomes a living doll whenever she shrinks.
23	* DarkerAndEdgier: The designs are more macabre, UncannyValley is often invoked, and the White Rabbit is now the royal executioner.
24	* DerangedAnimation: A lot of the stop-motion features rather frightening imagery, with a stuffed rabbit being able to walk around on two feet as a prime example. Several animal skeletons are also walking and crawling around. Even socks, with teeth (!).
25	* DownTheRabbitHole: ''Alice'' is a most deranged and incomprehensible adaptation of ''Alice in Wonderland'', with its stop-motion animation and mostly silent script.
26	* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: Various things (puppets, stuffed animals, animal skeletons and even socks) are trying to catch Alice.
27	* TheFaceless: The sister of Alice has her head out of frame from the camera, while the rest of her body is seen.
28	* FollowTheWhiteRabbit: This is how Alice's journey begins. She notices how a stuffed rabbit starts to move from its henges and walks around, then decides to follow it.
29	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Unlike most of her adaptations, this Queen of Hearts actually beheads her subjects.
30	* GrotesqueGallery: All the creatures Alice meets are extremely distressing.
31	* HairRaisingHare: The White Rabbit is a stuffed animal that literally comes alive. Near the end of the film it turns out he is the Queen's executioner.
32	* JustWhistle: What the White Rabbit does to summon a caravan of friends in order to get a stuck Alice out of his house.
33	* LosingYourHead: Near the end, the White Rabbit beheads a pair of fighting playing card figures, but they just carry one without their heads. Later the White Rabbit beheads both the Hatter and the March Hare. They just swap heads and continue playing cards.
34	* {{Mouthscreen}}: Closeups of Alice's mouth are shown when she speaks.
35	* NightmareFace: Many close-ups of these stop-motion creatures apply. Even Oancitizen in his ''WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh'' review admitted being frightened at times.
36	* OrWasItADream: Alice wakes up in her room and everything seems fine, except the rabbit display cage is empty and glass broken. She finds a pair of scissors in the Rabbit's secret drawer and contemplates cutting ''his'' head off next time. ''Brr''...
37	* RakeTake: While looking through a closet, Alice gets smacked in the face with a rake, which causes her to stumble backwards and fall into a pot. This in turn sends her down a hole into an elevator.
38	* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: The film lacks any background music, aside from a piece of music played over the end credits. If anything, the sound effects (such as Alice sucking her finger or scraping knives) are exaggerated and sound quite loud.
39	* RunningGag: Alice has really bad luck with drawers. Whenever she tries to open one, she ends up pulling the knob out.
40	* ScaryTeeth: Socks have teeth in this movie.
41	* SelfSurgery: The Rabbit has to do this on himself every time he gets a new set of cuts.
42	* ShakyPOVCam: Occurs at one point when Alice is running outside towards a desk in the middle of nowhere.
43	* ShearMenace: The White Rabbit performs some beheadings for the Queen of Hearts with a pair of scissors.
44	* SilenceIsGolden: Long stretches of the film have no dialogue. When it does occur, it is usually in short bursts.
45	* SlidingScaleOfVisualsVersusDialogue: Definitely more focused on the visual side; dialogue is sparse and only spoken by one person, while the stop-motion animation and other surreal images are often the main focus.
46	* StopMotion: Most of the animation is stop-motion.
47	* SurrealHorror: The source material was already surreal, but the animation and special effects add an extra layer of horridness to it.

Context Film / Alice1988