Movie #72 - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

"It's everybody's non-pollutionary, anti-institutionary, pro-confectionery factory of fun!"

Still one of my favourite movies of my childhood, every time I see this film, I have to watch it. After many viewings, I am starting to realize that this movie probably marked when I started to become quite cynical. This movie is filled with sarcasm and has a very dark tone to it, but its wrapped in sugar and chocolate, that you forget what is actually going on behind the scenes.

If you ever read the original books by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator), there is a dark undertone in both children's books, which Dahl adapted into his screenplay for the 1971 movie.

I am surprised that to this day, Dahl's books have not been banned by those who would be offended by ground-breaking work. Its a goal of mine in 2009 to re-read these books to see if I can catch the difference between how children were intended to understand his writing and what he actually wrote.

In comparison to the Depp/Burton remake, the original film wins out. Call me nostalgic, but the musical scores, the set design, and the performance of Wilder alone make this movie a great film. Plus, you really feel for Charlie and his plight and you root for him to win in the end. I was sorry to discover that Wilder didn't win the Golden Globe that year for his performance here, because despite his wide array of films, this ranks up there as one of his best performances of his career next to probably Young Frankenstein (for which he garnered an Oscar nomination).

In the end - if you watch this film at face value, you'll enjoy the silliness of the factory and the wondrous colours and imaginative set design. If you enjoy the "dark side" of this storyline, then you're in for a treat - no pun intended!