Wonderland ***1/2
Rated on a 4-star scale Screening venue: Cornerhouse (Manchester) Released in the UK by UIP on January 28, 2000; certificate 15; 109 minutes; country of origin UK; aspect ratio 2.35:1
Directed by Michael Winterbottom; produced by Michelle Camarda. Written by Laurence Cordiat. Photographed by Sean Bobbitt; edited by Trevor Waite.
CAST..... Gina McKee..... Nadia Molly Parker..... Molly Shirley Henderson..... Debbie Ian Hart..... Dan Jon Simm..... Eddie Stuart Townsend..... Tim Kika Markham..... Eileen Jack Shepherd..... Bill
There is a school of thought that believes striving for reality in art is not a worthwhile pursuit. I've never understood why; we live in reality, we connect with it, it's exciting. Think of all the types of situations you find yourself in every week -- there'll always be some forms of happiness, sadness, expectation, disappointment, serenity, tumult, calm and anger. Life, to use a horrible cliché, dear friends, is an emotional roller coaster!
"Wonderland" is glorious proof of that, a film of scruffy beauty and spellbinding power, which seems constructed to capture the appeal of eavesdropping. That pastime is involving, of course, because of our instinctive fascination with humanity; this movie uses the same hook, diving into the lives of several Londoners, all of whom are connected by family ties, but are at different stages of their lives and have different occupations.
Nadia (Gina McKee) is an attractive but lonely waitress, who places a lot of personal ads but allows herself to get upset every time she goes on a date. One of her sisters, Molly (Molly Parker), is married and pregnant; the other, Debbie (Shirley Henderson), is raising her son alone. Their parents are Eileen (Kika Markham) and Bill (Jack Shepherd), two pathetically unhappy people who mope around the house, and occasionally cringe; because of barking dogs, broken appliances, boredom or simple fear of leaving the house.
We also meet up with partners and ex-partners, friends, acquaintances, neighbours, estranged relatives, colleagues... "Wonderland" never announces itself as a definite study of anything in particular, which gives it the freedom to roam around, to spy on whomever's interesting.
The director, Michael Winterbottom, shoots everything in a grainy, hand-held, almost camcorder style which makes events seem imparted to us from the inside out, rather than staged and shot. It's as if invisible camera crews had been ceaselessly exploring London. It's essential to the sense that we're watching real people who aren't aware of our presence.
This could have come across as solemn and grimy, like any of those pathetic TV documentaries that follow losers around their places of work and play. But in between the quiet, sober scenes are astounding sequences where the camera submerges in neon light, the editing plays around with cutting and speed, and Michael Nyman's grand score soars on the soundtrack. The whole movie uses London as a backdrop, letting us unconsciously absorb it; these grand musical moments explicitly rejoice in the city's strange beauty, and announce that the film is not scrutinising life, but gazing at it in wonderment.
So music is an important tone-setter in "Wonderland" -- but it's always kept for these side-moments, and never interferes with the drama. Scenes do not follow typical Hollywood constructions; there isn't a little climax every five minutes, characters don't subtly recap their situations to each other to let the audience know what's going on. Everything plays out at a realistic pace, and we get our bearings by picking up on mood, tone, emotions. Winterbottom, his actors, and even his extras, have a knack for capturing the way conversational rhythms actually do sound -- in homes, hairdressers' shops and pubs; on dates, the phone, and everywhere else the story goes.
And that is why this beautiful film has been made. It is a devoted record of modern human behaviour. I dreaded that there would be some hugely inappropriate surprise plot development near the ending, but no -- Winterbottom and screenwriter Laurence Cordiat know that most of us don't end a typical weekend by stumbling into life-changing experiences. "Wonderland" is such an acute observance of people that it makes us confront our essential feelings about our fellow man. And to any foreigners out there, wondering what it's like to be in Britain -- just take a look at this movie.
COPYRIGHT(c) 2000 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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