The Alice (film)

The Alice (also known as Neco z Alenky) is a 1988 Czechoslovak surrealist stop-motion animated film written and directed by Jan Švankmajer. It is a loose adaptation of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Unlike many adaptations, The Alice presents a darker and more disturbing interpretation of the source material, employing taxidermied animals, unsettling imagery, and a generally nightmarish atmosphere.

The film deviates significantly from the traditional, lighthearted portrayals of Wonderland. Švankmajer focuses on the more unsettling and absurd aspects of Carroll's story, emphasizing the psychological impact of Alice's journey. The animation style is characterized by its rough, tactile quality, featuring visible stitches on the taxidermied creatures and a generally decayed and decayed aesthetic.

The plot follows the basic structure of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with Alice falling down the rabbit hole and encountering various bizarre characters and situations. However, Švankmajer reinterprets these encounters through his unique artistic lens, often heightening the sense of unease and disorientation. The White Rabbit, for instance, is a stuffed rabbit with glass eyes and a clockwork mechanism. Other characters, like the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, are similarly rendered in a grotesque and unsettling manner.

The Alice is known for its inventive use of sound design, contributing to the film's overall atmosphere of unease. The film is predominantly in Czech, though a translated version exists. It has garnered a cult following for its originality, its dark and surreal aesthetic, and its thought-provoking interpretation of a classic children's story.