Dreamchild

![]() |
Amelia ShankleyScreen Time: 40%Role: Little Alice Age: 12 years old |
![]() |
Imogen BoormanScreen Time: 15%Role: Lorina Age: 13 years old |
![]() |
Emma KingScreen Time: 10%Role: Edith Age: 12 years old |
Dreamchild
Directed: Gavin Millar
Country: UK
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089052
Summary
On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lewis Carroll, the original Alice is invited to a New York party to celebrate the writer's most famous creation, Alice in Wonderland. Alice remembers her relationship to Carroll and the fantastic creatures he imagined for her story.
Movie Reviews
Who cares for you? You're nothing but a pack of cards!, 15 December 2004Author: aimless-46 from IMDb
Let me start by simply saying that the reaction I had viewing this film
was unlike any other viewing experience I can recall. Although I found
it well written and produced, I was so disappointed by the 2/3's point
that I almost stopped watching. Yet by the end I was absolutely
embracing the whole thing. So if you are a Lewis Carroll fan keep an
open mind and watch the whole thing, you may find the whole much
greater than the sum of its parts. And you may even find yourself
willing to accept the historical fiction as necessary to better tell
the story.
I suppose a large part of my initial negative reaction was due to the
film's puzzling failure to capture a fundamental aspect of Alice
Liddell's childhood personality. Alice spent much of her time in
"Wonderland" being p….d off; at the illogic, the rudeness, and the
selfishness of the characters she met there. Both Alice's were proper
and confident little Victorian girls who took themselves very
seriously. I am sure that this was one of many "Real Alice" personality
traits that Carroll transplanted to his "Wonderland" Alice. Often
amused by her reactions of irritation and frustration, he constructed
many of the story elements with the intention of getting indigent
reactions from Alice and her sisters. I had hoped that this connection
would be made by the film and was disappointed that it was not
explored, although in retrospect you could argue that the older Alice's
reactions to the characters she meets in America are identical to
Alice's reactions to the characters in Wonderland. That the film does
not explore my pet topic was disappointing but ultimately not fatal.
In all other respects the portrayal of young Alice Liddell was
excellent. Amelia Shankley turned in a fine performance. She is clearly
the best film Alice so far and it is a shame that they did not star her
in an actual Alice film right after "Dreamchild" was completed. And
Coral Browne was equally excellent as the older Alice.
This film is about how Alice's mother (who felt her daughter could find
much better candidates for marriage as she moved into her teens)
essentially poisoned her memories of Dodgson, leading her to believe
that there was something wrong about his feelings for her (when in fact
he was just a childlike personality who loved her more than his other
child friends, but always with a shy innocence). It is also about the
guilt the older Alice still feels over abandoning him just as she
entered her teens, especially after all the innocent kindness he had
shown. She is in denial about her affection for Dodgson and irritated
because all the attention of his centennial is forcing her to recall
those long-suppressed years of her life. And finally she feels that
since she was not actually the little heroine who exhibited so much
courage in "Wonderland", she does not deserve her sudden celebrity
status. In her view she was catapulted into fame "by simply doing
nothing". Remember that Wonderland Alice is arguably the bravest
literary heroine of all time.
What ultimately redeems the film is the climatic scene in the hall of
Columbia University. Alice Liddell flashes back to a scene late in her
relationship with Dodgson, a symbolic scene meant to represent the end
of their relationship. She had outgrown him at this point in her life
and she laughs and humiliates him as he attempts to sing his Lobster
Quadrille song to the three Liddell sisters and their male suitors.
When her mind returns to the present she hears the Columbia University
orchestra and glee club performing the same song. She realizes that the
story which she once rejected was in fact his personal tribute to her
and that even after all these years each little detail of his creation
is admired throughout the world. At this point she finally gets it. She
goes back to the symbolic scene as her older sister Lorina reads the
final paragraph from the Wonderland book, the one in which Dodgson
reveals the reason he made up the story. Then the child Alice walks
over, kisses Dodgson in apology, and places her head on his chest (an
omission for which she has long felt guilty). Then we are back in the
hall and find that in place of her prepared speech she has read this
same passage to the now applauding crowd.
The point is that she finally understood that the story was a gift to
her and to future generations of children, that she had inspired the
story and had been the model for his heroine. With this realization
came the final gift of knowing that the virtues Mr. Dodgson gave his
heroine: innocence, courage, curiosity, wonder, kindness, intelligence,
courtesy, humor, dignity, and a sense of justice; were virtues he
credited to the real Alice.
It is hard to imagine a better scene (or sequence of scenes) than the
climatic one detailed above. Film and video cannot hope to compete with
books in communicating thoughts. But with the right players film can
visually communicate moments of character realization and
transformation to a degree much more subtle and personal than what any
author can write. This is the real magic of film and acting for the
camera. In the end these climatic moments say everything that needs be
said about the relationship between Dodgson and his "dreamchild". A
truly great cinematic moment and my all-time favorite.