Eccentric pastry chef Willy Wonka is able to make any child’s dreams come true. As a commercial trick, he hid five golden chocolate bar tickets and decided to test the winners’ honesty. But during a tour of the country of delicacies, strict rules must be observed, otherwise there will be no most important reward – the life-long provision of Willy Wonka with chocolate.

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I hate to compare this movie to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yes, they have the same basis and because of this the plot cannot be very different. But, as you know, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is not a remake, but a completely individual creation. Without comparisons, of course, you can’t go anywhere. But is it fair to compare 1971 to 2005? This is the biggest absurdity. You might say, “Fiy, what a horrible set, what a primitive garden! Burton is 1000 times better ”, but in this way we evaluate cinema from the perspective of the future! It’s like blaming a caveman for not creating Dali’s creations. We should also not forget that the wonderful world of Burton’s film was created in particular with the help of computer graphics, which again is the future for 1971. No, I am not trying to justify Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, because there is nothing to justify, as it is one of the best movie creations. And for sure, in order for the film to be fun, interesting and meaningful, it is not necessary to use super modern technologies. This is not so difficult to be convinced if you watch at least a few pseudo-successful 3D films of our time.

The first thing I want to draw your attention to is the amazing intelligent speech of the characters (I mean the original of the film, not the translation). Such a magnificent speech is rarely found in our time of haste. Apparently, soon we will forget what it means “with feeling, with proper arrangement”, since watch any film and the first thing you will notice is the insane speed of speech. Many intonations and emotions die behind speed. This film, I repeat, is already magnificent in the speech of the actors. Gorgeous songs with retro melodies plunge into some indescribable state of pleasure. The songs and dances of the actors who played the Umpa-lump evoke emotion and delight. And when they hum “Um-pa-lum-pa” something it very much resembles the intonation “chi-ta dri-ta” (or whatever?). Was it a coincidence or was the USSR also engaged in “borrowing” someone else’s?

The topic of spies, apparently, was especially relevant in the distant 70s. Willy Wonka is purposefully looking for a successor, no feelings of loneliness and childhood problems are out of the question. And the main thing is not that you overeat like a pig, fell into the trash can or became blueberries, but that you did not pass the information to the spies. Of course, there is a grain of morality, but here Charlie himself is “sinful.” In fact, he needed to be kicked out along with everyone. But the main thing is that he did not cooperate with the “spy”, he kept everything secret. On the one hand, this seems to be a disadvantage of the film, since there is no absolute goodness and morality, which is supposedly “supposed” for a fairy tale. But on the other hand, this film shows that there is nothing absolute, there are no nice little angels, and if they exist, then no one has caught them by the hand yet. Is it true, what’s wrong with the boy and grandfather wanting to fly and try a new product? In this plot, the grandfather and the boy personify that behavior characteristic of children of a certain age: “If no one sees, you can even do what is prohibited.”

For all its advantages, it is scary that the film is actually a “survival game”. Such a kind of “children’s SAW”. There is no blood, no (presumably) murders, but Wonka is shown as an evil genius, smiling slyly. Everything was initially thought out, and it seems as if the children were originally chosen, because wherever a golden ticket appears, we see that fake spy.

The factory was originally conceived as a labyrinth from which it is impossible to get out. Whether Charlie will live in a factory with his family remains open to question. Whether the remaining participants managed to get out of the factory is also a big question. So the film teaches less about “be angels and don’t do bad things,” but rather that it’s better not to get involved in dubious promotions. And it is at the moment of realizing this that you realize that the film is certainly not for children. It is not childish either in “picture” or in content. We are actively shown the vices of not only children, but their parents, while the flashing pictures in the tunnel of horror are the very vices of people. The film is revealed by MONSTER under the veil of colorfulness, wonderful songs and funny oompa-loomp. Indeed, in fact, it is not scary when we are shown pools of blood and meat, but that inner essence of a person, which is sometimes not visible behind the veil of fame, title, etc., is scary. This movie is definitely brutal and a bit like a thriller, but it’s beautifully veiled with words, gestures and pictures.

It is difficult to evaluate this film. And not because the sweets in the garden seem to be a continuation of the retro-style playground, and not because there is no CGI. I can say for sure that the first shots from the factory, where they show how waffles, marshmallows, sweets are prepared, caused an insane thirst for chocolate, which could not excite Burton’s film, even if it was ideal in terms of graphics. Probably difficult to assess due to some contradiction between expectations and reality. I expected a relatively light entertaining, a bit naively childish, fabulous creation. As a result, I actually got a horror film, which is masterfully covered with a semblance of children’s cinema. Children in the movies, in fact, are not perceived by Willie as children and they are “included” in a cruel game, but the whole beauty of the premises is to divert attention from the terrible plan. Isn’t this a nightmare?

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (75.8 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
French: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
Italian: Dolby Digital Mono

Subtitles
English SDH, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish.