more than visual pleasure

during the weekend, i made it a point to watch "willy wonka and the chocolate factory", starring gene wilder. the screenplay was also written by the author of "charlie and the chocolate factory", the amazing, visionary roald dahl.

previous to that, i only remembered one scene from the movie: the scene with willy wonka walking down the garden of edible delights. yum!
upon watching it again, i was struck by the subtleties of the script, as well as of gene wilder's acting. the way his eyes would shift, or he would cock his head to one side, or how his facial expression would change ever-so-slightly upon a word or phrase. it makes full use of his acting talent, outside of straight comedy. my favorite line from the film: "we are the musicmakers and we are the dreamers of dreams". roald dahl is a real genius!
i was a bit concerned about how the treatment of the new movie would be. because the original had that campy, psychedelic feel that pervaded the genre in the 70's. of course, the oompa-loompas were interesting to watch, but my favorite songs are still candyman and pure imagination (not sure if that's the title).
yesterday, i finally got a chance to watch tim burton's "charlie and the chocolate factory".

i liked it. the chocolate was chocolatey-er. hehe! johnny depp is, as always, wonderful. although at some parts, i could see traces of "edward scissorhands" in him. other times, as has been said, he seemed to channel michael jackson. freddie highmore, who i last watched in "finding neverland" is a wonderful actor.
ok, for the comparisons: as expected, the production design and special effects are more advanced on this one. the story is also different. whereas the original devoted as much time to the story before charlie entered the factory as the tour itself, the new version only took about 15 to 20 minutes before venturing inside the factory. the ending is also different. without spoiling it for those who haven't seen the movie, i'll just say that the original ends much earlier in the tale than the latest version. whereas the original got away with just "telling" some parts, the new version "shows" much more. in addition, there's more backstory on willy wonka in the latest version.
interestingly, the kids cast in the latest version as veruca, mike, and augustus look similar to the original actors. i checked out the site, and in the DVD release, there's a special feature on the where those former kids are now. only two of them are remotely involved in anything showbiz.
in my opinion, the first, which focused a lot more on charlie than willy wonka, and should have been called "charlie and the chocolate factory" than this one, which reveals much more about willy, and so, should be called "willy wonka and the chocolate factory".
both are dark comedies, though. and bear certain roald dahl fixtures: anti-institution/-adult, anti-bad behavior for children, and pro-child's individuality. also, loads of uniqueness and invented words and worlds.