Review of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) by Arikagan — 28 Apr 2018

'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' is a 1971 belated cult classic film. I say belated because this film didn't really gain a following until its VHS release. The film was surprisingly a box office dud, only making over $500,000 domestically. This news is shocking considering how beloved it is. There are so many great things about this movie. Now, I haven't read this book since I was little, but I know a lot of what was in the book was in the film as well. The book/film has a great story with great messages. You should be hopeful for things you would like to achieve, but you shouldn't let greed overcome you. And considering this is a book-to-film adaption, Roald Dahl, who also wrote the book, wrote an amazing script. Book-to-film adaptations are tough to watch because almost all of the time, the movies fail and are nowhere near as good as the book, but this is one case where the movie is exceptional. This script was actually very clever, not only telling the story well, but a lot of characters, particularly Willy Wonka, had some pretty funny, clever, memorable lines. I have too many favorites to even list.

Speaking of the character of Willy Wonka, Gene Wilder did an outstanding job playing the titular character. What a lot of people might not know is that Gene Wilder decided to turn down the role unless his one exception could be met, and it was. That exception was in the film during the Willy Wonka introduction scene. When Wonka tricks the crowd into thinking he's crippled, he somersaults, clearly proving that he can walk just fine. Wilder wanted that scene in the film because if Wonka could trick everyone, nobody would know if he was telling the truth or not from that point on. It was a smart move on Wilder's part. With a semi-large cast like this, you have to break down the performances specifically in some cases. In this film's case, you can break down the performance by age groups: kids and adults. The child actors in this film are great. They clearly portray greedy, naughty children that only care about winning the grand prize. The obvious child star would be Charlie Bucket played by Peter Ostrum, his only film. You sympathize with Charlie not just because of his living conditions but because of how much he wants a Golden Ticket. While his character doesn't make the best decisions in this film, he's just a kid who finally gets to have some fun in his life. The adult actors are also great in this film as well. Excluding Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson portrayed a great Grandpa Joe who you could also sympathize with as well. Charlie's grandparents have been bedridden for 20 years, and it takes Charlie's Golden Ticket win to finally give Grandpa Joe the strength to finally get out of bed. The parents of the other children also have great roles, never overshadowing one another.

The one Academy Award this film was nominated just so happened to be the one that made the most sense: Best Music/Score. This film has some of the most iconic songs ever put to film. 'Pure Imagination' is a classic that everyone knows. Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley did a great job composing the songs and score in this film. The soundtrack is easily recognizable and has truly stood the test of time nearly 50 years later.

During this time period, there was no such thing as CGI or other VFX we're used to now. Because of this, watching the film in the present time, it's clear that this film severely lacks in visual effects. Obviously, there is more technology in today's world that helps us accomplish this, but considering that this film was released in 1971, the visual effects aren't terrible. There wasn't a whole lot of VFX, but I think the most noticeable would be the great glass elevator flying or maybe even the chocolate river or tunnel scene.

Another important aspect of this film is costume design and makeup. Willy Wonka's costume fits his character well. An odd costume for an odd character. The Oompa Loompas have bright orange makeup all over their faces and bushy white eyebrows along with green over-styled hair. Again, for its time, the costumes and makeup are good as well.

My main issue with this film is that there aren't enough scenes in the factory, and we don't get to see enough rooms of the factory, either, which is disappointing. The film, which stands at 100 minutes long, has too much build-up to the factory that when we finally see it, we don't see it for very long. Besides this, this is truly an exceptional film, and it's a shame that it wasn't recognized right away.