Kashiwa and the chocolate factory
So today I decided to give japanese cinema another chance, and went to see “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” in the a theater in Shibuya. No hassles with the theater this time, fortunately, except for the excessive number of trailers, but Brazil has recently been getting worse in that aspect as well.
About the movie. I went to the cinema with great expectations. I had some very fond memories of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, which I saw when I was a kid. I also have a deep admiration for the work of both Tim Burton, and Johnny Depp. Well, never go to a movie with great expectations…
Not to say that the film was bad. Specially the scenarios, if you are expecting some outlandish fantasy scenarios like those from edward scissorhands, sleepy hollow, and finding neverland, you’ll certainly get them. Depp’s Wonka, on the other hand, seems kinda weird. I can’t place it very well but, uncharismatic. The Oompa Loompa were terrific, and very memorable, although the transition to their songs, except for the last one, were not really smooth.
The plot is reasonably different from the 71’s movie, although the main elements (the 5 kids personalities, the contest for entering the chocolate factory) remain the same. I can’t really compare both movies, because my memories of the first one are kinda biased due to nostalgy. All in all, it is not a bad movie, but I don’t know if it was worth going to the theater to see it (specially here in japan, where the cost/benefit of going to the movies is so low).
BTW, for some trivia, both movies were actually based on a novel, named “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. It seems that Tim Burton’s work is closer to the original than the older movie.
On a side note, I have put some more pictures in my photo album. They are mostly pictures that I took last week on my laboratory, so you can have an idea of my workplace. Unfortunately, I forgot to shoot everything that I wanted to, so there are some representative pics missing, like the student sleeping room, the bath/cleaning room, and better pics of the spider.
Anyway, enjoy!
