Willy Wonka & die Schokoladenfabrik

Pünktlich zum Remake mit Johnny Depp kommt nun also endlich der Originalfilm auf DVD heraus. Für mich eine große Freude, da ich den Film bisher nur einmal in der US Version sehen konnte und ihn damals mit viel Spaß anschaute. Im Grunde ein idealer Kinderfilm, aber aufgrund vieler skuriler Elemente, schräger Sprüche, lustiger Einfälle und absurden Elementen auch für Erwachsene durchaus unterhaltsam.

In den USA besitzt dieser Film einen gewissen Kultstatus, Oompa Loompas - kleine Wichteln ähnelnde Figuren im Film - sind jedem bekannt und werden in vielen TV-Serien, wie auch der Film an sich, gern parodiert.

Ein witziger Film mit vielen Liedern und einer Handvoll schräger Charaktere, die zunächst alle ihr goldenes Los finden und dann Willy Wonkas Fabrik besichtigen. Ein simpler Film mit einer reizenden Kuriosität.

Zunächst kannte ich nur die Version von Tim Burton mit einem überragenden Johnny Depp. Die DVD der Fassung mit Gene Wilder legte ich mir nur aus Interesse zu.
Ein Vergleich drängt sich auf. Bei Tim Burton farbige Opulenz mit ausgefeilter Computertechnik, rasanter Inszenierung, subtilem Humor und viel Ironie, bei Gene Wilder ein Musical mit allseits bekannten Melodien und zeittypisch trashiger Ausstattung (wässrige Schokoladenströme, klapprige Apparaturen, zwergwüchsige Statisten als Oompa Lumpas), das gern in puren Kitsch abgleitet. Schon in der ersten Szene fiel mir auf, was ich zuvor nicht wusste, dass der Film in Deutschland gedreht worden sein musste. Damals war ich etwas jünger als Charlie. Ich bin mir noch nicht ganz darüber klar, was eigentlich das typisch Deutsche an den in München gedrehten Außenszenen ist, aber der hohe Wiedererkennungseffekt ist frappierend. Für meinen Geschmack war damals nicht alles besser, im Gegenteil. Ich ziehe die Tim Burton Version allemal vor, sie ist ein Augen und Ohrenschmaus (dank der Filmmusik von Danny Elfman) für Jung und Alt. Vor allem aber wird bei Tim Burton das Versprechen außergewöhnlicher Erlebnisse an die Teilnehmer der Golden Ticket Verlosung erfüllt und damit die Story erst plausibel. Bei Gene Wilder steht immer die Frage im Hintergrund, warum die ganze Welt auf diesen Kindergeburtstag in einer Fabrikhalle scharf gewesen sein soll. Wenn ich Gewinner gewesen wäre, hätte ich Willy Wonka alias Gene Wilder die Hölle heiß gemacht. Natürlich ist auch die Burton Fassung nicht durchgänig plausibel, vor allem die milde Reaktion der Eltern auf die Misshandlung ihrer Kinder. Das ist aber im Buch von Roald Dahl so angelegt.
Trotz allem sollte man sich die 70er Version nicht entgehen lassen, schon um sich an der Unterschiedlichkeit der Umsetzung desselben Stoffes zu erfreuen. Außerdem ist Gene Wilder ein sehr guter Schauspieler, der trotz ärmlichen Umfelds eine reife Leistung abliefert.

The film is based on a much-loved children's book, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', by Roald Dahl. Dahl wasn't always happy with the changes made between his book and the film, and wasn't always consulted on them. Today probably more people are familiar with the film sequence of events than the book. Charlie is a down-on-his-luck boy who is nonetheless optimistic and happy. He and his mother work to tend for their bed-ridden family members, all living together in a one-room home.

One day there is an annoucement that Wonka is going to open his factory to visitors, to be chosen more or less at random through finding the Golden Tickets, contained in Wonka bars (a brilliant marketing device back then). Scenes of shoppers' frenzy are shown all around with world, including a Wonka delivery van shown arriving at the White House.

The five golden tickets are found all around the world - the first one in Dusselheim, Germany, by the fat boy, Augustus Gloop (played by Michael Boliner, who is now a tax accountant in Munich, and is still rather large). The second ticket was found in the UK, by spoiled brat, Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole, the only Wonka child still acting), whose father, Roy Kinnear, is a well-known actor in British cinema. The third ticket was found in the USA, by gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson, now an accountant at a nuclear plant in Colorado), whose used-car-salesman father was played by Leonard Stone (who was selected over Jim Bakus). The fourth ticket was also won in the USA, by Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen, considered a real brat by most of the cast and crew); his frantic mother was played by Dodo Denny (later Nora Denny), who was one of the few minor characters in the film to consistently act after this film. The final ticket at first is reported to be won by some shady businessman from Paraguay, but in the end, that is proven to be a forgery. Of course, Charlie buys a Wonka Bar expecting nothing, and gets the ticket.

An ominous figure, Slugworth (the arch-enemy of Wonka - who knew chocolate makers also made arch-enemies?), appears to each of the winners, whispering in their ears. Charlie is also confronted, and promised a reward should he bring Slugworth an example of Wonka's latest creation, the Everlasting Gobstopper. One wonders why (a) any candy maker would make a candy that never wears out (thus defeating re-sales), and (b) why Slugworth can't just buy one himself when they are released, analyse it and ruin his own factory the same way? But I digress... Gunter Meisner, a very prolific German actor, played the villain, who wasn't in the book (nor was the 'gobstopper plot').

The grand day of the event, the winners enter the factory with great fanfare, meeting Wonka (Gene Wilder) for the first time, and get the first taste of his bizarre sense of theatre. (It is reported not only Wilder's idea for the limping/somersault introduction to the crowd, but also a condition of his accepting the role.) From that point on, what was truth? It is ironic that Wonka's entrance doesn't occur until the film is half over. What we remember of the film comes after this, but over half the film is actually set-up. This is rather like the Wizard of Oz, where most of the film is done before we see 'the major character', although admittedly Wonka is far more prominent than Oz's balloonist.

Wonka, the man of mystery, only ever became even more of a mystery as the tour progressed. He is constantly switching his words ('we have so much time and so little to do'), and there are surprises at every turn. Wonka borrows a lot of his key phrases (Ogden Nash, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde) and there are a lot of fantasy-inspired elements (Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings).

At each major scene, something ghastly seems to happen, but in epic-fantasy form, it doesn't seem to matter to the majority, who proceed onward with their quest. In the chocolate room, Augustus Gloop meets his untimely exit from the factory by falling in the chocolate river. Violet turns into a blueberry by chewing experimental gum, and has to be squeezed (squoozed?). Veruca, in the room with the geese who lay the golden eggs, turns out to be a bad egg herself, but has a sporting chance of going down a chute with an inactive furnace. Mike Teevee shrinks in the Wonka version of the Star Trek transporter beam, leaving in the end only Charlie, who is denied his prize of a lifetime of chocolate for a minor infraction.

It would seem that Wonka had a sinister side in many ways - the boat that carries the prize winners only seated eight, implying that Wonka knew someone would be missing. The Wonkamobile only had seats for four guests. Of course, the children apparently all had sinister sides, too, including Charlie, until the end. None of them let Wonka know of their Slugworth contact.

In the end, we never know what becomes of the fallen questers - we are led to believe that in this candy factory they got their just desserts. The Oompa-Loompas put the moral to each downfall in song, with a 1970s karaoke-type presentation of the lyrics as they sing. In the end, of course, goodness and justice win out, as the factory is given to Charlie after his act of unwarranted kindness toward Wonka.

Director Stuart always saw this film as a 'realistic' fantasy film. Those things that are not over the top are very ordinary. The people are not superheroes, and the situations, while fantastic, are not beyond the credible. Stuart also did his best for 'real' reaction - the kids had never seen Gene Wilder before his appearance at the door, the chocolate room in the factory, or the Oompa-Loompas prior to the first scene, either, so their reactions are more natural.

A great film for children and adults!