Tim Burton (AnglophoniZ n°1)

He had been promising us a brand new version of Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland for ages, he has finally done it: it is now official, Tim Burton, with the complicity of his acolytes Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter, has just finished the shooting of the movie and is now going to transfer it into 3-D. Many of his fans have grown more and more curious about this film, knowing that the adapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could only but direct another masterpiece: and they will certainly not be disappointed by the first exclusive images that have been recently published on the Internet. "It has been Burtonized" declares producer Richard Zanuck. The characters are the same, the spirit of the book has been perfectly respected, but never has a director presented the whole story in this kind of visually surreal fashion that has become Tim Burton's trademark. "The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts" he says "but with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events. Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. The goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of 'Alice.'"* During his career, Burton has always successfully switched from genre to genre: from gore, horror and comedy horror ( Mars attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice ), to comedy drama and fantasy ( Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), without forgetting animation fantasy ( Corpse Bride, Nightmare before Christmas ), and his masterly attempt to musical ( Sweeney Todd ). What is Burton's secret ? In the recent history of the film industry, very few people have succeeded in creating something so original. Tim Burton is not only an outstanding director, he is first and foremost an artist for whom the aesthetics of a movie clearly prevails over the story. He has this capacity of making us laugh about death ( Beetlejuice ), of captivating our attention within the very first seconds of his movies, of attracting us into his world, full of mystery and darkness, haunted by witches, giants, dwarves and other unknown creatures, such as the Oumpa Loumpas. So, after two everlasting years, Tim Burton is finally to present us his own version of Alice in Wonderland on March 24, 2010...But did you really believe that Burton would remain leisured ? No, Burton has many other projects, as for example the production of a remake of one of his first short movies, Frankenweenie (release scheduled for 2011), or the adaptation, with Johnny Depp (you do not change a winning team) of Dark Shadows, an American series relating the story of the vampire Barnabas Collins. Big Tim is coming back....be prepared!

Laura Waldvogel