Movie of the Month, Part 19: Alice - A Look into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I recently reviewed the following documentary for Video
Librarian, and thought the results were worth sharing.

ALICE: A LOOK INTO ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND [***1/2]
(Gerry Malir, UK, 2009, 90 minutes)

Without Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (1852-1934), aka Alice Lidell, the classic novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland wouldn't exist. 

This British documentary explores the relationship between the author and his muse, which came about through Lewis Carroll's employment with Oxford's Christ Church College, where Alice's father, Henry Lidell, served as dean. When the mathematics lecturer, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, met Alice in 1855, she was only three years old, too young to befriend, so he initially socialized more with her three older siblings.

Other members of the extended Lidell clan would become Wonderland characters, such as the governess-inspired Queen of Hearts--the documentary posits Carroll himself as the White Rabbit. He also took inspiration from the works of William Blake and William Wordsworth, who shared his belief in the innate wisdom of children; while the 1865 book sprang from a tale he spun to entertain the young Lidells. Drawings, photographs, and clips bring his resulting story to life.

While at Oxford, Carroll took up photography in addition to writing, displaying a talent for both; he even provided the manuscript's pen and ink illustrations. Young girls became his favorite subject, though the documentary doesn't claim any impropriety on his part. Director Malir does note, however, that the diary pages detailing this four-year period no longer exists, since relatives removed them. Lidell herself later wrote, "Being photographed was a joy to us, not a penance."

Sadly, Carroll broke with the Lidells prior to the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for reasons that remain unclear, though the narrative offers a convincing theory. With an extensive quantity of literary and historical detail, Alice takes aim more at the academic viewer than the casual fan, but never gets too dry, and includes the 1903 and 1915 silver-screen adaptations. Highly recommended.

Click here for Movie of the Month, Part 18: Beeswax

Endnote: Slightly revised from the original text. Click here for
my review of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Image from
Poets.net: Alice Pleasance Liddell with her sisters (circa 1859).