Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory

Mel Stuart, USA, 1971, 100 minutes

“If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it”.

Charlie Bucket is bullied and excluded at school and, like all born into poverty, dreams of a better life for his family. He finds out that the chocolate magnate Mr. Willy Wonka (played to perfection by Gene Wilder) is offering the chance for five lucky people, the finders of one of five golden tickets hidden in five random bars of Wonkalate, to see how his factory works.

Charlie despairs of ever getting to see such a spectacle, but after a chance-in-a-million purchase Charlie finds himself hanging onto Gene Wilder’s coat-tails, taking a tour of the factory, seeing everything from the everlasting gobstoppers to a river of molten chocolate, flowing through a pure-cane Eden.

However, this is Hansel and Gretel sweetness. Roald Dahl’s “most delicious” book is full of his trademark dark humour, and be assured that several of the more unpleasant factory visitors come to a sticky end.

This thoroughly enjoyable, Oscar-nominated adaptation with added 1970s psycheadelia, and a good dose of the macabre is a must see for all fans of confectionary.

Review by Max Schreck Jr.
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2004