Wonderland
Everybody's looking for something.
Through a series of vignettes, Wonderland focuses on the dreams, conflicts and weekend escapades of three sisters, Debbie (Shirley Henderson), Nadia (Gina McKee) and Molly (Molly Parker). Their quest is universal and eternal: the search for contentment in this world. Molly, full of uncertainty, is due to have her first baby any day. Debbie, with a nine-year-old at home, still spends her nights on the town. Nadia lives alone and is in search of love and companionship.
Three women. Three very different lives all inexorably and beautifully interwoven into a single tapestry of love, pain and pure joy.
Member Reviews
"Mr. Wong Kar-Wai ... meet Kenny Loach" - luminol
The set-up? A look at three sisters during the millennial Guy Fawkes weekend in London.
A lot of the intrigue of the film is trying to figure out the tenuous connections and disconnections between characters until we discover this is one working class family. The film gradually reveals the dynamics of the family but none of it's dark secrets. Their parents are unhappy. The mother, desperately so---she always barking at her husband, who after years of this, is rather beaten down and quiet---their drama seems to have been imprinted on all their children. They also have a younger brother, Darren, who unbeknownst to them, has taken the train down from Manchester for the week-end to celebrate his birthday in a posh London hotel with his girlfriend. But he's estranged from the family.
The sound track by Michael Nyman is great, but the star here is the direction; this is Winterbottom's baby; some of the problems in the story have been cleverly spackled over and give a coat of paint. There's also great use of real locations when at times, the actors appear to have stepped out of the movie into real life with real people for a moment.
The film is all about dissatisfaction; so it underscores these moments of disconnection. This was a nice role for Gina McKee (she was the wheel chair girl in Notting Hill) her hair twists strangely suggest antenna in her search for love. And surprise, surprise, Molly Parker has a posh British accent.
I loved the way London functions as a character; the smallish flats, the great throng of people, street crime; alienation and loneliness but perversely it's also comforting with it's sky line; familiar landmarks; hot spots and boisterous, noisy neighborhoods. These are just normal every day working folk confronted and confounded by life, but there are faint slivers of hope in the film.Lovely patches in what is otherwise rather dull - rdees
A decent film with a wonderful score by Michael Nyman and an alluring central performance by Gina McKee. The mood is rather heavy throughout – these are by no means happy people, though hope shines through here and there – and the stories of each character collide in a fairly contrived but interesting way. The reason I highlight Gina McKee’s performance is because she’s the one who captivated my attention the most. Her expressions, fragility, and longing for love drew me closer to her than any other character here. The style of the film is casual and feels low-fidelity, with a lot of grainy night shots of London by night and an occasional hand-held effect that gives the style a certain sense of spontaneity, even documentary, as it attempts to capture the “true” lives of its characters. It doesn’t always succeed, but it’s a mildly enjoyable effort. Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, Tristam Shandy) has shown that he's capable of much better.it does make you wonder,,,, - arronde8
How could a movie with actors of this quality be so embarassingly bad? First, absolutely execrable cinematography coupled to a very poor quality print. And sound quality that made me wish I had opted for closed captioning. A meaningless slice-of-life pseudo-script. The makers should get day jobs.
Member Reviews
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"Mr. Wong Kar-Wai ... meet Kenny Loach" - luminol
The set-up? A look at three sisters during the millennial Guy Fawkes weekend in London.
A lot of the intrigue of the film is trying to figure out the tenuous connections and disconnections between characters until we discover this is one working class ...Lovely patches in what is otherwise rather dull - rdees
A decent film with a wonderful score by Michael Nyman and an alluring central performance by Gina McKee. The mood is rather heavy throughout – these are by no means happy people, though hope shines through here and there – and the stories of each character ...it does make you wonder,,,, - arronde8
How could a movie with actors of this quality be so embarassingly bad? First, absolutely execrable cinematography coupled to a very poor quality print. And sound quality that made me wish I had opted for closed captioning. A meaningless slice-of-life pseudo-script. ...