{"id":19239,"date":"2023-09-27T21:43:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T01:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=19239"},"modified":"2023-09-30T11:36:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T15:36:24","slug":"the-wonderful-story-of-henry-sugar-wes-anderson-returns-to-roald-dahls-universe-with-a-spellbinding-adaptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=19239","title":{"rendered":"The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar, Wes Anderson Returns To Roald Dahl\u2019s Universe With A Spellbinding Adaptation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1977 Roald Dahl released The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar <\/i>in a collection of seven short stories. A few decades later, the tale written by the illustrious children\u2019s novelist is adapted for the silver screen by the master of escapist pastel-hued motion pictures: Wes Anderson. The Texan filmmaker has strongly advocated for the English-author\u2019s work to remain in its original form. He declared that \u201cthe books of Roald Dahl should not be bowdlerised,<\/i>\u201d when it emerged that new editions of his publications had removed or changed references to gender, race and physical appearance to avoid causing offence.<\/p>\n

The film The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar<\/i><\/b>, was presented at the 80th<\/sup> Venice Film Festival and is currently available on Netflix. This is the second Dahl book that Anderson has brought to the screen, following his hugely successful 2009 stop-motion animated movie Fantastic Mr. Fox<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0Furthermore, Anderson has brought three more short-film Dahl adaptations to\u00a0Netflix:\u00a0The Swan<\/i>, The Rat Catcher<\/i>,\u00a0and\u00a0Poison.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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The medium-length movie (39 minutes) rigorously traces the plot presented by Roald Dahl. The titular character is a wealthy man, who embraces an extraordinary challenge once he comes across a tale concerning Imad Khan, i.e. \u2018The Man Who Sees Without His Eyes\u2019. This Indian Yogi, in 1935 had the ability to see even after doctors sealed his eyes. Henry Sugar in 1959, after three years of training manages to accomplish the same skills and take advantage of them to cheat at gambling games, until he realises he can put the money to better use.<\/p>\n

The cast gathers some of Wes Anderson\u2019s habitual actors (Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend), who play multiple roles as if they were in a theatrical performance that is captured by the camera. The feeling of watching a stage show is enhanced by the way the hand-painted sets \u2014 that homage Henri Rousseau \u2014 transform before our very eyes. This approach echoes Anderson\u2019s latest film Asteroid City<\/i><\/b><\/a> that revelled in metafiction showing us the making of a film and a play like Fran\u00e7ois Truffaut did in his Day For Night <\/i><\/b>and The Last Metro<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

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Wes Anderson\u2019s playful approach is a match made in heaven with the tone of Roald Dahl\u2019s storytelling and allows the film director to break the fourth wall to reinforce the conversation with the audience. The visual journey begins in Roald Dahl\u2019s hut within his Gipsy House in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire; it then expands to Calcutta hospitals and London casinos. The lines of dialogue that are delivered with haste and rhythm \u2014 both when they are in a form of monologue and when they are exchanged between characters \u2014 set the pace and mood. The cinematic oeuvre emerges as a no fuss moral tale that could be equated to The Fables of Aesop<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the day this concentrated version of the Anderson universe comes across in a liberating and inspirational way, far from being tedious in its stylistic construction or the themes it conveys. Besides bequeathing to viewers the old adage that \u2018with great power comes great responsibility\u2019, it gives an intriguing insight into the powers of perception. As one character reminds us: \u201cThe mind is a scattered thing and it concerns itself with thousands of different titans at once\u2026<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

Final Grade: B+<\/p>\n

Check out more of Chiara\u2019s articles<\/a>.<\/p>\n