As Alicja (1982) later did, this film opts not to have its actors in animal costumes. They do wear costumes, though, the queen dresses like one, the mad hatter and so on.
The cinematography is very nice, a deep-focus black and white, like Citizen Kane.
One of the odder things about it is how disengaged Alice seems. I would not blame this on the young actress (and whatever happened to her, by the way?), but rather her direction. She is usually expressionless. She is in scenes, but often set apart, either by her being shown in the foreground, and the rest well behind her. Sometimes she's in a scene, but the camera puts her in completely separate shots than everyone else. Sometimes, she is not only apart from others, but behind a window, and looking away from the window. And when she is in scenes with other characters, again she is often looking away from them. Most of her dialog is done in voice-over. Sometimes when she has a conversation, she is speaking in voice- over while the other character actually speaks.
Also odd is how characters will be talking, then simply stop for a while and the camera lingers on them. Eventually they will start to talk again, but the silences feel uncomfortable, even though the characters don't seem to find them so.
These odd factors do lend the movie a sort of dream quality, or perhaps an opium dream quality.
The cinematography is very nice, a deep-focus black and white, like Citizen Kane.
One of the odder things about it is how disengaged Alice seems. I would not blame this on the young actress (and whatever happened to her, by the way?), but rather her direction. She is usually expressionless. She is in scenes, but often set apart, either by her being shown in the foreground, and the rest well behind her. Sometimes she's in a scene, but the camera puts her in completely separate shots than everyone else. Sometimes, she is not only apart from others, but behind a window, and looking away from the window. And when she is in scenes with other characters, again she is often looking away from them. Most of her dialog is done in voice-over. Sometimes when she has a conversation, she is speaking in voice- over while the other character actually speaks.
Also odd is how characters will be talking, then simply stop for a while and the camera lingers on them. Eventually they will start to talk again, but the silences feel uncomfortable, even though the characters don't seem to find them so.
These odd factors do lend the movie a sort of dream quality, or perhaps an opium dream quality.