Eccentricilious. In a normal world that word may not make sense, but it does so in a world where the darkly comic chocolatier Willy Wonka exists. When he has hot chocolate for a nightcap, fashions sweet treats out of sunlight and thunderclouds, concocts a hair repair eclair, and sings about having a hatful of dreams, you know magic, charm, and confectioneries have arrived right in time for the Christmas season.
The makers of Paddington 2 — Paul King and Simon Farnaby — showcase innocence and charm in Wonka as well. Timothee Chalamet’s Willy Wonka is not the sinister chocolatier we are familiar with, the one who punishes ill-mannered children. Instead, he is a young man who comes to Paris after seven long years at sea with a dream. A dream to showcase his craft of creating chocolates. Given the wackiness of Willy Wonka, paired with some naivety, it’s easy to believe that the scheming nature of others rob him of everything.
Challenges come his way when Wonka gets charged for daydreaming. Soon enough, he ends up repaying the debts of lodge owner Mrs Scrubitt (Olivia Colman), who, along with her partner in crime Mr Bleacher (Tom Davis), charges him a ‘stair’ fee to access his room, another fee for using a sliver of soap in his room, not to mention owing them 27 years of slavery. Later, we learn that Noodle, an orphan (Calah Lane) has had it worse for being picked up as a baby. She has to now repay the duo for the “privilege” of kindness she was given. Others in the clan of slaves include accountant Larry (Rich Fulcher), telephone operator Lottie (Rakhee Thakrar), and Piper (Natasha Rothwell). When Noodle rightly says, “The greedy beats the needy”, it hits hard.
As the band of slaves strive to break free of the clutches together, music begins to fill the narrative with whimsy magic. The songs are staged and assembled with delight. The best song is the one with Wonka and Noodle, who croon about hope and happiness after they return from milking a giraffe for one of their exquisite creations. The duet, featuring a man who has dreams on his sleeves, and a girl who has just reaffirmed her hope, melts your heart more than a chocolate bar kept under a scorching sun.
Wonka, in a subtle yet rewarding way, pays homage to Roald Dahl’s previous works and the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) film. For instance, when Mrs Scrubitt sings out her cruelty while locking up Noodle, there is an uncanny resemblance to Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. A shot of the gigantic weightage that Olivia’s face gets, takes you back to the exact shot of the tyrant headmistress scaring Miss Honey and her children away. In another instance, a newly opened Wonka store with a chocolate river, boat, and cherry blossoms, feels like a throwback and tribute to the marvellous visual we were once wowed by when Wonka opened his factory for the first time to five lucky children.
In a way, Wonka is a reflection of its iconic parent film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There is an indispensable mirroring effect when both, in their underlying tones, are rooted in filial sentiments. If Wonka had a dysfunctional and skirmish relationship with his dentist father in the 2005 film, the latest adaptation displays an inspiring tale of a mother and son bond. Despite Wonka not attempting to bridge a connection and refer to the two parental tales of Willy Wonka, you smile in warm reminiscence when Wonka learns it is not always about the chocolate, but the one who you share it with. After all, didn’t Wonka realise that after Charlie shows him around his humble abode?
Sandwiched among all this, is Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa, a precarious yet noble creature who eventually forms the workforce of Wonka. The film never delves into the relationship that these quirky dwarves have with the chocolatier. Barring an instance of cocoa bean ownership, which makes him secretly sneak in and steal Wonka’s creations, there isn’t much for the Oompa Loompas to do in the film.
The makers also give scant attention to the legendary Rowan Atkinson. He plays Father Julius, a corrupt clergy in cahoots with a chocolate cartel trio. Rowan gets the claps for his limited screen presence but is thwarted by his underdeveloped arc.
With this latest addition to the land of candy and eye candy, one thing is clear; chocolates are prized possessions. When blocks of sweet treats can bribe adults, chocolate fountains and death by chocolate are taken in the literal sense, the land of Wonka becomes a beautiful immersion of our childhood times.
As Wonka, with a sweet tooth, wades through the rolling credits with a smile plastered on his face, the film affirms the importance of reconnecting with those simpler times... the times when happiness could be found at the sight of the smallest achievements, and when happiness essentially meant... chocolates.
Wonka
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, and others
Director: Paul King