ARENA : Jonathan Miller

[Chris Newman]

Originally Posted by amateur51

Here's the complete film of Miller's Alice In Wonderland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrlN8rrmOVU

Fantastic. Thanks Ams. As a lad I remember the unintentional funny moment on the News when Malcolm Muggeridge (I can't remember if he was the Walrus or the Carpenter) and his partner were sitting on a breakwater with Alice when a huge wave came out of blue (literally) and soaked them.

[handsomefortune]

the complete version..... thanks v much amatuer51, a corker!..... and all praise to individuals who upload such unique material onto utube, for everyone to share.

(i also noticed that series 2 of '2012' is on - which'll take the edge off the pain of the pre olympic hype nicely).

[salymap]

Thanks from your insomniac friend ams51. I shall watch'Alice' tomorrow.

[amateur51]

Thanks from your insomniac friend ams51. I shall watch'Alice' tomorrow.

I enjoyed the section of the Arena programme in which Miller 'now' met Alice 'now' and spoke about Alice 'then' - two interested and interesting people

[Tony Halstead]

[Chris Newman]

Thanks for the link, Ammy. What a cast!! John Gielgud, Michael Gough, Peter Cook, Peter Sellars, John Bird.

[salymap]

Yes, and the young Alice [whose name escapes me atm] was absolutely right for the part.

[amateur51]

Thanks for the link, Ammy. What a cast!! John Gielgud, Michael Gough, Peter Cook, Peter Sellars, John Bird.

And possibly the only extant clips of Wilfred Lawson, albeit with his head in a teapot, and Wilfrid Brambell with his teeth in

[salymap]

Was Wilfred Brambell the old man in Steptoe and Son? I was trying to 'place' him ?

[amateur51]

Was Wilfred Brambell the old man in Steptoe and Son? I was trying to 'place' him ?

That's him, salymap!

[Chris Newman]

That's him, salymap!

"You dirty old man! You filfy old git! You get them bleedin' pickl'd onions outa my barf!!"

That's the one. I saw him in Neville Coghill's The Canterbury Tales at the Pheonix Theatre.

And Leo McKern as the Duchess. A couple of years earlier I had seen him as Peer Gynt at the Old Vic when I went with a school trip. Wilfred Lawson was in that too: the Buttonmender and various trolls, I think.

[kernelbogey]

What a wonderful film. He is an inspiring figure, an almost old-fashioned intellectual. Thanks Sal for the heads up. I'm relieved that the BBC can still make films like this.

[handsomefortune]

What a wonderful film. He is an inspiring figure, an almost old-fashioned intellectual. Thanks Sal for the heads up. I'm relieved that the BBC can still make films like this.

imv the beeb can't kernelbogey ....this particular interpretation of 'alice in wonderland' is from 1966!! when miller was apparently allowed full license to portray both the utter madness that adults are capable of, as interpreted through the eyes of a child, unaffected by the usual adult 'treatments'. ie adult interpretations of 'what children supposedly think, want, feel, should look like' etc.

miller is particularly inspired, sympathetic and respectful to the value of a child's unique vision. this is arguably not the case as regards many contemporary productions featuring children.

the film also made me think that a good deal of miller's father's expertise, garnered in asylums, was re employed for the crazier characters, ironically played by great screen/theatre stars. so really miller's spanning two generations, his own, and his dad's, which contributes to the film feeling particularly 'old fashioned' perhaps?

imv it's not something that the beeb have the remoteist chance of achieving in contemporary times. as salymap points out, the part of alice is a brilliant choice of child actresses, she is so 'right for the part'.

in this sense, miller's 'alice in wonderland' is a measure of just how much beeb 'entertainment' has regressed, in the last couple of decades especially, though it 'faithfully' reflects (the worst of) contemporary values. alice would surely have an asbo now? possibly be accused of 'dowdyness, and introvertion'! i suspect that the mad characters in the 'wonderland' would be perceived to 'need' strong daily doses of prozac, encouraged to remain indoors, and keep away from everybody, especially children.

but i do agree that miller is 'inspiring', it's a really brilliant interpretation. coincidentally, the film can be bought from the beeb on dvd. it sells for £44.00 on amazon.

vive 1966! here's to such ambitious hopes, vivid imagination, and a rare honesty!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ah! I "understood" kernepb to be referring to the Arena "film" about Miller, not Miller's "film" of Alice?

[amateur51]

Ah! I "understood" kernepb to be referring to the Arena "film" about Miller, not Miller's "film" of Alice?

I thought that too fhg

And let's remember that Miller's film is his interpretation of Dodgson's/Carroll's "Alice", itself an astonishing work of imagination