Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

In this article, we will be looking at 2019’s book “1001 Movies to See Before You Die” and going through each film in a random order that I have chosen. We will be looking at what constitutes this film to be on the list and whether I think this film deserves to be here at all. I want to make perfectly clear that I won’t be revealing details from this book such as analyses by film reporters who have written about the film in question, so if you want the book itself you’ll have to buy it. But I will be covering the book’s suggestions on which films should be your top priority. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that everyone reading this article has probably watched many of these movies anyway. But we are just here to have a bit of fun. We’re going to not just look at whether it should be on this list but we’re also going to look at why the film has such a legacy at all. Remember, this is the 2019 version of the book and so, films like “Joker” will not be featured in this book and any film that came out in 2020 (and if we get there, in 2021). So strap in and if you have your own suggestions then don’t hesitate to email me using the address in my bio. Let’s get on with it then.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) dir. by Mel Stuart

Looking back on when I used to watch this film on VHS as a child, I can honestly say that I did not understand back then how creepy this film was. Now I do and I still cannot believe it actually made it on to the list of one thousand and one films you should see before you die. I really do not understand how it got here because it is a good movie if you are about three years’ old and you do not understand how creepy it is. It may just be a fantasy film but they really could not wait until the author had died before lauding this one on him? No, they obviously could not.

Let’s have a look what the great and powerful Roger Ebert had to say about the film, even though it was not really that much of a box office success:

“Probably the best film of its sort since The Wizard of Oz. It is everything that family movies usually claim to be, but aren't: Delightful, funny, scary, exciting, and, most of all, a genuine work of imagination. Willy Wonka is such a surely and wonderfully spun fantasy that it works on all kinds of minds, and it is fascinating because, like all classic fantasy, it is fascinated with itself.”

Oh.

Oh.

Okay then…

Gene Siskel though, begs to differ in his opinion and gave the film only two stars out of four. Let’s have a look how he differed from his close friend’s opinion on the film then:

"Anticipation of what Wonka's factory is like is so well developed that its eventual appearance is a terrible letdown. Sure enough there is a chocolate river, but it looks too much like the Chicago River to be appealing. The quality of the colour photography is flat. The other items in Wonka's factory — bubblegum trees and lollypop flowers — also look cheap. Nothing in the factory is appealing.”

I would disagree, I think the film is rather appealing in colour but it disguises some strange essence that Tim Burton’s version tried to pull to the surface and both versions make me uncomfortable.

The critical consensus for the movie on Rotten Tomatoes is somewhat surprising considering the people who write reviews on there are normally one type of person. The ninety percent approval rating was news to me, but here we are and here is what it states:

"Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is strange yet comforting, full of narrative detours that don't always work but express the film's uniqueness.”

Famously, Roald Dahl was absolute delighted…no, no he was not. He was infuriated with the film and ended up disowning it. I would say that is a bit of an extreme decision but it is his book at the end of the day. Personally, though I still like the film, I do not think I could watch it with the same amount of comfort and imagination as I did as a child without seeing something deeply creepy and dark about Gene Wilder’s character portrayal.