The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More

The-Wonderful-Story-of-Henry-Sugar-and-Three-More
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More

Wes Anderson makes his audience giddy with excitement by providing another cinematic treat, his second for the year 2023, the first being Asteroid City. The theme of this new film is attributed to the works of classic novelists like Roald Dahl and Anderson, whose adventures of the Fantastic Mr. Fox feature thematics that align with Dahl’s tales. Anderson was able to find humor in the children’s book by incorporating more mature concepts and themes that go hand in hand with its dark humor.

This is Anderson’s first title on Netflix and from the creators’ comments the only project that Anderson had wished to pursue for some time. During that time, Dahl’s family sealed a contract with the streaming service, which one could only guess was quite lucrative. Anderson presents the streaming company with a film with a calculated running time of slightly under forty minutes, almost exclusively using the academy aspect ratio with occasional movements out of the wide aspect ratio.

It is not animated; the actors, are live-action ones who are already well known and seen before. Ralph Fiennes plays Dahl. The movie starts in an Eastwood-like setting with an Andersonian rendition of the author’s actual ‘writing hut’. After somewhat murmuring a checklist of what is required from him to get the story started, the audience is presented with a flick, Fiennes narrates the story as if it were actually true.

The story, perhaps backed up with a heavy budget and many locations, could be described as an expensive mash-up of sounds and scenarios. The action scene’s longitude is confined to, yes rather exquisitely designed sets as it is in this case based on, the works of distinguished Czech director Karel Zeman, who superimposed live actors over animated scenery. Even using improvised speech, all the actors never turn their faces from the camera which is an omnipresent narration and in ways their character. And delivered with quite some speed, well, little over-emphasis (however a lot of crafty details).

Almost all of these words come from doll’s mouth; however, Anderson is actually quite savage when it comes to this film -His approach to the short story is childlike and imaginative but hardly aimed at children. He does, however, understand how to interpret dolly without doing a single thing. The title Or Rather the term mega-rich used by the author, is a class on its own. The ocean world men like Henry is not an easy pill as they float. Major cities find one in every corner. They are not the worst of people, but far to be the best all at once. They are not relevant, just a show piece.

The narrative is usually postmodern unless the audience gives credence the simple story claims true. The story begins with the protagonist Henry (Benedict Cumberbatch does incredible work) pushing himself over the edge where every sane person considers taking a vile long-forgotten book out of his well-off friends whose edifice is filled with jewels.

The slimmest volume he sees, of course. It comes to light in the office as a sort of thesis on a man who sees without looking. Ben Kingsley portrays the subject, while the specialists validating his talents are Dev Patel and Richard Ayoade. What pique’s Henry’s curiosity is his wonder on how this man is able to see through the playing cards that are faced down on the table. Henry is a gambler and a bad one at that. Henry manages to teach himself the art of seeing involves several years of isolation from the rest of the world alongside a peculiar study technique developed by a strange yogi.

The ability to cheat at cards was demonstrated, as cinephiles will recall, by Roger Corman in his film “X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes,” released in 1963. In this particular film, the ability is purely temporary and artificially induced eventually Ray Milland’s character ‘sees’ too much which is boring when you have reached the end of the universe. (Actually, this theme is also treated in Oppenheimer.)

The critical point of Henry’s victory is quite different and even if you do not know Dahl’s short story, it is milder than what mostly comes from the author. Anderson’s jewel-box directs the retelling of a parable about spiritual growth to be both grossly cute and inappropriate, to say the least. Misses Wait still appeals in ways that could only be declared sexually. Structuralist criticism of Anderson’s pieces is unlike any others in “Henry Sugar.”

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