The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar And Three More
A masterclass on adaptation
I just saw Oscar winner The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on Netflix as well as its counterparts The Swan, The Rat Catcher, and Poison, and it seemed like the perfect way to kick off this new newsletter I really want to start writing.
Welcome to Watch Party! In this new newsletter of mine I’ll be posting my thoughts and honest reviews on movies and TV shows.
Let’s get to it!
Review
RATING: 4.5 out 5
I LOVED THESE.
All four of the films are so brilliantly written and directed, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. The comedy is perfectly timed and lands really well. It even had my mom and sister laughing (they aren’t into this kind of stuff and I was afraid they would think I was weird for watching these).
Only reason I took .1 off is because they talked so lighting fast I feel like I have to watch it again to understand it fully (I’m not complaining, this is fun for me personally and I will definitely do it). It felt like a sensory overload at some points, and I was trying to pay attention to the visuals while trying to catch all the words and certain things fell through.
That being said, this frantic style works wonders for a Roald Dahl adaptation.
Wes Anderson’s Style
Wes Anderson’s style is definitely an acquired taste. But oh, what a taste it is.
Say what you will, but there’s no mistake that it’s perfect for Roald Dahl. Wes Anderson’s whimsical, almost surrealist style compliments the source material perfectly.
The saturated colors, 4:3 aspect ratio, and combination of theatrical sets and lighting with film technology all come together to create such a unique feel, and it really works.
The choice to keep the dialogue very narration-focused instead of convert it into conversational dialogue was quite honestly something I’ve never seen before in the world of film, and the way the actors sized up what must have been some insanely beefy monologues and performed the crap out of them is very impressive and very fun to watch (particularly Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular Henry Sugar, Rupert Friend in The Swan, and Dev Patel in Poison).
This personally is a style that I really like. I love more experimental films I think we need to see more high-budget projects like this, and hopefully Wes Anderson can be a catalyst for that.
Short Film Format
Another thing that made this such an absolute joy to see is the fact that it’s a carefully crafted, star-studded short film, which is something you don’t see very often.
Short films are often regarded as very “film-studenty” things to make. It’s seen more as a stepping stone to make bigger, longer films, a rite of passage all aspiring filmmakers have to go through. To see a set of short films treated with this much care and used as a real medium instead of a stepping stone is a really cool thing, and I would love to see more bite-sized films in the coming years by big name writers, actors, and directors.
All this to say
Very nice job, Wes. You’ve done it again. Setting the bar for this newsletter very high.
See you next movie night.