Matilda

Tonight, I saw “Matilda: The Musical,” which came out on Netflix. However, before I talk about that one, I feel as though I should talk about the 1996 original, “Matilda,” even though it is in no way a sequel to the new one.

Roger Ebert started his review by saying, “Roald Dahl was by all accounts a singularly unpleasant person, which may explain why he wrote stories that are so fascinating to children. He nursed the grudges of childhood, he distrusted adults, and he was unmoved by false sentimentality. Kids may not feel cuddled by his books, but they sense Dahl is the real thing: He's writing out of strong emotion, and not just to be cute.” Consider the character of Trunchbull, in the darkly comic film “Matilda.” Trunchbull must be a woman, because she is someone’s aunt, but she is never called “Miss” – and we see at once that “Mrs.” would be out of the question. She was a champion shot-putter and hammer-thrower in the 1972 Olympics, we find out, before moving on to her current career as the school principal and dominatrix at Crunchem Hall, a scary grade school with the motto: “When you are having fun, you are not learning.” To this school comes the protagonist of the story, Matilda Wormwood, a very, very smart little girl whose parents neglect her when they are not insulting her. Matilda, (played by at the age of four by Sara Madgalin), has taught herself to read and walked to the library, where by the time she is six (now played by Mara Wilson) she has read not only Heidi and Ivanhoe but also For Whom the Bell Tolls and Moby Dick. When she tells her parents, played by Danny DeVito and separated wife Rhea Perlman, she’s old enough to go to school, her dad replies: “Nonsense! Who would sign for the packages?” However, when he meets the redoubtable Trunchbull he announces that he has at least found the right school for Matilda. Trunchbull, played by Pam Ferris with great enthusiasm and well-hidden but real humor, is not a nice person. “Sit down, you squirming worm of vomit!” she says to the unlucky Matilda at one point, and later calls her “You villainous sack of dog slime!” when a cute little blond girls dares to wear her hair in pigtails, played by Jacqueline Steiger, Trunchbull picks the child up by the pigtails, swings her around and throws her through the air like a hammer in the Olympics – and of course the movie does not neglect to show the girl almost missing a spike fence before landing safely in a flower bed. Ebert credited, “Trunchbull is the kind of villainess children can enjoy, because she is too ridiculous to be taken seriously and yet really is mean and evil, like the witch in “Snow White.”” Since most children have at one point or another felt that their parents are not nice enough to them, they may also enjoy the portrayal of Matilda’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood and their older son, played by Nicholas Cox at six and Brian Levinson later, spend all of their time eating food and watching television, and when Matilda says she would rather read, her doubtful father yells, “Read? What do you want to read for when you got a perfectly good TV set right here?” Ebert described, “Crunchem Hall is a school that would have appalled Dickens. Children are punished by solitary confinement in a steamy closet with nails sticking through the walls.” However, recovery comes in the form of a saintly teacher, Miss Honey, played by Embeth Davidtz, who is surprised when Matilda does difficult math problems in her head, and eventually becomes her guardian and best friend. “Matilda” is not in any way a “children’s movie,” although older children will probably like it a lot. It is a dark family comedy about stupid parents, cruel teachers and a brave little girl, and it is no surprise to see that Danny DeVito not only stars but directed it. Look at his previous films he directed, which include “Throw Momma From the Train” and “The War of the Roses,” and you sense that he has some type of deep caustic fascination for dysfunctional families (the family life in “Hoffa” was not exactly functional, either).

There is never a moment (except toward the happy ending) that we see DeVito is anything other than quite serious about this material. He goes with Dahl’s chilling vision. Whatever it was that hurt Dahl so deeply, he never forgave it, and his children’s stories (like “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) are driven by it. Ebert said, “DeVito seems to vibrate on the same wavelength. “Matilda” doesn't condescend to children, it doesn’t sentimentalize, and as a result it feels heartfelt and sincere.” This is also funny.

I know that some people do not like this movie, which I can understand. They might find this to be very cruel towards children, and I can see that, but I actually find it to be a movie where a little girl uses her intelligence and abilities to stand up to the villains, being a precursor to Harry Potter. I actually saw this at a second cousin’s house a long time ago and I liked it. If you can find this, I recommend you watching this because I think you will love it.

Now what can we say about “Matilda: The Musical,” which came out on Netflix almost three weeks ago?

Bringing lively energy to the adaptation from book to musical to screen, “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” come to Netflix as a satisfying example of the dangerous practice of making such efforts around children. Obviously, it helps that the child star, Alisha Weir, is terrific, helped by wonderful changes from Emma Thompson and Lashana Lynch, extending what have already been good years for both.

Dahl’s story about a little girl with absentee parents (Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough) and unusual powers, sent to a boarding school run by the abusive, kid-hating Miss Trunchbull, played by Emma Thompson, under a version of super-villain makeup, is definitely dark, even by the author’s standards. Brian Lowry said in his review, “But as adapted for the stage by Tim Minchin, who wrote the songs, and directed here by Matthew Warchus, who has nicely opened up the staging in cinematic fashion, it’s a polished and fun alternative to less attractive holiday activities, like dealing with your family.”

Lowry continued, “Perhaps the silliest controversy involved questions about Thompson donning a “fat suit,” when her Trunchbull makeover is as much about making her fearsome and imposing – befitting the character’s glory days as an Olympic athlete – as her girth.”

If anyone forgot, Thompson also previously went under unattractive prosthetics in “Nanny McPhee” and lustily played a villain in Disney’s “Cruella.” Lowrey said, “In a year when she’s already delivered a standout performance in the low-key Hulu movie “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” her scene-stealing exploits offer a reminder of just how delicious she can be when cutting loose in this fashion.”

“This isn’t a school. It’s a prison,” Matilda is told when she arrives at Cunchem Hall, a threatening establishment where the evil headmistress sees her order as punishing kids, not educating them. Fortunately, Matilda gets friends with her rebellious behavior and finds an adult friend in Miss Money, played by Lashana Lynch, who immediately sees that Matilda is special.

Lowry noted, “The song and dance numbers take full advantage of the wider template that movies allow, with kids leaping in every direction on the centerpieces “Revolting Children” and “Miracle,” as well as the more soulful “When I Grow Up.””

To call “Matilda” “miraculous” would be taking things too far, but the movie joins a long tradition of kid-focused musicals (always turned into feed for school plays), from “Oliver!” to “Annie,” in a way that nicely connects the gap between the 1996 movie and this musical take.

“Mom says I’m a good case for population control,” the mistreated Matilda sings early on.

While the ranks of musicals brought to the screen probably does value some family planning, “Matilda the Musical” gives an energetic demonstration that there’s always room for another good one.

I might say that this musical is better than the previous film. It is definitely darker, but I don’t see it as nearly in the same amount of torture that the previous film did, or it may be the same. This is definitely not a film for the whole family to watch. You should just wait until they are older to see this. I have never read the book, so I can’t say how closely this follows the book. Check it out if you would like and enjoy.

Thank you for joining in on my review tonight. Stay tuned tomorrow for the continuation of “Disney Month 2022.”