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Alice in Wondertown
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Wikipedia article
'Alice in Wondertown' (original title in Spanish: 'Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas') is a 1991 film directed by Daniel Daz Torres. It was film of satire, absurdity and horror, seen as a criticism of the problems of Cuban society, which caused a significant controversy in the country.[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/29/world/havana-journal-a-film-is-banished-but-its-sly-grin-still-lingers.html "Havana Journal; A Film Is Banished, but Its Sly Grin Still Lingers"], 'The New York Times' Cinema critic Juan Antonio Garca Borrero has been planning to include it in a book under a tentative title 'Diez pelculas que estremecieron a Cuba' ('Ten Films That Shook Cuba') [https://cinecubanolapupilainsomne.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/alicia-en-el-pueblo-de-maravillas-1990-de-daniel-diaz-torres/ "ALICIA EN EL PUEBLO DE MARAVILLAS (1990), de Daniel Daz Torres"], by Juan Antonio Garca Borrero
Plot
Superficially, the film is framed as a murder mystery. While hitching a ride in a back of a pickup truck full of workers, Alice is attacked by a strange cloaked person. She pushes him to fall overboard while the truck is crossing a high bridge, and she is accused of murder. However the body mysteriously disappears, she is relieved of murder charges, and she narrates her story, presented as a flashback in the film. Her adventure starts when she is delegated to a small town of Maravillas ("Wondertown"; 'maravilla'=wonder). While the title is an allusion to 'Alice in Wonderland', it is not an adaptation of the English book. There are a number of allusions and parallels, but they are difficult to recognize to people who did not live in Cuba at this time period. In fact, Juan Borrero mentioned that a young Cuban born the year the film was cast told him that he could not understand why the film caused such a controversy.
The major characters of the film, a school teacher, black market traders, lazy service providers, disgraced priest, etc., are exiled to this town for their violations, and are forced into a submission by a supernatural city mayor. Only after Alice matures and stops blindly believing in the authorities, she manages to return to her real world.
Reception
References
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