Informal Review of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (Mise-en-scene)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, is based off the classic book by Roald Dahl entitled, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When Wonka issues a contest allowing people to tour his factory if they are lucky enough to find one of five golden tickets hidden inside Wonka Bars, the world goes wild searching for them. These tickets are found by five lucky children, including Charlie Bucket, a young boy from an impoverished family. When the children and their guardians arrive at the factory, they find that all is not as it seems when they are confronted with both the eccentric Willy Wonka, his small army of Oompa Loompas, and his odd candy making contraptions. When four out of the five children meet with tragedy because they refused to listen to Mr. Willy Wonka’s lackluster warnings, Charlie becomes the heir to Wonka’s factory because he was the only one not willing to sell out Willy Wonka’s candy making secrets. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’s mise-en-scene is incredibly vast, but the main elements that I am going to focus on are theme, setting, and the visual and blocking clues of several main characters.

A film like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has so much mise-en-scene that it’s hard to know where to begin. For starters, I’ll mention the main theme of the film, which should not be confused with the lesson it is trying to teach. The theme of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of hope. Throughout the earlier sections of the film we see Charlie working hard, pushing forward and waiting for better times to come along. The feel of the film is also set by the three types of lives we see. First, we see Charlie’s bleak yet hopeful life. He lives in a cramped, dingy shack that is far too small and cluttered to properly accommodate the number of people living there. Charlie’s mother, messy and worn out in appearance, works washing laundry to support her son, her parents, and, presumably, her in-laws. Charlie also does his best to support his family, who seems to make sacrifices to give him the best life they can provide, by working as a paper boy. In contrast to Charlie’s difficult life, we see the average lives of those around him. Homes and clothing are nicer and cleaner, children are given enough pocket money to buy extra amounts of sweets from the candy store, and everyone seems to take things for granted. In even more contrast we see the magical factory of the whimsical Willy Wonka. The factory is the type of life that many would dream of, but could never have. Inside we see bright colorful candy in contrast with metal contraptions and brick walls.

While those three types of lives present the setting, it is the characters that present the film’s lesson. Thinking back on the book upon which the film is based, it is obvious that the story is, in part, a commentary on the effects of poor parenting decisions on children. The mise-en-scene of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory helps to establish these characters before they even have a chance to open their mouths. Since I’ve already mentioned Charlie and his family to an extent, I will focus on the other children and their parents. Let’s go in order of appearance. First, we see Augustus Gloop. Our first glimpse of the Gloop family is in a restaurant where they sit at a table, surrounded by plates of food. The whole family is rather plump and are wearing stereotypically German clothing. In fact, the very first time we hear Augustus speak he has his mouth full of food. Even without hearing about Augustus’ eating habits, we can already tell that he is a glutton.

 Next, we have the Salt family. Mr. Salt is fat, balding and frantic. Mrs. Salt is stiff, formal, and seems content to stay out of any spats between her husband and daughter. Veruca, besides being very well dressed, shows just how spoiled she is through her unspoken agitation by wildly spinning back and forth in her father’s chair. Her hair is also wild and raggedy, suggesting that perhaps she had refused to have it brushed.

Then we have the Beauregardes, the rude and overly talkative family. Mr. Beauregarde, a car salesman, wears his greasy hair slicked back and wears a stereotypical sleazebag salesman plaid jacket. Even before she speaks, we can tell that Violet, his daughter, likes to gab just as much as her father does. Her jaw gets a constant workout from her non-stop gum chewing, showing that she likes to run her mouth in more ways than one. In fact, both she and her father continue to display this trait as the both vie for the attention of the camera, constantly interrupting each other.

Finally, we come to Mike Teevee, who is so wrapped up in watching TV that, not only does he almost completely ignore the reporters, he basically tells his mother to shut-up. He is so obsessed with his television program that he dresses up like the cowboys he is watching. In fact, he is wearing the exact same costume when he arrives at the factory days later, suggesting that he does not get up from the TV very often. Further suggesting this is the setup of the Teevee family living room. The coffee table in front of the couch is full to bursting from clutter. An ash tray completely full of used cigarettes further proves that the family does not leave the couch very often. I could go on to talk about Mr. Wonka himself, but that could be a novel in and of itself. For its wonderful story, message, and visuals I highly recommend this classic film.