It is ironic that the project that Tim Burton fans had been dreaming of for years was the one that ended the director’s career. Since the director showed his personality and taste for the gothic and the dreamlike through films like Bitelchus And Edward Scissorhands, Everyone began to point to him as the only one capable of transferring into a (live-action) film the imagery developed by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland. When Disney saw the economic opportunity to transpose its animated classics into films with live actors, it did not hesitate and offered Burton to do it.
It was a perfect bet and the economic result was enormous, but creatively, Burton failed to unite the two worlds and created a film that barely offered some touches of his aesthetic, sacrificing any trace of darkness in the process. Disney tamed Burton and completely sunk him. A filmmaker who had even survived to adapt batman and he had built an impeccable career, it began to fall apart just as he was reaching heights that even put him in the spotlight for awards thanks to films like big fish either Sweeney Todd.
From Alice in Wonderland These are all fiascos that are increasingly suffocating Burton, who is hitting rock bottom, precisely, with another adaptation of a Disney classic, Dumbo, perhaps his worst film. Many saw in this story the filmmaker’s own metaphor, an elephant locked in a cage and exhibited by the company that paid his salary. It was another company and another checkbook stroke that surprisingly partially saved him. Netflix saw it as a perfect name for its series about Wednesday, the character of The Addams Family. If Burton had managed to domesticate himself for another company, he could do it for this one, which would also offer him a product with which he could return to his gothic aesthetic and certain obsessions.
The success of Wednesday It was stratospheric. It remains, by far, the most-watched series on Netflix with 252 million views (more than 100 than the fourth season of Strange things, (which occupies second place). This hit gave wings to Tim Burton, who literally returns to his origins by releasing Bitelchus, Bitelchusthe sequel to one of the films that put him in the industry spotlight. Burton has not only resurrected the character brought back to life by Michael Keaton, but in a way, he has resurrected himself. Finally, we find the usual Burton. We recognize his aesthetic, his humor, his wit… He does not let himself be carried away by the sign of the times and once again resorts to practical visual effects instead of singing CGI. There are segments in stop the movementan artistic direction that comes to him without hesitation and a taste for craftsmanship. A priori, it is much more than what was in his last films.
Bitelchus, Bitelchus It smells like an 80s movie. It keeps the spirit and most of the cast in a hilarious sequel that even got the press’ applause when it premiered in Venice, where it’s opening the 81st edition of the Italian festival in style before hitting theaters on September 6. It’s also fair to say that the story is simpler than a pulley mechanism, and some intrigue—everything about Monica Bellucci—is built in, but that doesn’t matter given the wild energy that comes from a movie where you can throw darts at each other, at false allies, at contemporary art, at influencers (in a brilliant scene that was applauded) and even Netflix.
The thematic axes are maintained. If the original encouraged urban speculation, Burton here attacks commercial exploitation in the form of television shows that draw blood (and money) from anything, be it a medium, a marriage or a tragedy. To this he adds an interesting proposition, love is terrifying. All the women in this family – led by the sensational Catherine O’Hara, followed by a competent Winona Ryder and supported by Jenna Ortega who shows that she is one of the stars of the moment – show that they are always better alone than in bad company, whether by sweet courtiers who hide the sexist manual or by beautiful girls with the air of James Dean. And as if that were not enough, he completes it all with an epilogue that winks at Muñeco Diabolico.
Burton finds the confidence to once again deliver original and visually brilliant scenes – the train with soul music – and with the help of Danny Elfman’s music and a wild and hilarious Michael Keaton, he comes up with his best film in years and offers signs of hope to those who thought they had nothing left to do in cinema.
In recent years I have been disappointed with the film industry. I have been lost for many years and this film has given me new energy
Tim Burton
— Director
Tim Burton himself acknowledged at the press conference that this film represents, in a way, his comeback. “In recent years, I have been disappointed by the film industry. I thought I would not be able to do anything else that came from my heart. For many years I was lost and this film gave me new energy, I connected to the things I love to do, I surrounded myself with the people I love and I believe that this is the only way to succeed. I don’t know how the film will turn out, but I enjoyed it, and that’s the main thing,” said Burton, insisting on defining the film as “a very personal project.”
The filmmaker does not believe that this sequel is a direct consequence of the success of the Netflix series, and admitted in Venice that this project had been on his mind for a long time, but also that Wednesday It made him want to do things, and that “meeting Jenna Ortega was also important.” But this film had already been discussed before with his two friends, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, who accompanied him to the presentation and were full of praise for him, whom they defined as a unique artist and the filming as one of the best experiences of their lives. Nobody wanted to miss the return of a director who ended up in a sequel that many stupid Hollywood blockbusters should take inspiration from.
