Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to cinapse.twocents@gmail.com.
The Pick: Matilda: The Musical (2022)
As we enter a new school year, we at Cinapse Headquarters decided to look at some of our favorite “school movies.” School makes for an amazing entry point for many filmmakers, as it serves as one of the few universal experiences. It also makes for a very rich setting for comedy, also a focus for us this month. Because we could all use a bit of frothy, school-based escapism.
To start off this series, we take a look at Matilda. No, not the Danny Devito 1996 film that makes up one part of the quintessential millennial canon of important Mara Wilson films. No, we are going to be looking at 2022’s adaptation of Matilda: The Musical, a Netflix release that falls firmly in the “Why didn’t they release this in theaters?” category. Adapted from stage to the screen by the original stage director Dennis Kelly, the movie retells Roald Dahl’s children novel about an exceptional child taking on the oppressive structure of her regressive school. Starring an adult cast of Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch and Stephen Graham, and introducing the world to Abigail herself, Alisha Weir in the starring role, this musical adaptation serves as a reminder of the timeless appeal of the downtrodden fighting back against those who seek to crush their spirit.
The Team
Jay Tyler
I think it is important to acknowledge at the outset that Matilda in all it’s permutations is a weird story. It digs into some relatively dark themes of child neglect and abuse, but does so with Roald Dahl’s signature whimsical touch. It celebrates exceptional children, has great sympathy for their inherent loneliness, but also has Dahl’s cynical world-view sort of woven throughout it. From the original novel the DeVito adaptation to the stage musical to this filmed version of that musical, it always has a been a mean streak in it’s DNA.
But it’s safe to say that mean streak is a big part of what makes it so captivating. Alisha Weir as the titular lead is immediately winning, and she is surrounded by a cast of actors who both younger and adult that bring an unbridled energy that rockets it along, even through it’s more unsettling themes. Emma Thompson as the Trunchbull is especially remarkable in a transformative performance that is both menacing, hate-worthy but all shades in just enough pain and pathos to never become a complete cartoon.
That is the great magic of this interpretation that makes it sing, and why I find it superior to the earlier filmed edition. (Perhaps at risk of my millennial bonafides.) It balances the nastiness and sweetness of the story in a way that really unites the two themes, with the sense of menace being faced down by the students feeling truly dangerous in a way the DeVito film never quite reaches.
It also helps that is the rare accomplishment: an exceptionally visually directed film musical. It helps that the director of the film is the same as the staged version, meaning it is capable of capturing the kinetic joy of a stage musical fairly closely. But it never feels like just a staged performance put to film. Both the songs “Bruce” and especially “School Song” are brilliantly paced and staged filmed musical numbers that center of real youth dancers showing their ability, but also utilizing camera movement to give it an extra sense of kinetic flair.My only major criticism of the film/musical is the strange addition of Matilda’s inner fantasy life being somehow reflective of the real world experience of those around her. It is one more step of magical realism that never quite lands with the tone of the rest of it, and feel superfluous. But the center message, that when the world is unfair and grinds you down, it calls for a little bit of “naughtiness,” is one that I feel resonates more strongly now than it even did three years ago.
Austin Vashaw
Roald Dahl remains forever the world’s most scrumdiddlyumptious storyteller, and Matilda is one of his very best: the story of a brilliant but unloved girl genius who challenges authority and finds the strength within herself to forge her own destiny.
Matilda was adapted to a movie in 1996, which was a pretty spunky little movie (which is, I believe, quite beloved to a certain age group). But it was also very Americanized and not a particularly faithful adaptation of the book. More recently, the story was adapted into an award-winning musical and from there another film, based on the musical. And it’s quite a charming take. This telling is quite faithful to the novel and while I never would’ve thought of putting it into the musical format, that choice gives it a certain freedom of both expression and exposition.
The songs are a bit hit and miss (at least to my grown-up ears), but the better ones can be pretty clever. I was particularly impressed with “School Song”, which incorporates the alphabet in a completely novel and unexpected way that reveals itself both visually and aurally.
I found that this particular telling clearly draws the parallels between Matilda and her teacher Miss Honey, both of them the products of abusive households. It was always there in the subtext of course, but The Musical paints their similar situations in a way that shows why they love and understand one another.
At the heart of Matilda is a universal truth that rings just as true 35 years after the passing of its author: If you should ever find yourself under the rule of a cruel, self-centered, bullying, morally bankrupt, authoritarian dictator, it’s your responsibility to revolt.
