Gene Wilder/Willy Wonka’s Contribution to a Classic
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a classic that will live in the minds of people as a wonderful childhood memory. This unique story grips the attention of children with its intrigue and wonder. The bright colors, strange scenes, and unpredictable plot ignites the minds and imagination of kids and adults alike. While all of these things play a big part in making this movie what it is, the most important element is the character of the man who owns the chocolate factory. The character of Willy Wonka as portrayed by Gene Wilder is a part of this film that makes it the wonderful, mysterious, intriguing, and fun filled beloved classic that has stuck in minds of people for decades.
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Being human. Not forcing it.” This is how Wilder played the part of Willy Wonka. He became the role he was playing and knew what he had to do and how he had to act to make the film so magical. Likewise, Meryl Streep said, “Acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.” Wilder knew how to find himself in the character of Wonka and that was one of the keys to the success of the character and to the film itself. The significance of Wilder’s character is displayed throughout the entire movie. Even before Wonka appears in the film, anticipation builds for his entrance. This fact is evident when an early scene of the movie is considered. Charlie passes Wonka’s factory one day and a tinker says, “Nobody ever goes in, and nobody ever comes out.” When the strange factory owner does finally appear, there is already a partial construction of the character. It is shrouded in mystery and darkness, but that fact doesn’t change much throughout the entire film until the very …show more content…
The entire movie hinges on the single character of Willy Wonka. He leads the five children through his chocolate factory and each one progressively does something wrong and pays the consequences. Charlie Bucket is the only child to make it to the end of the tour which leads to the climax of the film in which everything starts to make sense including the character of Willy Wonka. It is revealed that he did indeed have a purpose in sending out the golden tickets and for the tour of the factory, and his antics throughout the movie were not just random but were part of an elaborate plan to find out which child truly had character, integrity, and a love for the candy business. A lot of the things Wonka does during the film is not explained, including speaking in different languages at times and laughing in moments of obvious peril, but these are the elements that add to and brings to life his character making it the mysterious and fun-filled character that brings so much wonder to the
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
Throughout the play, Willy can be seen as a failure. When he looks back on all his past decisions, he can only blame himself for his failures as a father, provider, and as a salesman (Abbotson 43). Slowly, Willy unintentionally reveals to us his moral limitations that frustrates him which hold him back from achieving the good father figure and a successful business man, showing us a sense of failure (Moss 46). For instance, even though Willy wants so badly to be successful, he wants to bring back the love and respect that he has lost from his family, showing us that in the process of wanting to be successful he failed to keep his family in mind (Centola On-line). This can be shown when Willy is talking to Ben and he says, “He’ll call you a coward…and a damned fool” (Miller 100-101). Willy responds in a frightful manner because he doesn’t want his family, es...
Miller’s use of personification and symbolism in the book shows the situational irony that surrounds Willy. This highlights the overall message of blind faith towards the American Dream. The major case of irony in the book is Willy’s blind faith in the American Dream. This belief is that if one is well-liked, they will become successful. The truth is actually completely opposite. The real belief is that if one works hard, with no regard to how well liked they are, they will be successful. This relationship is shown between Willy and his neighbor Charley. While Willy believes likability is the only way to success, Charley works hard and does not care how people think of him. Through his hard work, Charley started his own business, and is now very successful. Willy, however, ends up getti...
The Characters of Willy Loman from Death of A Salesman and Torvald Helmer of A Doll's House
Film Noir, a term coined by the French to describe a style of film characterized by dark themes, storylines, and visuals, has been influencing cinematic industries since the 1940’s. With roots in German expressionistic films and Italian postwar documentaries, film noir has made its way into American film as well, particularly identified in mob and crime pictures. However, such settings are not exclusive to American film noir. One noteworthy example is Billy Wilder’s film Sunset Boulevard, which follows the foreboding tale of Joe Gillis, the desperate-for-success protagonist, who finds himself in the fatal grips of the disillusioned femme fatale Norma Desmond. Not only does the storyline’s heavy subject matter and typical character structure suggest the film noir style, but also Wilder’s techniques of photography and empty, worn-down settings make for a perfect backdrop for this dark approach at filmmaking.
English classes in today's society have started to get away from its roots. Great American Authors are being overlooked for mediocre foreign authors more and more each day. This is a huge problem in classes today, and is truly a major reason for lack-luster efforts in reading and the decline in interest in today's students. One of these said overlooked authors is Thornton Niven Wilder. Wilder is an amazing author who should be taught in schools because of his wonderful teaching skills, his award-winning works, and his thoughtful insights in which he presents throughout all his works.
Although Depp's illustrates Wonka with a childlike twist, he shows disgust to the children in the movie from the beginning. Wilder seems to like the children until they do something against his will. This gives Wilder's character a more charming image....
When talking about Billy Wilder as a director a popular, controversial topic is whether or not he is considered an auteur. There have been many critics who have attempted to prove that Wilder is not an auteur but many have fallen short on providing a strong and convincing argument. Billy Wilder is an auteur for many reasons; the most obvious reason though is by comparing his four most famous movies. Wilder was very involved in the process of making the film and was often the writer, producer and director of the film. By being so involved he was able to make scenes his own, especially since Wilder wanted every detail of the scene written out in the script. He also has similar themes of cynicism towards different elements of human nature but would lighten the mood of the film by adding a comedic element to the scene. Wilder also enjoyed pushing the boundaries of screenwriting and to be able to get an approval from the Production Code Administration, he had to add comedy to the script. Another reason that proves Wilder as an auteur is through his work with famous actors and actress. Wilder had a knack for dealing with difficult actors and was often able to make them who he wanted. Finally Billy Wilder stuck to very traditional uses of camera angles and movements that set him aside from other directors. Billy Wilder was not only an influential director but also an auteur through his involvement in writing, directing, and producing the film, the cynicism mixed with comedy shown through the characters, and his traditional use of camera movement and angles compared to other directors during the 1950’s.
Charley is Willy's closest friend and he displays the failure of Willy Loman's ideals. He is a very realistic character who attempts to convince Willy that his ...
Willy's main flaw is his foolish pride, this it what makes him a tragic hero. Yet there are many facets to his personality that contribute to the state he and the family are in during the play. His upbringing of the boys is one major issue, he raised them with the notion that if one is well-liked, he need not worry about qualifications, he believed that if his boys were popular they would come out on top. Sadly, he doesn't realize that the only way an ordinary person can get rich is through work (represented by Bernard) or through luck and good timing (Ben), and Willy missed the boat when it came to ...
Willy’s Distinct idea on the American dream is if your are well liked by people you will be successful. As said in the play by Willy "personality always wins the day”(Miller 1737). as said in the play by Willy. as read through the drama he looks at people who are successful and feels they have yet to attain full success. As they are surely intelligent and work hard, but do not live up to their true potential. For example, his son Biff, he feels he is wasted potential, as he is well liked yet has not obtained success. This is the point in which Willy has misunderstood, all because he had a good for nothing father. This led him to believe that the ideal success is the opposite of his father. Willy went through his life with this
Willy strives to make money in this story but is largely unsuccessful. He is also very insecure so he turns to lies and his life spirals downward. Willy commits suicide in the end. Donald Smith states that Willy was, “still harboring misguided hopes about success for Biff. It seems Willy would rather kill himself than accept the fact that really, honestly, all his son wants is some shirtless sweaty time in Midwestern haystacks.” Which is why Willy committed suicide. Willy was also a kind of lost man with the wrong dreams. Biff even said after Willy’s suicide, “He had all the wrong dreams. All, all wrong….He never knew who he was.” Willy had the wrong dreams and didn’t know who he was which is also lead to his downfall.
Willy's goal throughout life was to climb out of his social class. As a salesman, Willy was a failure and he tried desperately to make his sons never end up like him. As a result, he loses his mind and his grasp on reality. Throughout the story, Willy often has flashbacks of the conversations that he and his brother Ben once had and the author intertwines them in past and present very nicely.
Willy Loman equates success as a human being with success in the business world. When Willy was a young man, he heard of a salesman who could "pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, make his living." (81) This salesman is Willy's inspiration; someday to be so respected and so well known that he can still provide for his family, even at an old age. Of course, Willy is no good at being a salesman because his heart isn't in it. The only time Willy puts his heart into anything is when he works with his hands, and his son, Biff, comes to realize this. "There's more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made." (138) Willy never comes to the realization that it is not being a salesman that he cares about, but rather being well known and, perhaps more importan...
As shown in this scene, Willy gains satisfaction from having people remember and love him, because such love would validate Willy’s success. Thus, Willy’s adm...