That's an interesting interpretation. I took it to mean that she was an outsider to Wonderland; the Rabbit, who belonged there, was able to open every drawer either by pulling it open (as he did in his glass case) or clapping. Alice not only couldn't open the drawers by clapping, she had to struggle just to open them in the normal way. Note that when she wakes up in her room again (minor spoiler), she is able to open the drawer in the Rabbit's room with ease.
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.
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RacingThoughts
14 years ago
That's also an interesting interpretation! One of the things I like about Svankmajer (and surrealism in general) is how it's open to being interpreted in many different ways. It makes a great Rorschach for the viewer.
Here's another idea. Maybe the desks represent the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the Eastern Bloc. The film was made in 1988, before the Berlin Wall came down, and Svankmajer must have had a hell of a time getting his work past the apparatchik censors. If he personally identifies with Alice in any way (as the nonplussed "observer" of his own inner Wonderland of surreal visions, perhaps) then maybe her difficulty interacting with the desks is a reflection of his own frustrations in turning his visions into reality.
Wow, I totally impressed myself with that!
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LIFE: It's just a movie.
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