a Chinese audience reception study of Helena’s performance in Alice in Wonderland (Burton, 2010) andA Room with a View (Verrette, 1985)

This blog will discuss the findings of a small-scale research project with three semi-structured interviews of Chinese audiences. Explore their understanding of the portrayal of characters in two movies played by the same European actress, as well as their analysis and perceptions of the actress's interpretive style. The movie star discussed in this blog is British actress Helena Bonham Carter, whose two chosen films are Alice in Wonderland (Burton,2010) and A Room with a View (Verrette, 1985). She has acted in a numberof high quality and popular movies. The Chinese audiences interviewed for thisblog have watched some of her movies and have some knowledge of her, although they are not familiar with the actress.

findings

Research found that all three Chinese viewers expressed highpraise and approval of the Helena's role-playing effects. Participant A said,"I had seen her movies before this interview, but I didn't realize that the same person played the different characters.”

Participant B commented that she has seen Helena in quite a few movie roles, including Harry Potter Franchise(2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), Les Misérables(2012), and other movies. She could recognize the characters played by Helena. ParticipantB take each movie role as a documentation of the character itself, rather than a deliberate performance by the actress. And there was a deep interpretation of each character portrayed with heart, so that the viewers would feel very much a sense of  participance. Additionally, the shaping ability of Helena is particularly strong. So Helena can handle the gentle lady like Lucy's image in A Room with a View (1985), but also the dark and grotesque image, such as the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Participant C commented that the actress's performance madethe characters very vivid and allowed her to empathize with movie roles’ mentalstate at the time and the reasons for their actions. Helena used a lot of subtle expressions and gestures to portray the characters. Her acting is much more powerful compared to the current idol dramas and other movie and TV genresin China.

The characters played by Helena in these two movies are Lucy and the Red Queen. They share some common characteristics, aristocratic status and individuality. However, due to the different styles of the movies and thedifferent movie settings (a certain historical condition in real Europe and afantasy world), both characters were very distinguishable for all three participants.

First of all, regarding the character's expressions,participant C stated that Lucy seldom has exaggerated expressions, while theRed Queen basically has exaggerated big expressions.

Participant A said probably because she watched Alice in Wonderland before a Room with View, she paid special attention to the actresses' performances while watching it. And she found that many of Lucy's facial expressions also include expressions of contempt and dislike,such as frowning, that are similar to the Red Queen's expressions. But she thought simply watching the movie A Room with a View would not have given that idea.

Participant B pointed out that the Red Queen's exaggerated make-up was a very important factor in making her distinct and memorable. Atthe same time, the actress used a lot of exaggerated language and body movements in their portrayal of the character which make the character Red Queen more vivid.

Thirdly, analyze the character's personality. Participant A felt that the Red Queen was a very complex person. She very prone to anger atwhat she was not happy with. She says frequently “off his head” with sharp and penetrating voice. But the audiences can see her confusion about her behaviorsin the movie, such as the discussion between her and her guards about how togovern her people, make them Fear or love. She gathers many people who also possess strange traits around her perhaps for a sense of identity. And when Alice breaks into her kingdom, she says that people with big heads will alwaysbe welcome in her kingdom, which shows that her humanity inside. She craves the approval of others so much that she rejects things that she don’t wants and use  violence to rebel.

And Lucy has some madness within her. But she is restricted by the traditional European rituals and the infiltration of the upper-class rules. She hides the crazy and irrational ideas within the rules. From the behaviors such as the interpretation of Beethoven's frenzied music, the childhood experience of bathing in the wilderness alone, this kind of madness can be seen. Because of rules, she chose to run away after the first kiss with George,but at the end she still chose to be in love with George, which is the most obvious manifestation of her madness. Participant A thought that the two characters would actually share a certain personality in that they both share the trait of madness. The Red Queen's madness is outwardly expressed, but Lucy's madness is hidden underneath the rules of dogma.

Participant B felt that the Red Queen was a very pitifulperson who grew up without love and then longed to be loved. The movie scene that impressed her most was when the guard of Red Queen want to kill her at the end of the movie. Red Queen's shock as well as madness can be shared with the audience by Helena performance of shaking voice, the unbelievable emotion onface and eyes at that time. All the things the Red Queen wanted to pursue, power, love, friendship and recognition, had been denied. Participant B felt that she could understand her despair and madness. Lucy is a girl who grows throughout the course of the movie's narrative. From her initial avoidance of love to her openness and acknowledgement of it, she keeps changing and growing.

Participant C felt that the Red Queen's identity was a vividmovie villain character. She was most impressed by the Red Queen's makeup,costumes, such as the flamingo as a bat, the hedgehog as a ball. This shows the queen is self-centered and brutal. But Lucy is a girl who has her own pursuit of love and life, who is not bound by the traditional rules and social status of the time. And she has the courage to say no to people and things she doesn'tlike. Furthermore, the characterization of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland uses a lot of other actors’ behaviors to show their fear to the Red Queen to show the Red Queen's brutality as well as other personalities,while Lucy is mainly through the interaction between Lucy and others to show the character.

Finally, discuss from the audiences’ doubts of the character's interpretation. Participant A thought the character making of the Red Queen seems reasonable and did not feel uncomfortable with her behavior. Because film is set in a very absurd and bizarre setting and padding stories from the other actors. But progress of Lucy and George falling in love make her feel a little strange. Because the two characters don't have a particular amount of contact, and Lucy doesn't show any behavioral signs of liking George when she meets him again after rejecting him, their marriage in the end would feel alittle incomprehensible.

Participant B suggested that she did not feel that she felt conflicted.

Participant C indicated that she was equally puzzled by the development of Lucy's love story with Cecil and George. The emphasis on the plot point that Lucy and George could not tell anyone after their first kiss,(both after the first kiss was found out by their cousin and subsequently afterthey became neighbors with George) make her feel strange.

Discussion

Both films were adapted from the novels.A Room with a View(1985)follows the original story development more closely, but there is no shortageof adaptations made to condense the complex plot development into fewer scenes (Raicu,2015). Morrow & Flavin (2022) suggested thatAlice in Wonderland (2010)adaptation of Alice strengthens the rivalry between protagonist and antagonistbetween Alice and the Red Queen, and reinforces the portrayal of the RedQueen's brutality, which is differentfrom both the originaland the previous movie version.

Movie adaptations of book characters can have an impact on respondents' emotions. For instance, when movie character representations did not fulfill the fantasies of their favorite characters (Välisalo, 2018).

However, most of the three Chinese viewers above have not read the original novels of these two movies. Participant A had read the Alice in Wonderlandnovel ten years ago. There was no negative emotion arising because of thecontract of her remaining impression with the film. In this respect, the cultural differences between Chinese audiences and European films may lead to a higher tolerance for the actors' performances.

The style of the movie affects the way in which the actors' performances interact with the audience (Noice & Noice, 2018). From the results of the interviews above, it can lead to the opinion that the more impactful interpretation of the Red Queen's character was more empathetic and impressive to the audience than the more subtle role-playing of Lucy.

A movie is a depiction of a fictional world. Viewers witnessing fictional events in which movie characters are involved can causeviewers change their emotions and make connection to their own lives(Cañas-Bajo, 2020). In the results of the interviews above, we found that the interviewees, A and b both expressed sympathy and empathy for what happened inthe Red Queen's life. This is a reflection of the excellence of the actress' performance of the roles, which also includes the joint contribution of the script and the rest of the cast to achieve this effect.

Movies are an art, and everyone might have a differentperspective to appreciate them.