(courtesy IMDb (c) Netflix)
Talk about a marriage made in storytelling heaven.
The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar brings together the Roald Dahl story which is part of a 1977 short story collection by the author entitled The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and Six More – the book also contains “The Swan”, “The Rat Catcher” and “Poison”, all of which are also now available to stream – and marvellously whimsical eye of Wes Anderson (Asteroid City).
The reason Anderson’s adaptation of The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar (the only one viewed to date by this reviewer) is that Dahl’s write contains a quirky seriousness which is a perfect match for Anderson’s sensibilities which, on the surface tend to pastel playfulness and imaginative whimsicality but which always carry a thoughtfully grounded messaging in subtext.
In that regard, the two creators are perfect collaborators – obviously not actively as Dahl died in 1990, but in every other regard that matters, they go perfectly together – and The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar reflects how well Dahl’s poetically mischievous writing syncs in with Anderson’s visual predilection for the same kind of wittily playful inventiveness.
The story centres on 41-year-old Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch), a man of great wealth and irascible temper, who is neither bad nor good but who is wholly bereft of purpose (he is, says Dahl rather amusingly and pointedly, “part of the decoration” [who drift] “like seaweed all over the world”), save for making more money for reasons Dahl observes has little to do with sense, and is more precisely derived from a paranoid anxiety that they will wake up one morning to find their bank accounts empty.
That all changes one day when he discovers a slim exercise book, the kind it is noted is unremarkable and used by schoolchildren everywhere, which is full of an Indian doctor’s (Dr Chatterjee is played by Dev Patel; his colleague is played with understated glee by Richard Ayoade) observances of an intriguing man named Imdad Khan (Ben Kingsley) whom he meets one day and who is able to see with precise clarity any object in front of him without opening his eyes.
This story utterly fascinates Sugar who makes it his life mission to master the same techniques, gleaned by Kahn from an Indian holy man, and used to make even more money in the gambling dens of the world, a self-serving aim that undergoes quite a metamorphosis once he gains the skills he desires.
Rendering Dahl’s prose exactly written which, apart from staying faithful to the text, beautifully evokes the cadence of the author’s writing – rather playfully, Dahl, played by Ralph Fiennes, introduces the story and provides the outro too – The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar is a joyfully fun, A Christmas Carol-type transformative jaunt through one man’s reborn life.
In the role of Sugar Cumberbatch is perfectly poised – curmudgeonly and self-involved when called for and outward-looking and transformed when his quest for ever-greater wealth becomes something akin to a spiritual awakening.
He is superb as the eponymous protagonist who embodies Dah’s contempt for greed – that is on display, of course, in much of his work including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – but also the propensity for people to be very good and worthwhile indeed.
Stylised like much of Anderson’s work with fourth wall-breaking moments and a clever changing of scenes that feels like a stop motion treasure trove of visual delights, The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar entrances with its gift for being both a cinematic treat and a story with weight and meaning and joy.
It’s a rare mix that once Anderson, and naturally Dahl for it is his story reproduced precisely as written, pulls off with absolute perfection, nary a foot placed wrong and with a rich sense of what is possible for anyone when they leave aside their upbringing and the adult incarnation that begets, and dare to strike out, however unintentionally, into parts unknown.
Watching The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar is like subsuming yourself in a candy-coated delight that has real meaning and thoughtfulness underneath all the layers of technicolour, cartoon-like confection, and you finish the story feeling better about the world than when you entered it.
Than in itself should make you rush to see it since the world today, possibly even more so than when Dahl penned the story, isn’t exactly encouraging us to hopefulness and a sense of optimistic possibility, but add in the fact that we are once again treated to a broken person being made whole in the most magical but humanly grounded of ways, with visual flourish to match, and you have, The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar, one of those pitch-perfect stories that delights the eyes, feeds the soul and reminds good things can come out of this broken world of ours.
The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar, along with adaptations of The Swan, The Rat Catcher and Poison are currently available to stream on Netflix.