Joshua Clinard
Screenwriter
Since I just built a new computer with a DVD burner, I decided to order the R2 Matilda Special Edition 16x9 Enhanched DVD from amazon.co.uk.
Where did you get this information?The Digital Bits.
I, too, and hoping this is widescreen. Many people pass this movie off as just another kids movie, but its demented enough that even I can appreciate it!And it totally works in that the title character is so pure. Orginally, Dahl was going to have her be the twisted one and her family the nice ones as a commentary on modern spoiled youth. His editors and/or publishers (can't remember which) made him reconsider, and he enthusiastically went in the other direction. The result is his best work IMO, a fitting swan song to the career of one of the all time great children's authors. It also anticipated the themes that make The Incredibles stand out today.
The film is a combination of the perfect child star for the role at exactly the right age to do the role justice (Mara Wilson), and a filmmaker twisted and distorted enough to render the story without pulling many punches. In an era where cloying children's entertainment was at a height, DeVito wisely sidestepped it in all but a couple instances. His narrator is the most earnest, intelligent, and comforting DeVito had been up to that point. His portrayal of Harry Wormwood gives Louie De Palma a run for his money in terms of most sleazy morale-destroyer.
One of the highlight children's films of the nineties. It's a travesty that it's being treated this way. DeVito shot it Super35, which has been both a blessing for it's pre-DVD post-theatrical life (least screwed up) but now becomes a curse as Columbia sees no glaring reason to correct it. Some day.