The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is filled with non-stop narration and layers of decadent dioramas that suit Wes Anderson’s quirks making it a warm welcome back to the director.

The simple premise follows Henry Sugar as he discovers a journal belonging to Z.Z. Chatterjee details the tale of a man, Imdad Khan, who can see without sight. The title name drops Henry Sugar, but the film focuses on Khan up until the third act. It is a wonderful story featuring Ralph Fiennes narrating Roald Dahl as Wes walks his audience through the writing process. While Khan uses his gift altruistically, Sugar sees it as a way to win card games. The story structure is similar to past Wes pictures emphasizing the importance of how they are told.

Wes Anderson uses the entirety of Roald Dahl’s text as his script, sticking to the material but elevating it through whimsical imagination. The characters tell the story word for word even throwing in “I said” as they turn to the camera as if they are performing a storytime to the audience. With the format of a short film, the actors unbrokenly zip through the dialogue creating a kinetic energy that keeps the audience awake.

The narrative changes are signaled by the moving sets around them as they continue to travel through the story. It is all beautifully shot as a single-take play production. The different locations are shown through matte paintings on stages within stages. There is an energy that brings these sets to life almost feeling 3D, Wes and his collaborators are in their purest form of creativity. On these make-believe stages, makeup and costume changes happen as the core cast of storytellers jump between storylines.

Wes Anderson is the perfect person to depict Dahl’s work on the screen. While it remains true to the material, it is very easy to spot moments of Wes sprinkled in. It looks at the director’s creative process as it mirrors how Wes himself would read and digests the story adding in his touches to make it his version.

While short in length, it is an inspiration for artistry.