If your only requirement for a story to be officially credited as inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is for it to center on a girl in the process of a sexual awakening, then sure, HBO Latin’s Alice definitely fits that description. The story of a young girl forsaking the comfortable small town world she once knew for the topsy turvy excitement of the big city has been done over and over again, but Alice at least gives the process a new glaze with its portrayal of life in Sao Paolo, Brazil – split between a daytime of professionalism and a nighttime of hedonism.
Alice (Andréia Horta) has her life planned out: she plans on marrying Henrique and moving into the apartment in the sleepy coastal town of Palma on which they’ve already made a down payment and, if all goes accordingly, they’ll have their first child two years later. Two days before the big move to the new home, her estranged father living in Sao Paolo, with his new wife and daughter, jumps from their 20th floor apartment. Alice quickly flies in to Sao Paolo for the funeral, but her inability to make the return flight marks the start of the night in Sao Paolo that will change her life. Unable to reach her aunt (Regina Braga) by phone, Alice calls a friend she hasn’t seen in years and, regardless of Alice’s objections, they head off to a party where Alice begins to realize just how much of life she was missing in Palmas. Resolved to stay longer, she starts a new life and learns valuable lessons about self-confidence, sexuality, and the illusion of control over one’s own life.
The series does an excellent job showing the ups and downs of a young professional in their mid 20s trying to keep everything together. Along the way she has her aunt, her job, friends, and lovers dividing her attention and keeping her life consistently exciting. Except when it’s terrifying, and life inevitably becomes so. Even with all of its nightclub sequences and some heavy handed life lessons, the series manages to keep an understated tone and never shies away from embracing the sexuality of an adult in bloom. Alice proves to be a surprisingly well-developed series several times over.
DVD Bonus Features
There are none.
"Alice: Primera Temporada" is on sale July 26, 2011 and is not rated. Drama. Directed by Karim Ainouz. Written by Felipe Bragança. Starring Andreia Horta, Regina Braga, Juliano Cazarre.
