Jessica Pellegrino – General Assignment Reporter
With the recent success of movies such as “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent,” the movie industry is poised for an upswing in movie adaptations of Young Adult dystopia. However, in an attempt to cash in on the action film goldmine, most of these movie adaptations fall flat. “The Hunger Games” for example, focused so heavily on action/thriller potential and the characters’ love triangle that the nuances and illusions to social justice were completely washed out.
“The Giver,” authored by Lois Lowry, is no exception to this trend. The plot of “The Giver” is simple. It is set in a seemingly utopian society. However, the reader soon finds out later is very dystopian.
The novel showcases a thirteen-year-old boy’s life in this world without sadness or pain. Everyone feels identical “Sameness.” The “Sameness” allows the citizens to be safe. Children can ride their bikes outside without the fear of crime or danger. The boy finds out the government, “The Elders”, control everything about society, removing elements from the world like love and color.
The boy, Jonas, sees color in the world, so he is chosen to be the next Receiver of Memories. Therefore, he will have to receive all the pain in the world. The story shows Jonas’ grappling with this world, the task of being the Receiver, and what his people must give up, in order to live in a “utopia”.
The novel itself is timeless. The themes of government control and rising above it can be applied to any generation, which is probably why the 1993 novel is still relevant and taught in most middle school curriculums. “The Giver” was truly twenty years in the making.
Like “The Hunger Games,” the cinematography of “The Giver” is beautiful. The film, which is set in black and white to mimic the novel, slowly receives color in the most aesthetically pleasing, subtle way.
The film showcases brilliant actors such as Meryl Streep and the debut of the delightful Odeya Rush. This all-star cast and beautiful cinematography certainly sets the film up to be the slam dunk the novel deserves.
However, “The Giver” falls flat in execution. The novel is set in a purposefully and reliably dull environment, as The Elders have stripped society of all emotions and elements that could cause conflict. That is a main theme in the novel. Yet the film tries desperately to be an action/thriller, which comes off completely illogical to the film’ viewer.
As if the botched up movie logic wasn’t bad enough, one of the lead actors, Jeff Bridges, who plays the Receiver before Jonas is meant to take over, is awkward and his performance is lackluster. The Receiver, who carries all the pain and emotion or everyone in the utopia, is meant to seem to be weighed down by the responsibly, yet Bridges acts as if not even phased. His performance was overdramatized and honestly confusing to anyone watching, as it definitely did not appear to be coming from a man plagued with all of the world’s imperfection.
Never explored in the film are the real themes of the novels. The things that make the novel timeless. The film doesn’t dig deep enough into the ideas of the flaw in perfection, governmental control, and a world without love. It tries too hard to seem like an action film, which is problematic because the novel intentionally lacks large amounts of conflict.
While beautiful to watch, like most Young Adult dystopian films, “The Giver” translates as dull and trying way too hard.