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author_by_nightA somewhat brief review. Cut mostly for teh spoilerz.
I read The Giver many many years ago, and it was one of those books I had trouble really understanding at the time, but as time moved on and I harkened back to it, I understood and appreciated it more. I certainly never forgot it.
The movie adaptation has a lot of strengths, but it's not bold enough. First, we get a love story, because God forbid a YA action movie not have one. Here's the thing - why is the fact that Fiona and Jonas must part sadder if they were in love? From what I can remember, she was a kind girl who was going to have to kill people and not even know what she was doing. That's poignant enough. (Also, they were elderly, not babies.) I DID understand why they aged the characters - Jonas in the novel is twelve, but sixteen here, and I think it's because it might be harrowing for an audience to physically see a kid witness the things he does. That, and child labor laws.
My other issue with it was the ending. The ending of novel has Jonas and Gabriel head towards a place with music; we never actually see what it is. We don't know if Jonas and Gabriel have reached safety, or if they've in fact died. Meanwhile, Jonas's community - his friends, his parents, his little sister - are left in complete oblivion. The movie has a happier ending. Jonas and Gabriel reach a home, and by breaking out, Jonas has given his Community the ability to See and Feel.
Is it a happier ending? Yes, but that's not necessarily a good thing. I actually find it somewhat ironic that in a movie about people being afraid of emotions to the point at which they're locked in a dystopian society, we still can't have emotions people might not be able to deal with, ask questions that aren't so simple. It does a huge disservice to the original source material.
On the bright side, I think I'm going to finally read the other books, which take place in the same universe.
I read The Giver many many years ago, and it was one of those books I had trouble really understanding at the time, but as time moved on and I harkened back to it, I understood and appreciated it more. I certainly never forgot it.
The movie adaptation has a lot of strengths, but it's not bold enough. First, we get a love story, because God forbid a YA action movie not have one. Here's the thing - why is the fact that Fiona and Jonas must part sadder if they were in love? From what I can remember, she was a kind girl who was going to have to kill people and not even know what she was doing. That's poignant enough. (Also, they were elderly, not babies.) I DID understand why they aged the characters - Jonas in the novel is twelve, but sixteen here, and I think it's because it might be harrowing for an audience to physically see a kid witness the things he does. That, and child labor laws.
My other issue with it was the ending. The ending of novel has Jonas and Gabriel head towards a place with music; we never actually see what it is. We don't know if Jonas and Gabriel have reached safety, or if they've in fact died. Meanwhile, Jonas's community - his friends, his parents, his little sister - are left in complete oblivion. The movie has a happier ending. Jonas and Gabriel reach a home, and by breaking out, Jonas has given his Community the ability to See and Feel.
Is it a happier ending? Yes, but that's not necessarily a good thing. I actually find it somewhat ironic that in a movie about people being afraid of emotions to the point at which they're locked in a dystopian society, we still can't have emotions people might not be able to deal with, ask questions that aren't so simple. It does a huge disservice to the original source material.
On the bright side, I think I'm going to finally read the other books, which take place in the same universe.
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Date: 2014-09-07 01:29 am (UTC)But ugh, what a disappointing film. I mean I expected it to suck, but then the first 20 min or so (or up to the beginnjng of his training) were SO GOOD and near perfect, I began to think it would be all good. But yeah, the shoe-horned romance and the heavy-handed cheesy writing were so bad and cringeworthy, and it really missed some key points (like why they were killing babies, or what the pills were about, etc).
I too was OK with the aging up though, because frankly having kids begin careers at age 12 never really made much sense.