Thursday, July 2, 2015

The Giver


RATING: B+

Oh look, it's yet another dystopian novel made into a movie. Unlike some of its more recent counterparts, though, this one is actually based off a somewhat older book (1993). And it's not based off a trilogy--there are "sequels" to the book, but they aren't entirely direct ones. So ultimately, this is the only movie we're gonna see based off this "series." 

This particular film exists in a world where people have been isolated into Communities, and various emotions, feelings, and even color no longer exist, with the "memories of the past" being held by one person--the Receiver of Memory. Love and hate no longer exist. No conflict, or differences between people. A "utopia" of sorts, to keep people in eternal, unrealistic peace. Virtually no free will either. And in the vein of Divergent, people are "chosen" for their career (only without the "test"). 

Enter Jonas, who is ultimately chosen to become the next Receiver of Memory, where he meets a guy played by Jeff Bridges with no real name--going simply by the name of "The Giver." And he is "given" the memories and feelings--and the world that he discovers that has been long lost, and the loss of free will, gives him mixed reactions like happiness and horror. 

The setting is ultimately kind of creepy, since this dystopia is a more realistic one than, say, Hunger Games or Maze Runner, and could easily happen if they came up with the technology to repress things like certain emotions and feelings. And to think that the things that we take for granted, like love or free will or hate or color (seriously, color), are such foreign and unheard concepts to the people in this movie. 

The Giver does quite a good job of what it sets out to do: give us a cautionary tale of a future that is pretty darn boring and empty. It takes a few good twists along the way, and gives the audience a lot of stuff to think about. 

It's not exactly a perfect movie, even though it's a pretty good one. There are some things that are treated with vagueness/ambiguity. There is a lot of confusion surrounding "Elsewhere"--it seems pretty clear that "Elsewhere" is the land outside the Communities, forbidden to all. But when people are "sent to Elsewhere," which would imply banishment, it actually turns out to be a lethal injection. 

Despite that, The Giver is a well-executed and well-made film that gives people food for thought, much like some of the other films in its genre. It moves a bit more slowly than its counterparts, and doesn't go to the action/adventure route that many of them do (if anything, thriller is the closest genre besides dystopian I can come up with). And while in some ways it may not be the most memorable of its genre, it's certainly not too far off either. 

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