A colourless, emotionless, rigidly polite society with no music and no choices is the picture that Lois Lowry paints in her 1994 novel, The Giver.
Since then, millions of Canadian elementary students have read the compelling dystopian coming-of-age story, and found that they could appreciate our world a little more. The Giver hits its target audience with the precision of a well-aimed arrow (or throwing knife).
The movie’s main character Jonas, played by Australian actor Brenton Thwaites, is chosen for a special position at his graduation. In a society that holds no memories of human history, he is tasked with becoming the new “Receiver of Memory” and acting as a vessel for the true human experience.
During his training, in which he receives memories of the past from the Giver, portrayed by Jeff Bridges, Jonas realizes that his perfect society is flawed, and sets out to change things for the better.
I found the most stunning aspect of the movie was the frequent switching between black-and-white and colour, according to the perspective of each character.
By beginning the film in a monochromatic setting, viewers can truly appreciate the first bursts of colour that appear as Jonas discovers his power to see beyond. I’ve never felt particularly happy to see the colours of ordinary things, but as Jonas explores the new vividness of everyday hues, I felt ridiculously glad to finally see a red apple.
The film adaptation stayed fairly true to the novel. Some of the main characters were altered slightly to benefit a more action-packed script, which was a positive thing for the movie.
Several elements are taken directly from the book, including the scene where Jonas first discovers the true meaning of “release.”
My only complaints are that it lacked originality and had some repitive scenes. The Giver plays it safe with a typical young-hero-brings-change-to-a-blissfully-ignorant-community plot, dashing in the required PG teen romance between Jonas and his good friend, Fiona, and adding an oppressive elder figurehead to round things out.
My overall impression of The Giver is a positive one. The acting is good, the movie is visually and stylistically enticing, and I appreciated the writers taking advantage of the sincerity of the society of The Giver to inject some well-placed deadpan humour. If you appreciated the book, The Giver will not disappoint.
