by Laura Lai/Review
Now that Christmas is knocking at
my door, there is no other film I wish I could review than the movie based on
the book ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens…
‘Knock! Knock!’
‘Who’s there?’
‘Scrooge!’
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is a
British realist writer. A contemporary writer of the French realist Balzac
(1799-1850). I love Dickens for his many and memorable characters! And he
created so many that he died of exhaustion in 1870. In comparison to the French
realists, who mainly portrait adults in their existential struggle, Dickens
created lots of children characters through which the readers learn about the
British society in the Victorian times.
But
‘Scrooge’ is an adult character. He is left by the woman he was about to marry
and without any friends because of his greediness, lack of humanity towards
those who have debts to him and in general for his profit-driven life. On
Christmas Eve, Scrooge is warned by his former associate, Jacob, who died
several years before that he will be visited by three spirits: the Past, the
Present and the Future, who will actually show him what a joy will be in the
community for his death. He will be robbed, mocked and heated.
In
the classical black and white ‘Scrooge’ movie (1935) the technical means
to actually see Jacob or the three ghosts visiting are more limited than in the
musical ‘Scrooge’ (1970). I’m not sure is an issue of technique, as it
can very well be a matter of director choice (Henry Edwards) starting from the
point that ghosts are not visible and somehow the viewer should only be
indicated that they are there. In the 1970 musical, the director Ronald Neame
chose to envisage even Jacob, who got to hell for everything he did wrong in
life. And the way he is envisaged is metaphorically: full of heavy chains that
he built around himself bit by bit with every single bad thing he did to the others.
And the scene with the ghosts is chosen to be ‘visible’. Everything is more
chromatic and more illustrative in the musical than in the old classical movie,
with an explosion of music, dance and joy at Scrooge’s death.
Although Scrooge is
an adult character, Charles Dickens proves again his passion for children
characters, by discovering the child in Scrooge. From my point of view, the
book itself is constructed on this idea of going from Scrooge the greedy and
the cheap man to Scrooge the good and generous, and innocent child. And the
idea was kept by both film directors. In the classical movie in 1935, the means
being more limited (or politically more concentrated by states on the war
industry for the upcoming world war), the main actor’s great acting talent
playing Scrooge (Seymour Hicks) is essential in seeing the transformation of
Scrooge. In the musical, the role of Scrooge is played by Albert Finney – an
excellent choice of the director to see the same passage from Scrooge the adult
to Scrooge the child. Being a musical, Finney’s talent is completed by music,
dance, many children in different scenes and by color. For example, by dressing
Scrooge in the red outfit of Santa, the viewers’ perception of transformation
is visually communicated: Scrooge is no more the greedy and cheap man, heated
by the community, but the generous and beloved Santa Claus, who brings gifts
and joy to people and children.
What changed since December 1843
– Charles Dickens’ time – to December 2019? The Christmas carols have not.
Thanks God! I am wondering if the number of ‘Scrooges’ increased or decreased.
It would be interesting to know, in order to have an idea about how much the
human nature improved since 1843…
‘Stayed constant’, may be an
answer.
‘Can’t be! The population
increased and the quality of life increased since 1843. What about the number
of ‘Scrooges’?
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