By SETH HYNES
The Giver
Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgard
Rated M for mature themes and violence
THE young-adult genre needs more quality character studies like this.
In a totalitarian future society where colour and emotion are suppressed, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is appointed the community’s Receiver of Memory on his 18th birthday.
His role is to carry the memories of the bygone world and advise the community elders, but these ideas soon pose a threat to the system.
The Giver’s shaky conflict and world-building are significant issues, but are overcome by artistic passion and an excellent dynamic between Jonas and the Giver (Jeff Bridges).
The young characters are basic by design, as their society deprives them of identity or strong emotion. But this only goes so far, as most of the side characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting.
The film’s dystopian setting is poorly explained; the society never seems as impassive or stable as it’s claimed to be, the euthanasia sub-plot is heavy-handed and evil regimes don’t have off-switches.
But Thwaites anchors the film with a captivating performance. It’s wonderful to watch Jonas’s mind awaken and delight in the love, excitement and diversity of life (reflected by breath-taking cinematography and his perspective gradually shifting from black-and-white to colour).
Moreover, Bridges is compelling as always in the role of Jonas’s wise, taciturn mentor.
As young-adult drama or dystopian sci-fi, The Giver is sub-par. But as a moving, vibrant character study with repression as a backdrop, The Giver shines.
