The Christmas Dream Review: The Kingdom's Pioneering Stage-to-Screen Spectacle in Half a Century Delivers a Heavy Dose of Heartfelt Pageantry.
Hailed as the initial musical production from Thailand in five decades, The Christmas Dream is directed by British filmmaker Paul Spurrier and presents a curious blend of modern and traditional elements. The film serves as a modern-day rags-to-riches tale that journeys from the hills of the north to the urban sprawl of Bangkok, featuring old-school Technicolor visuals and an abundance of heartstring-tugging show-stopping numbers. Its songs are crafted by Spurrier, accompanied by an orchestral score composed by Mickey Wongsathapornpat.
A Journey of Innocence and Ethics
Exhibiting a Michelle Yeoh-like resolve but in a much smaller frame, young actress Amata Masmalai takes on the role of Lek, a pre-teen schoolgirl. She is forced to escape after her violent stepfather Nin (portrayed by Vithaya Pansringarm) brutally kills her mother. Setting out with only her one-legged doll Bella for company, Lek relies on a unyielding sense of right and wrong, promised toward a new home by the ghost of her deceased mother. Her path is populated by a cast of colorful characters who challenge her principles, including a pampered rich girl desperately seeking a companion and a charlatan physician hawking questionable remedies.
Spurrier's affection for the musical genre is plain to see – or, to be precise, it is gloriously evident. The early rural sequences especially bottle the warm, vibrant feel reminiscent of The Sound of Music.
Visual and Choreographic Pizzazz
The choreography often possesses a quickstep snap and pace. A memorable highlight breaks out on a financial district campus, which acts as Lek's first taste of the Bangkok corporate grind. Featuring suited professionals tumbling in and out of a large mechanical procession, this represents the singular moment where The Christmas Dream touches upon the stylized complexity found in classic era musical cinema.
Musical and Narrative Shortcomings
Despite being richly arranged, a lot of the score is excessively bland musically and lyrically. Rather than studding songs at key points in the plot, Spurrier douses the film with them, apparently overcompensating for a somewhat weak narrative. Substantial adversity is present solely at the start and finish – with the tragedy of Lek's mother and when her spirits wane in Bangkok – is there sufficient challenge to balance an overly simple and saccharine journey.
Brief hints of gentle class satire, such as when Lek's sudden good fortune has greedy locals swarming her, are unlikely to satisfy more mature audiences. While could buy into the pervasive positive outlook, the foreign backdrop cannot conceal a underlying narrative blandness.
