The Giver is a social science fiction film directed Phillip Noyce, based on the 1993 novel of the same name by Lois Lowry. In a perfect world where there is no conflict, racism, or sickness, every member of society has a specific role, and 16-year-old Jonas is selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. Soon Jonas uncovers the truth behind his world’s past, and discovers that many years earlier, his forefathers gave up humanity in order to have a stable society. Now he must come to terms with what he’s learned and either accept it or try to find a new path. Staring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgard, and Katie Holmes.
Yet another young adult dystopian future movie is upon us. As many of these new movies as there are, some being good and some bad, The Giver falls right in the middle. It’s good, well acted, and has something very important to say, but unfortunately it comes out at the tail end of such giant box office blockbusters like The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent. The Giver is full heart and beauty. Never the less with its box office outcome, The Giver will be seen and remembered.
In the world where there is no crime, hatred, or illness, everyone goes through their lives without question, but also without emotion, love, or color, all thanks to a suppression injection everyone takes once a day to dull everything that makes us human. When Jonas is given the task of becoming the new Receiver of Memory, he begins to see and learn there is another way of life.
Jonas, acted wonderfully by Brenton Thwaites, meets the old Receiver of Memory, The Giver, played by Jeff Bridges, who gives yet another amazing performance. Once Jonas begins receiving memories of the past world, he starts to see and learn about things he never dreamed of. He doesn’t understand why his society would give up simple things like love. So to understand more, he begins to neglect his injections to feel and see with his heart for the first time.
Jonas begins to see the world as no one has seen for years. He feels laughter, love, and adventure and begins to see color. Just as he begins to understand, The Giver must teach him more, thus regretfully he must show Jonas the horror man can do to one another. He does this to insure that it never happens again, and for Jonas to understand why humanity has forgone all emotion, seeing that they lead to war, hatred, and violence. Jonas feels that humanity should have a choice no matter the outcome. He then begins on a journey to save his society from itself by crossing the forbidden border and give memory, emotion, and color back to the rest of humanity.
The main antagonist for the story would be The Chief Elder, played incredibly by Meryl Streep. She has no need or want to go back to the ways things used to be. She will stop at nothing to keep the balance, even going so far to have Jonas’s best friend, Asher, played Cameron Monaghan, try and kill Jonas for the betterment of the people. The Chief Elder isn’t as villainesses as say, President Snow in the Hunger Games series, but she has her moments of villainy. She is mostly just afraid to feel anything; she has become complacent in her world and refuses to acknowledge change of any kind.
What made the movie interesting is how the filmmakers decided to film the story. Director Phillip Noyce made a decision that is odd, but strangely works for the story they have built. A vast majority of the movie is in black and white to show us how Jonas and his world lives, in a colorless, emotional void of a world. But as Jonas begins taking memory and stops his injection, color begins to reenter his world. The filmmakers show this by slowly giving is a splash of color here and there, be it the color of eyes, the trees, or a girl’s hair. Each thing Jonas sees brings him closer to a world he wants.
Now unfortunately the black and white doesn’t look great, due to the fact that it isn’t filmed on real black and white film. The new digital style of filmmaking still can capture the beauty of real black and white. So the movie has flaws in the black and white that can be jarring to the eye. It’s fine, and it doesn’t pull you out of the movie by any means, but it is noticeable. But when the movie begins to be in all color, that is when the digital really proves its usefulness. The colors are given a massive boost and look beautiful on screen. The audience begins to feel the joy of seeing color just as Jonas does.
At the end of the day the movie is good. Not a great flick that will go down in time as the best, but it is a movie that shouldn’t be forgotten. It has beautiful moments and wonderful acting. It has some very nice sets, creative camera shots, and some nice special effects. It has a message to say and it says it well without hitting you over the head repeatedly with it. Arthur Lois Lowry should be proud to have this film show off her amazing story for decades to come.