The Giver | Movie Reaction

Some-what Spoiler-Filled Discussion

This movie was absolutely phenomenal. I went into it with low expectations and was completely blown away. The trailer does not do justice to the movie at all, so if you haven’t seen it, go watch it, completely worth the $11.50 to see it in theaters.

We open to a black and white scene of the community and the movie begins with the graduating ceremony of the eighteen-year olds. Of course, in order to cater the teenage audience, they upped the ages of each of the characters, making them eighteen instead of twelve. We go through the graduating ceremony as each person is given a position in society, whether it is birthmother, drone pilot, or nurturer. And out main character, Jonas is given the title of the receiver, who receives the memories of the past, the ones that have been deleted from the rest of society.

Although I don’t remember much of the book, since I read it back in seventh grade, I thought that the movie did a much better job of fleshing out the world and creating a clearer view of it. The community was well laid out, and I think every aspect of the dystopian society was covered.

One of the biggest differences between this book/movie and every other dystopian was the use of color to build upon the world. In the book, it’s a bit harder to pick up on the color change since it happens in words, while in the movie it was done so incredibly well. We start off completely in black and white, and as Jonas becomes more and more exposed to the memories and the past, we see bits of red start appearing in the apple and Fiona’s hair, exactly how it’s done in the book. But we don’t just jump straight into full color, the saturation gradually increases wherever Jonas is, and the scenes without him go back to black and white, perfectly representing the meaning and purpose of the color.

I was a bit iffy about the acting, not going to lie. At the beginning I really disliked the acting, since it seemed rather forced but I realized that it was the effect of the society causing them to talk in a seemingly forced manner. I wasn’t too fond of Fiona, or the actress who played her, but I thought that everyone else was fantastic, particularly Brenton (Jonas), Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges.

One of my favorite things in this movie was the defined plot. There was a certain barrier that Jonas had to cross in order to release the memories, which I don’t think was in the book. In fact I don’t remember any defined plot in the book.

Generally I thought the movie was well edited and well put together. I do think it was better than the book, although, like I mentioned before I don’t quite remember the book.