As soon as I heard there was going to be a film adaptation of the beloved novel, The Giver, two thoughts popped in my mind. The optimistic side of me was excited and thrilled. Twenty-one years after the John Newberry Medal winning book was published, Hollywood was finally going to make a movie adaptation that was worthwhile.
The other side of me was not as enthusiastic. Like many people, I read The Giver in middle school. To this day, I can remember the way Lois Lowry wrote the simple yet haunting tale of what happens when an authoritarian government dictates the way people live their everyday lives. Lowry was a pioneer in writing the popular genre of dystopia, which many successful books today like The Hunger Games and Divergent use in their plots. But even while many movies fail from their book counterparts, I was willing to give The Giver a chance.
The Giver tells the story of 16-year-old Jonas who lives in a society where his government controls everyone’s lives. People are assigned their jobs, spouses and even children and blindly follow all instructions and orders. At the ceremony of 16 with all others his age, Jonas is assigned his future position, “The Receiver of Memories.” Through receiving the memories and forming a friendship with his mentor, a man known as “the Giver,” Jonas realizes he cannot live in a society where he cannot think and experience emotions of his own. He then devises a plan which goes against everything his government tells him to do.
The Giver has an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, who plays the new role of the government’s leader, the Chief Elder, and Jeff Bridges, who plays the Giver and spent almost 20 years developing the film. It seems its producers knew a cherished book like The Giver would need a heavy dose of Academy Award winners to play such iconic roles. Brenton Thwaites, a newcomer from Australia, easily fits the role of the curious, yet courageous Jonas with Odeya Rush playing his love interest. Bridges and Thwaites have a chemistry throughout the film, which makes the moviegoer, who may have problems with the rest of the film, somehow still want to watch their scenes. Streep and Bridges both steal the screen with their impressive acting chops, but the young actors, Thwaites and Rush, both show they can hold their own as well.
One of the biggest parts of the film and the novel is, (spoiler alert!) Jonas’ world is in black and white. In the novel, the government decides that removing color and emotions will get rid of jealousy, pain, and competition.
Before entering into the movie, I wondered if the film would be in black and white. Much to my happiness, the movie begins with Jonas and his two friends, Fiona and Asher (Cameron Monaghan) riding their bikes on a colorless morning. The movie starts showing color when Jonas notices Fiona’s red hair and the color of the apple in the Giver’s home. The movie does not change those parts from the novel and brings them to life by doing something a book cannot—allowing its viewer to truly see the transition. Even when the film is in color, the colors are dull and rarely bright, which lends to the idea that with the government still in charge, the world can still not be completely colorful.
Fans going in should know that Jonas and his friends’ ages change from the innocent age of 12 to the more mature 16. Many young adult novels have turned into huge franchises like Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Divergent, who all have teenagers starring as the main roles. By increasing the ages, producers must have hoped for similar results.
Truthfully, the age did not matter to me so much. I always felt while reading the book that Jonas was dealing with a lot of heavy stuff for a twelve-year-old. He receives all types of memories including wars, sicknesses and death. Even though altering his age changed Jonas’ innocence, it made his character seem more authentic and believable to be dealing with such intense responsibilities.
There are some major additions in the film that provide information the book never addresses. In the film, “receivers” have a special marking on his or her wrist. Jonas first notices it on Gabriel, a baby he rescues from release, their society’s term for death, and the Giver has one as well. Some of the best scenes are with Thwaites and baby Gabriel as he serves as a hero for the child.
Another big change is with the character Fiona. Fiona is featured heavily in the movie as Jonas’ love interest, a choice clearly intended for its younger viewers and different from her more minor original role in the novel. For the most part, Thwaites and Rush are believable as the society’s forbidden lovers. Rush’s acting, however, remains emotionless even towards the film’s end when their government no longer controls her.
One of The Giver’s best aspects is when the memories are shown near the film’s conclusion. Jonas experiences a series of memories that makes him finally understand he cannot live a life under a government that does not let him experience such wonderful and tragic experiences. Even though Lowry describes the memories in the novel, the film does an excellent job of bringing them to life for the viewer.
Even with its changes, the film does not lose the emotion and beauty that the book is famous for. Lowry made her readers think about how living is about experiencing all types of emotions: the good, the bad, the exciting and the painful. The movie executes this well, staying true to the book’s message and bringing them to life on screen. The magic that was felt by children when reading the book for the first time is still there on the screen, all these years later.