Film Review: The Giver

The definition of “utopia” is a place or state in which everything is perfect. Based off the award-winning novel, the film The Giver explores the idea of a utopia in great depth. The movie came out in 2014 and was directed by Phillip Noyce. The book The Giver has been regarded as a sort of classic in our world, being implemented as a required reading in many educational institutions around the country. As a result, when the public learned of the release of the movie version, many were excited to see how the director would capture the meaning of the book onto the big screen. The film was able to articulate the concepts in the book in a way that allowed viewers to think back to the book and understand the text on a deeper level.

As soon as you start watching The Giver you enter a world of black and white, uniforms, and ultimate conformity. Everyone is extremely kind, acting as politely as they can towards each other. The elders of the town control everything: the citizen’s jobs, families, curfews, and clothes. Each person gets injected every morning, not knowing that the injection is what is keeping them from knowing the truth. The main character Jonas is assigned a special job – the Receiver. His job requires him to go to an elder, the Giver, and receive memories. Through receiving these memories Jonas learns the real truth about everything that was taken away from their society. The society he lived in didn’t know what love or grief was – the elders took that from them. Once Jonas got these memories from the Giver and learned the concept of love and happiness, he was distraught because he didn’t believe his people should be deprived of such magnificent things. Jonas understood that with love and happiness comes sadness and grief, but he believed that the power of feeling that love is worth the occasional sadness. Jonas goes on to try and fix this problem, and the movie portrays this very well.

This film is so distinguished because of the exceptional cinematic experience that occurs while watching. The Giver starts off slow, explaining the whole concept of a utopia, but then builds up to a surge of intensity at the end. This captivating build-up takes the viewers through a myriad of emotions, making everybody truly appreciate what they have in this world. It brings attention to the small things that humans take for granted. The elders deprive the citizens of the simple gift of color, for example, and seeing how Jonas reacts when he learns about what color is makes the viewer appreciate it so much more.

A major reason for the success of this movie is the film’s use of formal technique. The movie would not have had the same effect if not for the variations in lighting, color, sound, etc. The absence of color in the beginning of the film showed the extent of the sameness present in the society, but as the film went on color was slowly added. This change happened in such a way where the viewer would not automatically notice the increase in color. When the memories were showed to Jonas, they were showed with such intensity that the viewers could feel how Jonas must have felt when seeing these things for the first time. In one particular scene, when the Giver was showing Jonas what love, dancing and music was, the scene was so much brighter than any other scene, exemplifying how bright and beautiful the world could be if there weren’t all of these restrictions. The music in the background of the film also had a big impact on the success of the film because the music guided the viewer’s emotions while watching. When the Giver was talking about all the good there was in the world, the music in the background was happy and uplifting, but when he transitioned to the bad parts of the world, the music suddenly became somber and uneasy. The transition in music went along with the transition in emotions throughout the whole movie.

This film was extremely well put together, taking the viewer on a roller-coaster of emotions. I highly recommend it because it allows the viewers to come out of the movie with a sense of peace, understanding that there is so much to appreciate in this world. The film also teaches the viewers that there is no such thing as a utopia; there can never be perfection in a society. While some might think this unnerving, it is actually comforting to know that without pain or suffering there could not be any happiness in the world. This film exemplifies how much of an impact love and happiness have on our lives, and that it is extremely important to appreciate these amazing gifts.

By: Annalissa Thomas