Personally, I forced myself to watch, or should I say, experience this retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. None of the actors speak. They just dance. In opera, the story is sung by the players. Here, the players are mute, their roles conveyed through their very expressive movements - via contemporary dance - their "voices" coming from "behind the curtain" when needed, together with that of the narrator who controls this retelling.
Actually, this production would have been better on a stage. It would have made more sense, and would have had a more appreciative audience. As a movie, it soon became boring. One already knows the story so no need to hang on to find out what happens in the end.
I do like contemporary dance. I love the way it can convey emotion. However, those who want to experience this at its best, should look elsewhere. And choose one or more of the other A Christmas Carol movies to soothe that seasonal itch.
A Christmas Carol
2020
Action / Animation / Drama
A Christmas Carol
2020
Action / Animation / Drama
Plot summary
The radical new take on Dickens’ classic seeks both to exhume the original story’s gritty commentary on social inequality and the corrupting influence of greed, and to breathe new life into the lyricism of the original text by setting its scenes to extraordinary tableaux of modern dance.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 03, 2022 at 06:53 PM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Nice, if it's your cup of tea
Ruinous drivel
Charles dickens classic tale is ultimately the greatest Christmas story ever told but this is absolute dross
I give it 2 stars purely on the premise as it's a good idea in principle but it just doesn't work. Characters with no dialogue, a switching between animation and real time actors. There's also a bizarre dance thing happening which I have no explanation of and nothing new in that department. It just ruins the classic tale. For a better version see Albert finney, Patrick Stewart, alistair sim or George c Scott's version. All much better takes and far closer to the story. As for this just avoid at all costs.
Counterpoint
Some rough reviews on here, and if you are looking for Jim Carrey's version, this will assuredly not check the boxes for you. This is the most faithful adaptation, dialogue wise, that I've seen, and I've seen most film and tv versions. True to the book almost entirely, it is more demanding in that respect.
Creatively, the dance paired with overlayed dialogue is an extremely compelling way to keep the story fresh. There have been many similar versions over the years, and a few wildly divisive ones (the 2019 FX version, for example), so a reset that stays true to the source material is a nice change of pace.
Lastly, Andy Serkis version of Marley is the creepiest I've seen. The fluid movements of the dancer and his vocal representation really nailed the horrific nature of the role in a way that I imagine Dickens wanted to convey.