The Christmas Dream Review: The Kingdom's Pioneering Musical in Decades Is Big On Sentimental Spectacle.
Reportedly the initial musical production from Thailand in half a century, The Christmas Dream comes under the direction of British filmmaker Paul Spurrier and offers up a fascinating mixture of the contemporary and the classic. It functions as a modern-day rags-to-riches tale that travels from the hills of the north to the urban sprawl of Bangkok, featuring old-school Technicolor visuals and an abundance of emotionally rich musical highlights. Its songs are crafted by Spurrier, set to an orchestral score from Mickey Wongsathapornpat.
A Journey of Innocence and Ethics
Exhibiting a Michelle Yeoh-like determination but in a much smaller frame, Amata Masmalai takes on the role of Lek, a ten-year-old schoolgirl. She is forced to escape after her violent stepfather Nin (portrayed by Vithaya Pansringarm) brutally kills her mother. Setting out with only her disabled toy Bella for companionship, Lek is guided by a strong moral compass, promised toward a better life by the spirit of her late mum. Her path is populated by a series of picaresque characters who test her resolve, among them a pampered rich girl in dire need of a true friend and a quack doctor peddling dubious miracle cures.
Spurrier's affection for the song-and-dance format is plain to see – or, more accurately, it is resplendent. The early rural sequences especially capture the warm, vibrant feel reminiscent of The Sound of Music.
Visual and Choreographic Pizzazz
The choreography often possesses a lively visual energy. A memorable highlight erupts on a financial district campus, which serves as Lek's first taste of the Bangkok corporate grind. Featuring business executives tumbling in and out of a large clockwork cortege, this represents the one instance where The Christmas Dream approaches the abstract sophistication found in golden-age musical cinema.
Musical and Narrative Limitations
Despite being lavishly arranged, a lot of the score is too bland both in melody and lyrics. Instead of studding songs at pivotal points in the plot, Spurrier douses the film with them, apparently trying to mask a somewhat weak storyline. Only during the beginning and conclusion – with the tragedy of Lek's mother and when her hope falters in Bangkok – is there sufficient hardship to offset an overly straightforward and sweet narrative arc.
Fleeting hints of gentle social commentary, such as when Lek's stroke of luck attracts greedy locals swarming her, are unlikely to satisfy more mature viewers. Young children might embrace the pervasive optimism, the foreign backdrop fails to disguise a underlying sense of blandness.
