The Christmas Dream Musical Review: Thailand's First Musical in Decades Delivers a Heavy Dose of Heartfelt Pageantry.
Hailed as the initial musical production from Thailand in half a century, The Christmas Dream comes under the direction of British filmmaker Paul Spurrier and presents a fascinating blend of the contemporary and the classic. It functions as a contemporary Oliver Twist that travels from the hills of the north to the bustling capital of Bangkok, featuring old-school Technicolor visuals and an abundance of heartstring-tugging musical highlights. Its songs are the work of Spurrier, set to an symphonic soundtrack composed by Mickey Wongsathapornpat.
An Odyssey of Innocence and Ethics
Exhibiting a steely determination but in a much smaller package, young actress Amata Masmalai plays Lek, a ten-year-old schoolgirl. She is compelled to flee after her abusive stepfather Nin (played by Vithaya Pansringarm) fatally assaults her mother. Setting out with only her one-legged doll Bella for companionship, Lek relies on a strong moral compass, directed toward a better life by the ghost of her deceased mother. Her quest is populated by a series of picaresque characters who test her resolve, among them a spoiled rich girl in dire need of a companion and a quack doctor hawking questionable remedies.
The director's love of the song-and-dance format is plain to see – or, to be precise, it is resplendent. Initial rural sequences in particular bottle the ruddy glow reminiscent of The Sound of Music.
Visual and Choreographic Flair
The choreography often possesses a lively snap and pace. A particular standout erupts on a corporate business park, which serves as Lek's first taste of the Bangkok corporate grind. With suited professionals cartwheeling in and out of a large clockwork cortege, this stands as the one instance where The Christmas Dream approaches the abstract sophistication characteristic of golden-age musical cinema.
Story and Song Shortcomings
Although richly orchestrated, much of the score is too anodyne both in melody and lyrics. Instead of strategically placing songs at pivotal points in the plot, Spurrier douses the film with them, seemingly trying to mask a somewhat weak narrative. Only during the start and finish – with the mother's death and when her spirits wane in Bangkok – is there sufficient challenge to offset an overly straightforward and saccharine narrative arc.
Brief hints of mild class satire, such as when Lek's stroke of luck has greedy locals crawling all over her, are unlikely to satisfy older audiences. While could buy into the pervasive positive outlook, the foreign backdrop fails to disguise a underlying sense of blandness.
