The Christmas Dream Musical Review: Thailand's First Stage-to-Screen Spectacle in Half a Century Delivers a Heavy Dose of Sentimental Spectacle.
Hailed as the first Thai musical in half a century, The Christmas Dream comes under the direction of Englishman Paul Spurrier and offers up a fascinating blend of modern and traditional elements. It functions as a contemporary Oliver Twist that journeys from the northern highlands to the urban sprawl of Bangkok, featuring vintage, vibrant visuals and an abundance of heartstring-tugging show-stopping numbers. The music and lyrics are crafted by Spurrier, accompanied by an symphonic soundtrack from Mickey Wongsathapornpat.
An Odyssey of Innocence and Ethics
Portrayed with a Michelle Yeoh-like determination but in a more diminutive package, Amata Masmalai plays Lek, a pre-teen schoolgirl. She is compelled to flee after her abusive stepfather Nin (portrayed by Vithaya Pansringarm) brutally kills her mother. Venturing forth with only her one-legged doll Bella for companionship, Lek relies on a unyielding sense of right and wrong, promised toward a new home by the ghost of her deceased mother. Her path is populated by a series of colorful companions who challenge her principles, including a spoiled rich girl in dire need of a companion and a quack doctor hawking questionable miracle cures.
Spurrier's affection for the musical genre is plain to see – or, more accurately, it is gloriously evident. The early countryside sequences especially bottle the ruddy glow reminiscent of The Sound of Music.
Dance and Cinematic Flair
The dance routines frequently has a lively snap and pace. A memorable highlight breaks out on a corporate business park, which serves as Lek's introduction to the Bangkok corporate grind. Featuring suited professionals cartwheeling in and out of a large mechanical procession, this stands as the singular moment where The Christmas Dream touches upon the stylized complexity characteristic of golden-age musical cinema.
Musical and Narrative Limitations
Despite being lavishly arranged, a lot of the score is too anodyne musically and lyrically. Rather than strategically placing songs at pivotal points in the plot, Spurrier saturates the film with them, seemingly overcompensating for a somewhat weak storyline. Only during the start and finish – with the tragedy of Lek's mother and when her spirits wane in Bangkok – is there sufficient hardship to balance an overly simple and sweet journey.
Fleeting hints of mild class satire, such as when Lek's stroke of luck has greedy locals swarming her, are unlikely to satisfy more mature viewers. Young children might embrace the pervasive optimism, the exotic setting cannot conceal a underlying narrative blandness.
