The Christmas Dream Musical Analysis: The Kingdom's First Musical in Half a Century Is Big On Sentimental Spectacle.
Hailed as the initial musical production from Thailand in five decades, The Christmas Dream comes under the direction of Englishman Paul Spurrier and presents a fascinating blend of the contemporary and the classic. It functions as a modern-day rags-to-riches tale that journeys from the northern highlands to the urban sprawl of Bangkok, adorned with old-school Technicolor aesthetics and an abundance of emotionally rich musical highlights. Its songs are the work of Spurrier, accompanied by an orchestral score composed by Mickey Wongsathapornpat.
An Odyssey of Innocence and Ethics
Portrayed with a Michelle Yeoh-like resolve but in a more diminutive frame, young actress Amata Masmalai takes on the role of Lek, a pre-teen schoolgirl. She is forced to escape after her abusive stepfather Nin (portrayed by Vithaya Pansringarm) brutally kills her mother. Venturing forth with only her disabled toy Bella for companionship, Lek relies on a unyielding sense of right and wrong, directed toward a new home by the spirit of her deceased mother. Her quest is populated by a cast of picaresque companions who challenge her principles, among them a pampered rich girl desperately seeking a true friend and a charlatan physician hawking questionable remedies.
Spurrier's affection for the musical genre is plain to see – or, to be precise, it is gloriously evident. Initial rural sequences especially bottle the ruddy glow reminiscent of The Sound of Music.
Visual and Choreographic Pizzazz
The dance routines frequently has a lively snap and pace. A particular standout breaks out on a financial district campus, which serves as Lek's first taste of the Bangkok corporate grind. Featuring suited professionals tumbling in and out of a great mechanical cortege, this represents the one instance where The Christmas Dream approaches the abstract sophistication characteristic of classic era musical cinema.
Musical and Narrative Limitations
Despite being lavishly orchestrated, a lot of the music is excessively anodyne both in melody and lyrics. Instead of strategically placing songs at pivotal points in the plot, Spurrier douses the film with them, apparently overcompensating for a underdeveloped storyline. Substantial adversity is present solely at the start and finish – with the mother's death and when her hope falters in Bangkok – is there sufficient hardship to offset an otherwise simple and saccharine narrative arc.
Brief glimmers of gentle class satire, such as when Lek's sudden good fortune has greedy locals crawling all over her, are unlikely to satisfy older viewers. Young children could buy into the general optimism, the exotic setting cannot conceal a underlying narrative blandness.
