The Christmas Dream Musical Analysis: The Kingdom's Pioneering Musical in Half a Century Is Big On Sentimental Spectacle.
Hailed as the first Thai musical in half a century, The Christmas Dream is directed by Englishman Paul Spurrier and presents a curious blend of modern and traditional elements. It functions as a modern-day 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 the work of Spurrier, set to an symphonic soundtrack composed by Mickey Wongsathapornpat.
An Odyssey of Innocence and Ethics
Exhibiting a steely resolve but in a much smaller package, young actress Amata Masmalai plays Lek, a pre-teen schoolgirl. She is forced to escape after her violent 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 strong moral compass, directed toward a new home by the spirit of her deceased mother. Her path is peppered with a cast of picaresque companions who test her resolve, among them a spoiled rich girl in dire need of a true friend and a charlatan physician hawking dubious miracle cures.
The director's love of the song-and-dance format is abundantly clear – or, more accurately, it is resplendent. The early rural sequences in particular bottle the ruddy glow reminiscent of The Sound of Music.
Dance and Cinematic Flair
The dance routines often possesses a quickstep visual energy. A memorable highlight erupts on a financial district campus, which acts as Lek's introduction to the Bangkok rat race. Featuring suited professionals cartwheeling in and out of a large mechanical cortege, this represents the one instance where The Christmas Dream approaches the abstract sophistication found in classic era musical cinema.
Musical and Narrative Limitations
Although richly arranged, much of the music is too bland both in melody and lyrics. Instead of studding songs at key dramatic moments, Spurrier douses the film with them, apparently trying to mask a underdeveloped narrative. Only during the beginning and conclusion – with the tragedy of Lek's mother and when her hope falters in Bangkok – is there enough challenge to offset an overly straightforward and sweet narrative arc.
Brief glimmers of gentle class satire, such as when Lek's sudden good fortune attracts greedy locals crawling all over her, are hardly enough for more mature audiences. Young children might embrace the general positive outlook, the exotic backdrop fails to disguise a fundamentally narrative blandness.
