A Christmas CArol (1984)It should come as no great surprise that A Christmas Carol has been made and remade in various incarnations over the near entirety of motion picture history. The tale is a classic by beloved writer Charles Dickens, a literary titan of his age, immortalized in the English canon for his contributions--the best known is "A Christmas Carol". Though the tale may be familiar to most, it is about the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his Christmas Eve visitation by the ghost of his partner Jacob Marley and three spirits, who expose his selfishness to him and enlighten him with charity and kindness, reclaiming him from doom.
|
|
When A Christmas Carol was released, it was done for television in 1984, airing a little over a week before Christmas on CBS. At the time that the film was released, "made-for-TV" movies were rarely of as great of substance as this film was, not to mention the comparatively good production values and an astonishingly talented cast of actors. The film depicts 19th-century London in a very realistic way, avoiding artificial-looking sets and costumes in lieu of convincing and appropriate attire and locales. The result is a film which is genuine, giving weight to the dire circumstances that the less well-off endure, a trait more in keeping with other works by Dickens. I would argue that George C. Scott delivers the definitive portrayal of Scrooge, primarily because his take on the cold-hearted businessman avoids undue ornamentation and superfluous gestures. Scott delivers a portrayal of a man who is proud, but not content; vain, but not fashionable. He is far from unkempt, but he is his business, and doesn't stoop to waste his time on matters that do not concern him--or matters he wishes to avoid. Take the scene we are treated to when he rather unethically twists his exchange colleagues into buying his corn at a surcharge: it reveals him as canny, shrewd--and he takes more pride in his business acumen than practically anything else. As Scrooge, George C. Scott exhibits masterful control of when and how to show his indignation, his fear at having his actions exposed before him. His initial response is anger and frustration at having to relive the mistakes of his youth (primarily with Belle), the repercussions of his stinginess and ill-humor upon the Cratchets, his nephew, Fred, and even a family living in an economy that fosters his kind of odious greed, and the shadow of things yet to come...and how meaningless his life has been. Scott's range from a quiet tiger to that of a raging storm shows how Scrooge yearns in his long-neglected heart to shake free from the shackles of his fear--that fear to live and love again.
And it is often forgot that A Christmas Carol is also a ghost story; to remind us of this, our narrator (who also plays Fred, Roger Rees) informs us that Jacob Marley (Frank Finlay) has been "dead as a door nail" for seven years. So when Scrooge retires to his gloomy sanctum on Christmas Even for a bowl of lukewarm gruel, and the manifestation of Marley's face appears on his door knocker, then his fireplace, unlocks his triple-locked door from outside and strides in, the ghastly sounds of wails of the damned accompanying his undead gait...well, it's a chilling entrance to say the least. As horrifying as it is for ghosts to trespass into your home, the fear is part of the necessary treatment that will be administered to the skeptical miser--for without it, there would be no weight to the proclamation that Ebenezer is, in fact, doomed. That fear of death is the great terror that Ebenezer dreads. Though he does not seem to actually enjoy living, it is clear that he has no understanding of what awaits him in the beyond. That fear--that lack of faith--has left a hollow where his heart once was, and his wealth can provide no comfort in its absence. And while most adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" do not possess any great degree of Christian iconography or espousal, the message that follows the basic premise of salvation in the afterlife is fundamentally the same between the New Testament and A Christmas Carol: that faith and love of thy fellow man is the way to "everlasting life". This is the reclamation that the spirits seek to spring forth in Ebenezer, so that he too may "receive the kingdom of Heaven as a little child", through charity and benevolence...like Tiny Tim.
Recommended for: Fans of Christmas films and historically authentic period pieces, avoiding excessive flourish, but being all the richer for the dedicated talent and outstanding performances of the production. A Christmas tradition in my household.
And it is often forgot that A Christmas Carol is also a ghost story; to remind us of this, our narrator (who also plays Fred, Roger Rees) informs us that Jacob Marley (Frank Finlay) has been "dead as a door nail" for seven years. So when Scrooge retires to his gloomy sanctum on Christmas Even for a bowl of lukewarm gruel, and the manifestation of Marley's face appears on his door knocker, then his fireplace, unlocks his triple-locked door from outside and strides in, the ghastly sounds of wails of the damned accompanying his undead gait...well, it's a chilling entrance to say the least. As horrifying as it is for ghosts to trespass into your home, the fear is part of the necessary treatment that will be administered to the skeptical miser--for without it, there would be no weight to the proclamation that Ebenezer is, in fact, doomed. That fear of death is the great terror that Ebenezer dreads. Though he does not seem to actually enjoy living, it is clear that he has no understanding of what awaits him in the beyond. That fear--that lack of faith--has left a hollow where his heart once was, and his wealth can provide no comfort in its absence. And while most adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" do not possess any great degree of Christian iconography or espousal, the message that follows the basic premise of salvation in the afterlife is fundamentally the same between the New Testament and A Christmas Carol: that faith and love of thy fellow man is the way to "everlasting life". This is the reclamation that the spirits seek to spring forth in Ebenezer, so that he too may "receive the kingdom of Heaven as a little child", through charity and benevolence...like Tiny Tim.
Recommended for: Fans of Christmas films and historically authentic period pieces, avoiding excessive flourish, but being all the richer for the dedicated talent and outstanding performances of the production. A Christmas tradition in my household.