The Christmas Dream Musical Analysis: Thailand's First Musical in Decades 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 offers up a curious mixture of modern and traditional elements. The film serves as a modern-day rags-to-riches tale that journeys from the northern highlands to the bustling capital of Bangkok, adorned with vintage, vibrant visuals and plenty of emotionally rich musical highlights. The music and lyrics are the work of Spurrier, set to an symphonic soundtrack from Mickey Wongsathapornpat.
An Odyssey of Innocence and Ethics
Exhibiting a Michelle Yeoh-like resolve but in a much smaller frame, Amata Masmalai takes on the role of Lek, a ten-year-old schoolgirl. She is compelled to flee after her abusive stepfather Nin (played by Vithaya Pansringarm) fatally assaults her mother. Venturing forth with only her one-legged doll Bella for company, 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 cast of picaresque characters who test her resolve, among them a pampered rich girl desperately seeking a companion and a quack doctor peddling dubious remedies.
The director's love of the song-and-dance format is plain to see – or, to be precise, it is gloriously evident. The early countryside sequences especially bottle the ruddy glow reminiscent of The Sound of Music.
Visual and Choreographic Flair
The choreography often possesses a quickstep visual energy. 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 found in golden-age musical cinema.
Musical and Narrative Shortcomings
Despite being lavishly orchestrated, a lot of the music is excessively 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 underdeveloped narrative. Only during the start and finish – with the mother's death and when her spirits wane in Bangkok – is there sufficient hardship to offset an overly simple and saccharine journey.
Fleeting hints of mild class satire, such as when Lek's stroke of luck has greedy locals swarming her, are hardly enough for older audiences. Young children might embrace the pervasive optimism, the foreign backdrop fails to disguise a underlying sense of blandness.
