A Christmas Carol - Movie Review (2009)

There is no better way to get in the Christmas spirit than with a Christmas classic. This year’s classic movie revives the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and the three Ghosts of Christmas, and tells it in an animated, 3D approach. The result is “A Christmas Carol”.

The 2009 film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel tells the well known story of the stingy moneylender Scrooge, who in his bitterness refuses the joy of Christmas. As a punishment for all his deeds on Christmas Eve he receives the visit of three ghosts, of Christmas Past, Christmas Presents and Christmas Yet To Come, which are going to make him reconsider his way of living.

Although many movies have told the same story over and over again, the peculiarity of this film stands in the focus on the fantastical elements. The producer Robert Zemeckis, known especially for his work in the “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf”, uses the performance capture technique to translate the movements and expressions of live actors into fantastic images. The result is a Disney animation with a realistic, almost caricatural touch, which at times becomes kind of scary.

The location of the entire Christmas story is set in the 19th century London, which is depicted in an authentic, yet fantastical way, with the help of the 3D technique. The effect is most present when Scrooge sits together with the jolly Ghost of Christmas Present in a sort of glass-bottomed boat, and goes around London to see how others celebrate Christmas.

Even if the special effects play an important part in the making of this movie, I have to admit that the voice of Jim Carrey (the main actor) gives a certain charm to all eight characters he plays, but especially to Scrooge. Apart from Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins and Cary Elws also voice some other characters.

Although this new approach of “A Christmas Carol” brought the movie a lot of critiques, especially saying that the presence of the performance capture technique made the film to resemble more a videogame than an animation, the movie succeeds to be appealing both to adults and children, and to offer each one of them a large mix of emotions: starting with enthusiasm and joy and ending in scare.

Zemeckis, who is both the producer and the writer of the screenplay, succeeds to remain faithful to the original text, and at the same time to give it a new glow, in spite of excessive interpretations in 166 years of existence.

The snowflakes that float in front of your eyes, that make you want to touch them, the glorious Victorian cityscape and the 3D technique transform the newest Disney production - “A Christmas Carol” into a fantastical experience which you don’t want to miss.

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