A Christmas Carol

Charles dickens classic tale is ultimately the greatest Christmas story ever told but this is absolute dross

I give it 2 stars purely on the premise as it's a good idea in principle but it just doesn't work. Characters with no dialogue, a switching between animation and real time actors. There's also a bizarre dance thing happening which I have no explanation of and nothing new in that department. It just ruins the classic tale. For a better version see Albert finney, Patrick Stewart, alistair sim or George c Scott's version. All much better takes and far closer to the story. As for this just avoid at all costs.

A Christmas Carol is a 2020 British Christmas drama dance film directed by Jacqui Morris and David Morris and based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol 🎄

Meh, it passed the time.

Just. 😐 👍🏼👎🏼

I am a professional dancer, choreographer, and designer. This production is glorious, original, delicate, sensitive, and a total surprise. To hear the book, read by Sian Phillips, as the dance accompaniment, enhanced by an original score, was sublime. This is a beautiful and wonderfully creative telling of the much abused but loved Christmas Carol. It, unlike most every other production, is not bombastic or over produced. To hear Dickens' words, and not someone's idea of what they should be, spoken by the wonderful voice of Sian Phillips, is a rare treat. Granted, it takes a minute to get into it seeing that I is completely choreographed, but trust me, it's a treat!

Some rough reviews on here, and if you are looking for Jim Carrey's version, this will assuredly not check the boxes for you. This is the most faithful adaptation, dialogue wise, that I've seen, and I've seen most film and tv versions. True to the book almost entirely, it is more demanding in that respect.

Creatively, the dance paired with overlayed dialogue is an extremely compelling way to keep the story fresh. There have been many similar versions over the years, and a few wildly divisive ones (the 2019 FX version, for example), so a reset that stays true to the source material is a nice change of pace.

Lastly, Andy Serkis version of Marley is the creepiest I've seen. The fluid movements of the dancer and his vocal representation really nailed the horrific nature of the role in a way that I imagine Dickens wanted to convey.

Dance, animation and a pretty accurate usage of the words from the book.

The dance is elegant, delicate, wonderfully lit and excellently filmed....like watching a ballet on stage.

The narration and voices of the characters is thoughtful and engaging.

Set on an imaginary stage in a family house with the matriarch narrating the story, the performance takes the audience into the house/set built by the children in the opening scene. And from there, the detailing begins.

It's not a busy production. For that, watch the Disney one or The Muppets...But if you want a more authentic feeling production, as if enjoying a production in a musty Victorian theatre, then this is simply gorgeous.