The Giver

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The Giver

Post by ShyViolet » March 24th, 2014, 3:38 pm

Movie trailer finally out:

You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Re: The Giver

Post by Ben » March 24th, 2014, 4:01 pm

Don't think I have heard of this...and can't say I'm going to be too bothered to see it. What's the pull here, Vi? :)

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Re: The Giver

Post by ShyViolet » March 24th, 2014, 4:03 pm

It is based on an amazing children's book...but adults have read it too. Looks like they changed some things, but according to what I've heard the author is happy with it because the "spirit" of the book has been preserved. I have to say I'm curious about how the book was adapted. :)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Giver-Lois-Lo ... =the+giver
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Re: The Giver

Post by EricJ » March 25th, 2014, 3:25 pm

Ben wrote:Don't think I have heard of this...and can't say I'm going to be too bothered to see it. What's the pull here, Vi? :)
It was arguably the FIRST "Teen dystopia" novel of the 80's, and one of the more "legendary" of the Newbery Award books that every US kid was forced to read in fourth through sixth grade.

I say "the first", because we all know what came after, and so do the producers, it sure as heck looks like. It's been in "What to do with this classic?" limbo forever, and....not hard to guess they figured out what.
(In the book, the dystopic future is a small-town that looks like something out of The Waltons, gray muted colors and no extreme/unpleasant emotions, and, unlike the movie, nobody had a crossbow or a cool Frank Lloyd Wright apartment.)

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Re: The Giver

Post by James » March 25th, 2014, 8:39 pm

Eric is right on. Most people will see this trailer and think it is a "me too" reaction to Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent, but those guys just got their movies out first.

The Giver was first by a mile. But they might fall victim to John Carter's fate.

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Re: The Giver

Post by EricJ » March 27th, 2014, 12:53 am

It's from Walden Media, whose heart is sometimes in the right place about adapting children's classics, but...sometimes, like The Dark Is Rising, they try a little TOO hard to take out the "complicated" stuff for modern audiences, and end up losing the complete literary author conceit of the book.

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Re: The Giver

Post by ShyViolet » March 27th, 2014, 11:01 am

Yes, I can't believe they made Jonas like 16 or 17! :( I guess it's easier portraying a teenager dealing with all those issues rather than a 12-year-old, but still. In my opinion that violates much of the book's spirit because the ceremony is the Ceremony of twelve.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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