"Dream Giant" records the feeling of seeing the world from the perspective of a child. Their ideal age is between 5 and 9, and kids ask basic, very practical questions at this time, such as stories told by adults before bedtime, such as "Are Sophie's glasses okay?" ”
Stills from the movie "Dream Giant"
Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is the heroine of Steven Spielberg's film Dream Giant, based on Roald Dahl's novel. The story is about a London orphan who is kidnapped by the Well-Meaning Giant (Mark Reirance) and taken to the Land of The Giants. The good-eyed giant is indeed friendly, or confused, and a little sad, but the nature is good. But there are other giants here, they are terrible and stupid bullies, their size is much taller than the good-eyed giants, just as he is taller than Sophie. They like to eat people, calling people "human beans", or simply "beans".
When Sophie dodged the big giants, and they were looking for her, the first thing the well-meaning eye giants did was find Sophie's glasses and hide them in their pockets. He did so that the larger giants could not see them or know that he was hiding a child, but there was a more basic motive: to prevent being crushed.
"Did you take my glasses?" Later in the film, in another action scene, she asks him. "Of course," he said.
The film is full of meaningful gestures. Like the good-eyed giant, he cares about the little things, and the grace of his actions obscures his gimmickiness. It's a film about dreams and storytelling, parenthood and childhood, nostalgia and realism, and the necessity of holding on to yourself even when you know you're not going to win. But most importantly, it's a movie about two unlikely friends.
There is a bit of a plot, mainly about how the well-meaning giant deals with the real giants who intimidate him and call him "the dwarf". These things settle quickly, as if the story realizes it's not too early and the kids need to go to bed. The film is more interested in the interaction between Giants and Sophie than twists and turns.
It's a film that stops and lets the characters tell each other a story, telling a dream by casting shadows on the walls. There are some spooky jokes, but unlike most movie jokes, they are not vulgar and desperate. They delight in the peculiar way roald Dahl doesn't show up when the scene needs to be refueled, and the film patiently shows them that it's best to have the kids sit in chairs and wait for the first clap.
I can imagine some adults who would find the movie boring, "Nothing happened," they would say. But imagine other adults who enjoyed the movie because it helped them recall what it was like to "dodge monsters" when they were younger, because it was big and weird, and then laughed because it was a little silly, or wished the conversation between the well-meaning giant and Sophie would last longer, because the giant's voice was funny and the way he walked was funny (he raised his legs as if the legs were heavier than they really were, as if he were a real giant, not a short man).
The giant kept the dreams in the jar, some good, some terrible, and he didn't want Sophie to experience those terrible dreams, not because there were monsters in them, but because the monsters would say something hurtful to the dreamer. Giants can be lyrical and inspiring, especially when he talks about how much he loves the land and tries to listen to it. "The most interesting story I've heard is from the trees themselves," he told Sophie, because that's the whisper of all the secrets in the world, though most of the time he misuses some words.
The meaning of this film is not exact, it is changing, it will change according to specific situations. This means that the giant may be an adult who brings a child into his world, and he is afraid that the child will die because of what he does or does not do. But he could also be a child who had Sophie mother, a child forced to grow up too fast.
From a distance, this faltering, silver-haired, well-meaning giant often conjures up images of a doting but absent-minded grandfather. In the land of giants, larger giants wander around like irresponsible, narrow-minded, moody parents who don't know how to give or receive love because they never learned it.
Most of the scenes in "Dream Giant" unfold slowly, with Sophie and the well-meaning giant talking like friends. Some scenes feature John Williams' "Isn't this a fantastic adventure?" The music, which slightly dampened the audience's curiosity, but the other songs were very quiet and you could hear the flapping of insects and the sound of the wind blowing through the grass.
In action scenes, Spielberg doesn't use quick cuts to catch your eye, he arranges a lot of dialogue in long shots and places the cameras farther away in order to give you a better appreciation of how the characters move through the frame, how they move themselves, and what their hands do. Close-ups are rarely used to amplify emotional moments or convey jokes in comedy, such as when a giant eats a meal prepared by humans, and Spielberg cuts a shot of the tools provided by humans.
Every few seconds, a cheerful image appears, such as a giant sneaking out of London at night, hiding Sophie in his bag, camouflaging himself with his wit and the wings of his long coat, pretending to be the silhouette of a tree; leaning back in the reflection of a building while covering a street lamp with his hand. Spielberg had a keen eye for bold images: the giant's reflection seemed to stand upside down on the shore of the lake he had just jumped into; the larger giant held up a human-sized umbrella to cover the rain; the well-meaning giant was striding through a "door" that marked the border of the giant's kingdom; a zigzag rock, like a swimmer's elbow.
All in all, it's a movie full of humor, kindness, tears, and courage.