After the tragic death of her first love, Lek’s mother found herself an unmarried mother, so she accepted Nin’s marriage proposal. In retrospect, that was a mistake, because the old abuse drunkard insists on drinking away any money she makes. When he raises his fist towards Lek, her mother dies protecting her. Wisely, escapes under the cover of night, carrying the only Christmas present she ever received: a one-legged hand-me-down doll, given to her by her school teacher.
For a vividly colorful movie-musical that takes clear audio and visual inspiration from Rogers-and-Hammerstein classics, Dream! veers into some surprisingly dark territory. As orphans go, Lek is especially piteous and vulnerable—and she isn’t even truly an orphan. Maybe she would be better off if she were. Nevertheless, as she treks through the strikingly scenic Thai countryside, her honesty teaches much needed lessons to many of the people she encounters.
For a while, the grotesquely entitled Namwaan “adopts” Lek as her first “friend,” but the younger girl shrewdly recognizes the spoiled princess really wants another servant. She later joins forces with a modern medicine man, until she discovers the truth of his snake oil scam.
In fact, Dream! is an incredible earnest musical fable deeply concerned with virtue and morality. However, the constant one-darned-thing-after-another rained down on poor little Lek starts to feel punishing, both for viewers and for her. Indeed, most audiences will emotionally invest in her, quickly and deeply. We and her just need more respite from the cruel travails of the world. The two-hour twenty-minute-plus running time will also challenge younger viewers.
Nevertheless, older patrons who share a nostalgia for the grand old movie-musical will appreciate the films bigness, starting with its throwback widescreen CinemaScope aspect-ratio. Mickey Wongsathapornpat’s score also sounds huge, in a show-stopper kind of way, but it could have used more intimate ballads for variety. However, the natural grandeur of the Thai landscape is often stunningly cinematic.
Ironically, genre film fans will recognize several cast-members, especially Vithaya Pansingarm, from A Prayer Before Dawn and Mechanic: Resurrection (among many others), who is both frighteningly nasty and sadly pathetic as abusive Nin. Many might also remember Sahajak Boonthanakit co-starring with Pansingarm in Mayhem! and Only God Forgives. This time around he plays a relatively good guy, Namwaan’s father, who appreciates Lek’s heartfelt decency, but maybe lacks the conviction to do something about it.
Spurrier’s ambition is impressive and his success at realizing a defiantly old-fashioned widescreen musical is even more so. The passion comes through on every frame, but a more forceful editor should have pruned it somewhat and toned down some its darker moments. Recommended for nostalgic fans of big-screen musicals, Dream! screens today (8/10) at this year’s RIFF.
