It has become my unintended routine in the last few years to watch the 1935 Seymour Hick’s Scrooge as the first traditional version of A Christmas Carol in my yearly viewing smorgasbord. This year, I decided to “mix it up” a bit by watching the 2012 Irish version. The last time I included it in the annual blog was back in 2015!
2012 saw the arrival of Jason Figgis’ much anticipated adaptation of A Christmas Carol. This event also made it the first Irish version to join the ranks. Strongly promoting itself as trying to reclaim the more ghostly aspects of the Dickens classic, it proclaimed to be the most authentic and darkest version created at the time.
This version was only available to see online in 2012, originally. Pop Twist Entertainment released it on DVD almost two years later.
This is a version that had so much potential but unfortunately didn’t deliver. Whatever is good or bad, though, it is sincere in its attempt! It could have been one of the more unique versions if its concept had been fully realized by its creators. One can only wonder at what can be blamed for preventing its potential achievement. Some of the reasons are apparent in the finished product.
Despite a cast of experienced actors, most of the acting is uneven: sometimes good, sometimes flat. In addition, it uses a relatively small cast, avoiding extra actors and reducing groups. Throughout much of the film, the acting seems too subdued as if trying to present some type of forced subtlety. Who knows if this idea is the fault of the director’s vision or the actors. Vincent Fegan does well as a crotchety Scrooge but fails when he should be regretful, sad, and even happy.
Faithful with too much atmosphere
One of the successes with the film is its attempt to draw from Dickens’ text as faithfully as possible. Joining a handful of versions, Charles Dickens (Lawrence Foster) is representing the narrator.
Staying true to its traditional nature, the story opens with Scrooge (Fegan) at – and then leaving – the church for Marley’s funeral. The atmospheric rhythm is set immediately at the opening. However, the settings themselves are a part of what is wrong here. Because this was filmed in the Republic of Ireland, none of the locations look even remotely like London. They do not even look urban for that matter.
Both the exterior and interior settings appear to all be location-based, attempting authentic places of the story’s period. While the exteriors look mostly like country houses, the interiors seem to be museum-like rooms where permission was given to film. It’s almost like a lower-budget attempt at the style of authenticity in Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon. We see that Scrooge & Marley’s counting-house has unusually large, slightly ornate multiple rooms. Scrooge’s dwelling is a very well decorated and cared-for location, not at all in keeping with his character. We only see the Cratchits’ kitchen, but even in the location’s antique simplicity, it is too well-off for how poor we know that the family should be.
The Ghosts
The Ghosts are very well done; I think this is where the movie lives up to its promise. They are just spooky enough without (very thankfully) going for anything Hollywood style. The Ghost of Christmas Past has a slight reminiscence of the 1935 Seymour Hicks film; it is visually female in form but voiced by a male. We never see the Ghost’s lips move while speaking, making it effectively eerie. This Ghost first comes to Scrooge as he is laying flat on his bed and the Ghost’s face hovers over Scrooge from in back of his head – this reminds me of one of the ghosts from the Japanese movie Ju-on (The Grudge) that makes a similar appearance. When Scrooge and the Ghost of the Past are viewing the events in his life, they are in framed mirrors or pictures on the walls. I liked that innovation!
The Past scenes are where it becomes more apparent that this film is working with a minimal cast. In the Fezziwig flashback, we only see Scrooge and Dick Wilkins with Fezziwig. This adaptation decided to skip the Fezziwig party altogether. The scene with Belle is one of the most faithful from the novella. It had the potential to be one of the best scenes. But the acting is so flat that it’s almost emotionless, causing the scene to falsely feel as if it’s too drawn out (when it should not be). The scene with the later, married Belle as the “comely matron” is missing her children. It is done simply with only Belle and her husband. (This was also done in the 1977 BBC television version.)
The Ghost of Christmas Present was slightly disappointing in that his costume wasn’t as traditional as I usually expect. The number of Cratchit children has decreased, and Mrs. Cratchit is like a talking cardboard cutout! In the home of Fred and his wife, the film insists on minimalism. The scene is with only the two of them, without any gathered friends.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is very traditional but manages to convey some frightening innovation with its diseased-looking hands. In these scenes are more continuous, drab acting. These scenes also include the constant small changes that are the obvious result of using the museum-like period rooms borrowed for the filming. As the authentic period bed for Scrooge is not a four-poster and lacks bed curtains, his housekeeper steals his window curtains “rings and all” instead. The future is where the Bob Cratchit performance is well acted when crying for deceased Tiny Tim; during this, the rest of the Cratchit family seemed completely numb or stoned.
The weakest part is the reformed Scrooge. Fegan does not portray any real happiness or excitement well. While many productions are guilty of going too far during this part, the opposite is happening here.
It Scores
The most prominent thing for me is the music score. It’s hauntingly beautiful and perfectly complements the gloomy scenes when it needs to. The music has just the right amount of understated darkness without being heavy or overpowering. I was pleased to learn the music is the dual effort of one Michael Richard Plowman and Moya Brennan (Máire Ní Bhraonáin). I have always greatly enjoyed Moya as a member of the great band Clannad.
All in all, I give this a B- for effort but it’s disappointing seeing how good this version could have been but fell short.