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Zemeckis' latest cinema version of a classic tale says much about society and the banking system

IF EVER THERE was a story with resonance for our time, it must surely be Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. If Sir Fred Goodwin and his banking chums have been to see the latest incarnation of this timeless classic, they might have rushed home in their Bentleys and Mercs to start ordering turkey and writing cheques for every pensioner, underpaid worker and impoverished child in the UK, in fear of the chains that might weigh them down sooner or later.

The uneasiness felt by audiences exposed to the woes of Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, especially when viewed through the infernal discomfort of 3D spectacles, should sound a wake-up call which reverberates around our society. The timing of the release by Disney of their latest depiction of the Dickens tale – having let Mickey tell the story in 1983 and Kermit have a go in 1992 – must surely have as much to do with the times in which we find ourselves as it does with Christmas. Actually, no. This is Disney we’re talking about. To them it probably is just another Christmas movie.

The synergies are nonetheless there. Difficult times are toughest on those who have little enough to begin with (see Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim). It is clear that the banks (Scrooge) must learn from their mistakes (Ghost of Christmas Past), rethink their attitudes, practices and ethos (Present), or they will find themselves dead in the water (Future) as customers and Government’s alike desert them (Nephew Fred).

The latest telling of this simple yet powerful story – A Christmas Carol that is, not the Banking Crisis – is brought to us in a beautifully animated movie written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. With Disney’s Scrooge voiced by the rubber limbed Jim Carrey, one might be suspicious of the character becoming comical. Indeed, Scrooge is ridiculous, but not in a comic sense. His callousness and cruelty will leave many children and a few adults in tears. The film may have a PG rating, but the Over 8’s advisory is best heeded.

While visually stunning, and with the use of 3D contributing much to the whole experience, one must ask what was cut by editor Jeremiah O’Driscoll to make way for several overly-long flying and chase sequences, the sole purpose of which appeared to be showcasing the technology itself and had little to do with the story or its telling. After a while the 3D-ness of the movie enters the subconscious, the glasses become a pain and one wonders how much more is gained by the use of 3D over the normal version. Is this just the use of technology for its own sake.

When George Lucas first embarked on his Star Wars movie (confusingly starting with Episode 4), none of the technology he needed had been invented. He had a clear vision of what he wanted his movie to look like and the effects he wanted to produce, so he brought together a team that literally invented new technologies around Lucas’ vision. Industrial Light and Magic was born.

That’s innovation in practice. 3D has been around for ages, perhaps not as technically adept as now, but nonetheless it was around. In fact the makers of the fourth installment in the Jaws franchise – Jaws: The Revenge – elected to completely ignore the character development and plot from the truly dire and shamelessly named Jaws 3-D. Only a Luddite would hold that technology should not progress without purpose. Innovation stems from trial, error and experimentation. Some great inventions were stumbled upon while searching for something quite different. For example, Viagra was a compound tested while searching for a treatment for high blood pressure but had a very different effect.

But back at the movies, the use of effects and gimmicks for its own sake will ensure we have movies that, while technically brilliant, have something missing, leaving the viewer wondering what just happened? And why?

Disney’s A Christmas Carol is visually beautiful and the vocal characterisations by Carrey and his colleagues are gripping, bringing Dickens’ tale to a modern audience with extreme style. The technology is there but adds little. The moral inherent in Dickens’ original 1843 text is, however, kept intact by Zemeckis in 2009 – the human spirit can overcome all things. It is a high ideal but one to which it is worth aspiring nonetheless.

Of the shortcomings of Scrooge as an inhuman money lender who is despised and who despises all, it is perhaps a salutary lesson from which our own institutions could learn. It’s never too late to change ones ways, rethink how business is done and start afresh. Like Marley’s deathly chains and ghostly money chests, the banks must cast aside past unsavoury practices, learn how to participate and evolve in the new financial era and make sure their demons are properly exorcised. If not, Tiny Tim’s final plea may end up as “God help us, everyone.”