The True Meaning of Yuletide

When writing a review, wherein one expresses one's own opinion with full expectation that others will have their own, the following is probably a ridiculous statement, but I'll make it anyway: This is, unarguably, the best rendition of A Christmas Carol yet produced for film.

Aside from fabulous casting (Scott is not merely believable but fully into the character of Scrooge from start to finish, and I've more comments for the rest as I continue), the feel of this film is as close to perfect as one can get for a production originally intended for television. The vast majority of dialog is lifted directly from the novel. The costuming and set decoration is impeccable, as are the delivery and demeanor of every actor within the camera's eye. And perhaps most important of all, this film doesn't forget that this is, above all, a ghost story.

Dickens was writing a tale about a man's spiritual redemption, and this central theme has been taken up by the hue and cry of lame-spirited Christians everywhere as the triumph of "God" over the evils of greed, coldness, and so forth. However, not only is that simplistic interpretation so wide of the mark as to be laughable, but the actual focus of the tale is a ghost story -- the haunting of a man by his past and the perception of his future should he not veer from the course which that past has charted for him.

The value of Dickens' story lies chiefly in the fact that it is not a Christian story. He uses the convention of "Christmas Day" because it was easier than trying to explain the actual bases of the spiritual concepts which the Christians usurped and made mock of. If you'll notice closely, Jesus and Christianity are not mentioned anywhere in the whole story; they are, in fact, irrelevant. The three ghosts are not plenipotentiaries of some Christian god, but are in fact the spiritual essences of the season, the solstice, the worldly and natural that has been here since time immemorial.

Witness not only Dickens' original description, but also the presentation of the Ghost of Christmas Present, as brilliantly portrayed by Edward Woodward. The giant with the capacious breast, seated upon a throne made of turkeys, geese, food of all kinds, an abundance of holly, evergreen, and more -- this is clearly a nature spirit patterned in part after the Green Man of Druid lore. The life-span is brief, we are told -- from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night -- but these, too, are from the old pagan calendars (solstice or saturnalia through the first fortnight of the new year that was measured from the solstice).

Note also that there is a singular absence from the Christian morality play: There is no vengeance. Were this truly written to Christian morals ("I’d like Oxymora for $500, Alex"), then the soul of Marley would be seeking vengeance, or the spirits would be seeking vengeance, or those who survived Scrooge in the "possible future" would be seeking vengeance or at least gloating over his death. Instead, Scrooge is entirely at the mercy of his own imbalance, and the ghosts are the ones who seek to change his behavior back into a natural balance. That's very Native American, or pagan, or nature-worship, or whatever you please, but it most certainly isn't pretentious Christianity.

Still, even if you must suffer under the delusion of Christianity as the driving force of the story, you won't find a better presentation of the deliverance of Scrooge than this production. Of particular note, apart from our brilliant lead of George C. Scott, is David Warner -- who plays Bob Cratchit with a strange combination of sympathetic wimpiness and long-suffering benevolence of spirit, even toward Scrooge. Warner, who has played victim, villain, and everything in-between, has yet to give an unsatisfactory performance in anything, and this production is no exception.

I've mentioned Woodward earlier, but more as his character than as performer. First coming to my attention in the TV series The Equalizer (which was superlative in every respect), Woodward always provides fascinating portrayals. As the giant Ghost of Christmas Present, he brings a kind of madness wrought from mirth, a bordering on joyous hysteria that makes him my vote for planetary monarch, effective immediately. I always wait, most eagerly, for his appearance in the show.

I suppose one should save all of the WinterFest ravings for It's a Wonderful Life, but I'd rather watch this one every year instead. Somewhere during my WinterFest season, this one simply has to be included. There is only one possibility of this production being usurped. I've waited many long years for Patrick Stewart to bring his brilliant interpretation to the screen, and it's finally happened -- directed by David Jones, and only recently released. When I see it, I'll have to make a choice between the two -- but I note that it has taken 16 years for a "pretender" to attack this particular throne.