The Giver is a 2014 American social science fiction film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the 1993 novel of same name by Lois Lowry. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgård, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes, Taylor Swift, Cameron Monaghan and Emma Tremblay. It was released in the United States on August 15, 2014.
Movie Details:Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Produced by: Jeff Bridges, Neil Koenigsberg, Nikki Silver
Screenplay by: Michael Mitnick, Robert B. Weide
Based on: The Giver by Lois Lowry
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgård, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes, Taylor Swift, Cameron Monaghan, Emma Tremblay
Music by: Marco Beltrami
Cinematography: Ross Emery
Edited by: Barry Alexander Brown
Production company: Walden Media
Distributed by: The Weinstein Company
Release date(s): August 11, 2014 (Ziegfeld Theatre), August 15, 2014 (United States)
Running time: 94 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $25–30 million
Box office: $12,305,016
Source:wikipedia n IMDB
Plot: The setting is a utopian society where in the year 2048, after a big war, "the community" had decided to get rid of colors, therefore different races, and feelings, such as love and anger, because they felt that they only caused conflict. In their community, everything is about sameness, thus there is no money or social status, everyone owns the same things, and everyone lives in a same sized house. They are ruled by 12 politicians called the Elders. Children are part of a family unit including one male and one female child, and adults may be part of one if they chose to. The children are not actually born to the couple they call parents; there are birthmothers to breed the children. There are ceremonies each year to celebrate the age of a child, culminating at age 16 with the "Ceremony of Growth", where children are assigned jobs en mass. Jonas, the main character, is part of a family unit with "Mom" and "Dad" and his sister, Lily. His mother works with the Justice Center, and his father with the Nurturing Center, whose staff helps take care of babies after they are born. As they are eating dinner, Jonas admits that he is terrified by the approach of his Ceremony of Growth, and his parents reassure him in response. At the ceremony, Jonas’s close friends, Asher and Fiona, are assigned the jobs as Drone Pilot and Nurturer. Jonas is initially confused because the president of this "utopian" nation, the Chief Elder, skipped over him. At the closing of the ceremony, however, he is informed that he was selected for an important job, the Receiver of Memory. Because all the memories from before the citizens, who are known as "The Community," are all erased from their minds, as the Receiver of Memory, Jonas, must receive the only memories of before from the past receiver, The Giver. The Receiver of Memory is the only individual in the community who has the memories and must advise the Chief Elders on the decisions for the community, who are unaware of anything that happened before their community. Jonas progressively receives memories, eventually including knowledge of the Giver’s past and of his child, Rosemary. She preceded Jonas as Receiver of Memory, and was so distraught from the memories that she committed suicide, by what the Community call releasing. They regard its nature as mysterious; the audience learn that it is death via a lethal injection. Jonas begins to teach his findings to his friend, Fiona, who he decides to share the idea of feelings with. Fiona is unsure of how she feels about feelings, but they kiss while together privately.Jonas also shares his memories to the baby his father brought home to their house, Gabe, and develops a close relationship to him. Jonas decides that everyone should have the memories of the past and eventually, the Giver and Jonas decide that the only way they can help the community is to go past the border of what they call Elsewhere, beyond the community, therefore releasing the memories back into the community. Jonas sneaks out at curfew, and decides to get Gabe at the Nurturing Center, who is to be released of weakness. Asher tries to stop him before he leaves the neighborhood, but Jonas quickly punches him. Asher lays on the ground, stunned, and Jonas rides his bike to the Nurturing Center. He tells Fiona his plan and wants to take her with him, but she refuses and instead helps him retrieve Gabe. Before he leaves, he kisses her on the lips and she helps him escape.Jonas’s mother and Asher, meanwhile, go to the Chief Elder to tell them Jonas is missing. Guards are sent to contain Jonas, who they say has become “Dangerous,” but Jonas gets one of their motorcycles and drives off the cliff near the Giver’s dwelling into “The Elsewhere." His friend Asher is assigned, by the Chief Elder, to use a pod to find Jonas and kill him but when Asher finds Jonas stumbling through the woods, he captures him with the pod, throws him to a river, and lets him go. Jonas stumbles through the land of Elsewhere, while Fiona has been condemned to be released for helping him. Just as she is about to be released by Jonas’s father, the Giver steps in and stalls the Chief Elder with memories of his daughter, Rosemary, trying to call out the Chief Elder in which she succeeded. Eventually, Jonas stumbles past the border of Elsewhere, just in time, thus releasing memories back into the community, color, and saving Fiona because Jonas's father realizes what he was really doing. Jonas and Gabe find a house where people are singing Christmas carols, and his voiceover says that back in the community, he swears he hears music too, or maybe just an echo.
