Roald Dahl’s children’s fantasy stories have been enjoyed by children and adults alike. Several of them have been made into successful films, regarded as cinema classics. Now The BFG, written by Dahl in 1982, has been adapted for the big screen by Steven Spielberg. The pressure is on Spielberg to make a convincing interpretation of this much-loved book. Does his film carry the story’s essence and nuance?
Events are set in London in a bygone era. Ten year old orphan Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), is snatched from an orphanage at nightime, during ‘the witching hour’, by a mysterious Giant (Mark Rylance). She's carried back to his cave far away in Giant country.
Sophie later learns that the Giant is friendly. She refers to him as the Big Friendly Giant (the BFG) and much to Sophie's relief he’s a vegetarian, so she doesn’t get fried up for his breakfast. But we hear that the other nine giants in Giant Country eat ‘human beans’, and go on nightly, murderous hunting expeditions.
The BFG gradually confides in Sophie: he’s able to catch dreams. They develop a rapport which involves some lengthy dialogue. This is quite slow-paced in places and probably won’t appeal to fans of action movies. The film gathers momentum again when they devise a plan to stop the other giants from snatching children. Their plan employs the BFG’s dreamcatching and mixing skills. They also need extra help from the Queen of England.
The sequence in Dream Country, with the dreams depicted as glowing, wispy fireworks is a highlight. So is the anarchic breakfast scene in Buckingham Palace featuring an excellent turn by Penelope Wilton (of Downton Abbey) as the Queen. There's lots of attention to detail here, and I couldn't help but notice the BFG's sandals from the outset. These were chosen for the giant by Dahl, instead of boots. Dahl's story is brought to life to great effect, based on Quentin Blake’s splendid illustrations of his work. We're given a view inside the BFG’s cave, ramshackle but cosy. Here the luminous dreams are stored in individual glass jars, stacked in rows in a large medicine cabinet.
I think Spielberg has decided to play it safe though, in terms of the giants and their cartoonish representation. They seem whimsical rather than menacing, except perhaps for their leader, the Bloodbottler. Equally, Mark Rylance has perfected the Giant’s endearing manner of speaking. But his version of the BFG could be more acerbic, like in the book.
The BFG is heartwarming and enjoyable enough, capturing the gist of the story in its attention to detail. But it’s a bit bland. It lacks the unsettling core always at the centre of Roald Dahl’s work. Things are compounded further by a rather syrupy ending.
However, the film is likely to reach a wide audience. And this will hopefully encourage even more people to read the book; a bittersweet feat of the imagination.