meet the richest man in the world
James Stewart: Capra's muse, our Everyman
... he just doesn't know it yet ...
Frank Capra's 1946 film is considered a classic feel-good tale, but there is much, much more to it than jolly yuletide fun. See it this Christmas with fresh eyes.
Bedford Falls, USA. George Bailey - husband, father, son, brother, friend and neighbour - sprints down Main Street through the falling snow, hollering "Merry Christmas" all the way. It's an iconic scene from a classic Christmas movie.
Screening in First Look in a newly-restored print, Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is often classified as the definitive feel-good film, even topping the American Film Institute's list of "100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time".
But its festive cheer is tinged with a cynic's view of the American Dream: Mr Potter (Lionel Barrymore) is the wealthiest man in Bedford Falls but he's also the "meanest", abusing his power for selfish ends. And the film's idealistic hero George Bailey (James Stewart) lives a life marked by personal sacrifice, surrender and compromise.
He's a big-time dreamer who wants to shake "the dust of this crummy town" off his feet, but he's thwarted at every turn, and becomes a beaten, frustrated and resentful man (as a dreamy youth George offers to "lasso the moon" for his sweetheart Mary, but when he later finds himself ensconced in domesticity he asks her despairingly, "You call this a happy family? Why do we have to have all these kids?")
Only America's favourite everyman James Stewart could have portrayed the part of George so poignantly; he's so believable that you can't help but empathise with his pain, and ultimately his joy. As Stewart himself once said, George is just "an ordinary man who discovers that living each day honourably can make for a truly wonderful life".
It's a Wonderful Life is screening from Monday 15 December until Tuesday 23 December. For the session details click here
Published Thursday, 11 December 2008
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