It’s a Wonderful Life is a well-known uplifting holiday classic that is impactful both in its emotional depth and traditional cinema excellence. Filmed and released in 1946, it is a black and white film that has meaningful themes on the importance of life, and the impact one individual can have on the world. Directed by Frank Capra, it is a critically-acclaimed film that won five Academy Awards, and has often been regarded as one of the best films of all time.
It’s a Wonderful Life follows George Bailey (James Stewart) throughout his life from childhood to post-marriage. We see, through his childhood experiences, that Bailey is a good man who always puts needs of others before his own. However, he constantly stifles his own life and dreams by doing so. Later in Bailey’s life, after he’s married Mary (Donna Reed), had children and never moved out of his hometown of Bedford, he begins to breakdown. He gets into financial trouble, …show more content…
These scenes are especially well-developed and display clever choices by Capra; the camera never shows the face of God. This both serves to focus the show on George instead of a higher power, and it avoids specifics, thus drawing in many Christianity forms in its portrayal. Another example of a high-witted, entertaining scene is the gymnasium dance scene. Here, George is introduced to a friend’s sister, who is now a gorgeous young woman, and he takes her away from another man to dance. While they dance, the other man discovers that underneath the gym floor is a swimming pool. Upon seeing the couple dancing right over the break in the floor, he pulls the lever to open it up to the swimming pool. Mary and George continue dancing the lindy-hop, happy as ever, until they fall in the pool. Although hardships are to come, this scene truly solidifies that it really is a wonderful
It’s a Wonderful Life follows George Bailey (James Stewart) throughout his life from childhood to post-marriage. We see, through his childhood experiences, that Bailey is a good man who always puts needs of others before his own. However, he constantly stifles his own life and dreams by doing so. Later in Bailey’s life, after he’s married Mary (Donna Reed), had children and never moved out of his hometown of Bedford, he begins to breakdown. He gets into financial trouble, …show more content…
These scenes are especially well-developed and display clever choices by Capra; the camera never shows the face of God. This both serves to focus the show on George instead of a higher power, and it avoids specifics, thus drawing in many Christianity forms in its portrayal. Another example of a high-witted, entertaining scene is the gymnasium dance scene. Here, George is introduced to a friend’s sister, who is now a gorgeous young woman, and he takes her away from another man to dance. While they dance, the other man discovers that underneath the gym floor is a swimming pool. Upon seeing the couple dancing right over the break in the floor, he pulls the lever to open it up to the swimming pool. Mary and George continue dancing the lindy-hop, happy as ever, until they fall in the pool. Although hardships are to come, this scene truly solidifies that it really is a wonderful