It's a Wonderful Life, is a classic Film Noir Christmas movie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Jimmy Stewart. Often compared to Dickens' Christmas Carol, and Poe's 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', this mesmerizing movie follows James Stewart, as George Bailey, a savings and loans manager who contemplates taking his own life, after apparently accidentally killing the avaricious board member, Henry Potter, who owns the bank. As he stands on a snowy bridge looking into a dark, turbulent river, a mysterious angel (fallen?) shows him a twisted path to redemption. Part surreal nightmare, rivalling, 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari', and part manhunt, reminiscent of 'M', the angel leads George through time and memory, revealing how the banker actually died.
With new resolve, George seeks a new beginning as the Christmas bells ring, only to awaken once again at the snow covered bridge to realize it is the banker who is preparing to dispose of George's body, having believed he had killed Bailey. As their eyes lock, bells and a heavenly choir are heard, along with police sirens.
A true Christmas classic that is both chillingly macabre, and full of the warmth of Christmas' promise of hope and redemption. It is seen as the first Neo-Expressionistic Noir movie, establishing a host of others films, both seasonal and wider, done in this genre - 'Elf' (directed and written by David Lynch, starring Will Ferrell) owes much to the classic, while being fresh and innovative in its use of comedy.
It's a Wonderful Life, something to watch after the kids are snug in their beds fast asleep, as you and your loved ones contemplate the Christmas season and rabid consumerism.
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Of Bookish Things
Mr. Pataphor, Dadaist Dad