Jess and I watched this on Christmas Eve and it had been a couple of years since I've seen this movie but I've got to say this is still one of the best movies ever made. I like the way it's subtly put together, each piece of the story line unfolds on the screen in a slow but necessary manner and then when they are all put together near the end does the viewer really understand what has happened.
There's too many screenplays now-a-days that use the sledgehammer approach to subtlety, so it was nice to watch a movie that new about pacing where every scene in this movie has to be there. There is not one wasted scene in this movie (how many movies have anywhere near that today?. Character development, by the end of this movie if you don't know George Baily and Mary's character, thought process, desires, and human nature there is something serious wrong with you because it's all presented right there before you as you watch the movie (how many movies now-a-days even have one character like that in it let alone two?). And this movie heralds back to the old school of direction: letting actors on screen actually act and not ruining it with over editing or exposition camouflaged as nothing but dialogue.
One of my favorite scenes is where George finally falls in love with Mary when she's talking with their old friend on the phone. The acting in this scene is truly amazing from Stewart and Reed's facial expressions mixed in with their acting and when they're on the phone together the sexual tension is almost exploding on the screen as he truly falls for her right before our eyes.
Another thing I really like about this movie is how I fully empathize with George's character as he is constantly hindered from doing what he wants with his life by doing the right thing and sometimes it's like that in real life, doing the right thing is hard to do even when it has to be done. George realizes this but still does the right thing. Watching him do the right thing and not get what he desires is heartbreaking to see. I really felt for him as the movie progressed as I constantly saw his desires being drowned around him from doing the right thing. But as in life itself what you think you desire ends up being nothing compared to what is really around you and this is what George Bailey realizes at the end of the movie: everything he has ever wanted or desired has been right in front of him the whole time.
I don't normally like these kinds of happy endings for movies but this is one movie where the happy ending is truly earned because of all the turmoil and heart ache I've seen George go through and I've also seen the what Bedford Falls would have been like if he had never been born. This is a good movie to show anyone that true story telling involves showing and not telling the viewer what is happening and letting them figure out what is going on. But this is also the perfect movie that blends showing with actually having a story to tell, too many movies get arty and just show things and images without having any sort of story to tell or actual characters to connect with the audience.
I can see why this movie wasn't received as well it first came out because it doesn't treat the audience as stupid and requires the audience to think as they watch. And it does take multiple viewings for the beauty of what the director and writer have done with the story to fully sink in; there is just too much to take in on one viewing. This is truly a movie that will stand (and I guess has stood) the test of time and only gets better with age because there are things I noticed this time around that having kids, being a parent, being married, and dealing with family that I never would have gotten years ago when I watched it when I was young but now that I'm older it really connected with me in a way it never did before.
No comments:
Post a Comment