Life is wonderful

Rating: 10/10 (26 December 2019)

"It's A Wonderful Life" is a 1946 drama directed by Frank Capra starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. Just as "Die Hard" belongs to Christmas Eve, this all time favourite belongs to the first day of Christmas. While the first one is still arguable, no one can deny that this Capra classic is the best Christmas film of all time. Not only is it featured or referenced in literally ever other holiday flick, it's the epitome of Christmas spirit. Even if you haven't been in the mood before, this film will get you right into it. Saying it's perfect still feels like an understatement to me. I hands down can't find anything that I'd consider as a flaw. It's flawless, least to say. With every year I get older, I get more and more into the phenomenally written narration about the life of a man who struggles balancing his personal dreams and his moral obligations. James Stewart acts brilliantly in this and I'd consider George Bailey as probably his best performance of all time. It's an outstandingly scripted drama, well paced and extremely detailed in its narrative structure. The dialogue and the characters downright brim over with originality and personality, the constellations between them are eminently well elaborated and enable the viewer to feel with each and everyone of them immensely. Although the film runs for roughly two hours it always felt like a three hour epic, but not even in a negative way. What the film furthermore managed to capture magnificently is the essence of the drama. One can literally feel the inner conflict of George when he over and over decides against his dreams and his desires in favour of what others expect him to do and what he feels obligated to do. In so many scenes, this everlasting conflict finds it's way back in and reminds him of his own misery. That's how the whole situation builds up to the final act. It's all sensitively narrated and although many consider it so, never becomes a bit cheesy. Also, it has a lot of classic metaphors and a prominent symbolism in it, particularly the scene when George throws a stone in the window of the old abandoned house. He wished for his dreams to come true, when Mary tosses her's she wishes for him to be with her forever. This is the exact moment when everything he's planned slowly begins to fall apart. It's scenes like these that make the amateur writer in my so happy, it's just a master class of a screenplay. But after all this drama, I'm glad that they decided to go in a more uplifting direction in the end and worship life instead of condemning it. No matter what, the final scene gives me goosebumps every single time. All in all, this drama is a masterpiece and a textbook example of a timeless classic, with both an excellent story and magnificent performances that will hit you right in the feels and remind you that life is the most precious gift of them all. It tells us that it's okay to sometimes be unhappy and struggle with serious issues, because in the end we are not alone and all have friends and family even if it doesn't seem so. Sometimes we feel less important than we actually are to our beloved ones, but we are never alone. Having said this, merry Christmas and remember: You are being loved!