More than Merely a Christmas Film – A Film for Any Time

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2011)

Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" has become a staple of the Christmas season. It will invariably be played around the holidays, whether broadcast on T.V or picked out by a family from their DVD collection. But watching it again this year, I realized just how little it has to do with Christmas. To be sure, the famous final sequence takes place around then, but the full film is a broader celebration of life, humanity, and the human spirit. Confining it to simply a glorification of the Christmas spirit seems too narrow.
Through the story of the life of George Bailey and the lives of those around him, "It's a Wonderful Life" celebrates basic human kindness and compassion. It praises selflessness and putting others above oneself, as George does time and time again – forsaking his dreams for the betterment of those more unfortunate than he in Bedford Falls. It condemns greed, heartlessness, and fierce manipulation of fellow persons on Earth through Henry F. Potter, the shriveled and devious old businessman played to malicious perfection by Lionel Barrymore. It extols the worth of the life of any living being, no matter how poor or pitiful they appear and whatever their flaws may be. Consider the way George extends a caring hand to his dearly daffy Uncle Billy or to Violet Bick when she has fallen on hard times. Think of what he saves them both from when he could have easily cast them aside on account of their vices and imperfections, turning them away.
Are these values appropriate for Christmas? Yes, of course. But they are just as appropriate for any time. Calling this "a Christmas film" somewhat underestimates the power of its themes, themes that are ageless and universal (or so I would hope). This is a film that deserves to be kept in the heart all the year round.