One of the Best

Rating: 10/10 (25 October 2019)

The 1946 film, It's a Wonderful Life is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in history, mainly for it's histoprical depression-era storytelling and suicide prevention awareness. The film praised artistically for its precise editing and terrific acting. The film takes place during the Great Depression anShows the panic that ensued when the stock market crashed in 1932 and the true horrors of losing everything in the blink of an eye. The act of sacrifice is also a key point in the film. George and Mary sacrifice their honeymoon savings by loaning it out the bank customers until the bank can fully pay back all the money that was lost. The film also shows how serious suicide truly is and that even though your life may seem ruined and hopeless, its is still worth living for the people who surround and support you. PTSD is also a main theme of the story for George. Thankfulness is probably the biggest theme of the film. Throughout the story, George experiences his life without the things that he realizes truly how lucky he is. He learns that you have to be thankful for everything that life gives you. James Stewart really gives it his all as George Bailey, the main character. During his life journey throughout the film, you can feel the pain and sadness and when he is humbled at the end of the film, you feel his happiness and thankfulness through his terrific acting. He was awarded an Academy Award nomination for his performance. No wonder he was in 170 film & television productions. The supporting cast also does a great job. The 2 standouts are Donna Reed as Mary Hatch and Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter. Reed is great as Hatch due to her loyal and true love for George. She shows all of her emotions perfectly and helps create a likeable love interest for George. Barrymore is possibly even better as George's work rival, Mr. Potter. He really gives Potter a sinister twist. He helps act like a real villain whose intention is to corrupt the main character. He does a great job and it truly shows in the film. The film is set during winter, with the streets full of snow. Capra was used to the industry norm of using painted cornflakes, but wanted to create a new method. The special effects team created a new way to show film on screen. They mixed the foam from fire extinguishers with soap flakes, water, and sugar. The mixture was then sprayed onto set using a wind blower. This was revolutionary and earned the team an Academy Award. Another special effect used to express the film's weather, was the sound technique. Instead of later dubbing the actor's lines over the loud sounding snow in post production, they did it their own way. They recorded audio from filming and used it raw. They made the snow sound smooth and not so thick, so the actor's lines could be heard. These techniques were extremely important are still being used for films today and for years to come. Overall, the film It's a Wonderful Life is a very important film due to its historical significance and artistic brilliance. This film is still considered one of the best nearly 70 years after its release and will remain one of the best for years to come.