tydunn01’s review published on Letterboxd:
"Remember, no man is a failure who has friends"
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is THE Christmas movie. It's the most wonderful story ever told and the greatest film in cinematic history. Such a beautiful lesson everyone is able to learn from this story.
I first watched this movie in Grade 10 Civics class, I was only 15 years old. No one else in the class was watching it except myself and maybe the teacher. The film changed me forever and made me fall in love with Jimmy Stewart and old classic Hollywood films. The film is an inspiration to me and I consider it the greatest film ever made.
George Bailey has so many dreams in his life and has his whole future ahead of him, but his one flaw is that he is the most selfless person. He will sacrifice his happiness and well-being to make others in his life to be much better. From the beginning where he saves his brother from drowning, to taking over the Bailey Building and Loan so it doesn't become owned by a snobby, narcissistic tycoon. He sacrifices his future travels to do what is best for the ones he loves. He lets others live while he himself suffers. This brings him to his breaking point.
When he finally sees what his life has become, he knows it is meaningless and ponders his own existence. Too many people have been living the life he has wanted. In the end, he realizes the life he thought was dead end and sees it for what it really was: a wonderful life.
So many of us take life for granted and it becomes too late when we realize we had it so good. For George Bailey, life kept getting in the way of what he wanted to really accomplish. So many things stopped him from pursuing what he wanted to do for his whole life. For as long as he could remember and others around him, he had spoke about a life no one in Bedford Falls could fathom. You never know how precious life is until it dawns on you and you're filled with regret. Too many people grow old with regret and play the what if game.
There is no shame in being as selfless as George Bailey, it's always right to make others happy. But when it costs you your life to improve others, that's when depression can play a factor. It built up over time and he didn't even know it until Uncle Billy messed up. George always knew that things were happening when he didn't want them to, but he knew without him no one else would do it.
It is not until the last moments of this movie where everything he did for everyone finally paid off. From spending honeymoon money he had saved up on the townspeople to keep the bank open, to not traveling the world or going to college, he was a man of the people and their own angel with no wings. He sacrified everything for everyone. It's the greatest thing I have ever learned from a movie. I cry everytime I watch this movie.
Cherish every living moment you have on this planet, even when it feels like things are going bad, the world is not a better place without you in it. Even with the world going the way it is, it's better be alive than anything. Truly a behemoth in cinematic storytelling.
19th Academy Awards — 6 Nominations, 1 Win
🏆 Technical Achievement Award — Russell Shearman and RKO Radio Studio Special Effects Dept.
Best Picture — Liberty Films
Best Director — Frank Capra
Best Actor — Jimmy Stewart
Best Film Editing — William Hornbeck
Best Sound Recording — John Aalberg
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