Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 130 minuten
Alternative title: Mens, Durf te Leven
Country:
United States
Directed by: Frank Capra
Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore
IMDb score:
8,6 (562.604)
Releasedate: 20 December 1946
It's a Wonderful Life plot
"It's a wonderful laugh! It's a wonderful love!"
George Bailey (James Stewart), a resident of the small town of Bedford Falls, wants to see the world and do great things. Circumstances and his own character, however, force him to stay in his hometown to lead what he believes to be a boring life. He marries his childhood sweetheart Mary (Donna Reed), has children and, as a banker, tries to make life in Bedford Falls a little more pleasant for everyone in a socially committed way. When things start to go bad and life has nothing to offer him anymore, George wants to put an end to it. However, his guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers) thinks otherwise and shows him what would have become of Bedford Falls without his commitment...
Actors and actresses
George Bailey
Mary Hatch
Mr. Potter
Uncle Billy
Clarence
Mrs. Bailey
Ernie
Bert
Violet
Mr. Gower
Reviews & comments
Baboesjka
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- 891 messages
- 2083 votes
At first I wasn't very enthusiastic, I even thought it was a bit boring, but the longer I watched, the more I got to see what a wonderful film it is. The movie has so much atmosphere and feeling, and the movie felt genuine to me. It's made powerful and the old-fashioned has its charms with this story. The ending especially touched me. Good acting too. A (Christmas) gem! 4*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Dievegge
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- 3235 messages
- 8332 votes
Since it has just been Easter, I thought it would be the ideal time to dust off this Christmas classic. It evokes an atmosphere of the good old days, when everything was still cozy and cozy and every Christmas was white. It carries a message of solidarity and charity, which runs counter to the ideology of American capitalism. The story is indebted to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. That angel is kind of Ghost of Christmas Past; the greedy Potter resembles Scrooge.
The structure is clever, with the framing from the sky and the insertion of the past and a hypothetical scene. A recurring motif is that George rescues someone from the water - first his brother, later the angel. When George visits Potter, he intimidates him by making him take a lower seat and lighting him a cigar, which he is clearly not used to. The village is one big set with fake facades and streets. They have also created a new type of fake snow. The dance floor that slides open over a swimming pool was real.
James Stewart is never the tough, unapproachable hero, but an ordinary lad you can easily empathize with. George has doubts, but has the guts to fight for his ideals. Donna Reed plays the ideal wife with a smile, but in the hypothetical scene she can also be seen as a shy spinster. When she had to throw a rock through a window, they wanted to use trickery, but she just hit. Two interesting secondary characters are the policeman Bert and the taxi driver Ernie. They stole those first names on Sesame Street. This mixture of humor, romance and an optimistic outlook on life is still infectious.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
It's a wonderful life is a film I had heard a lot about, but didn't really know what it was about. It has become an extremely charming film with a lot of eye for romance, but also about the pluses and minuses in life. After all, life is what you make of it, although I didn't think this was the central theme of the film. Solidarity is in the DNA of the film, with concern for the local community at the center and in stark contrast to the personification of Mr. Potter, the ruthless egocentric über-capitalist.
It is a film in which as the film progressed I increased my appreciation in direct proportion. James Stewart is doing a great job and I've become a bit of a fan after a few collaborations with Hitchcock. Stewart makes a great duo with Donna Reed. The magic oozes and some (love) scenes were great, like the one on the phone or in the bushes.
The last part of the movie with the angel is closer to the movie title, creating the philosophy of the butterfly effect. A bit simplistic, but very entertaining. The idea was clear, but not everything depends on whether George Bailey is present or not, of course.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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