by Jaime Grijalba.
One could start to wonder and ask how it’s possible that a film like this ended up in a Romantic countdown out of all the possible countdowns it could end up in. One could argue and make a good case as to why this is one of the greatest movies ever made, and one doesn’t have to think too much to see how this movie could end up in the romance genre, especially since most of the events that happen in the film are related to the relationship that the protagonist has to his wife. So, if we take both elements, we could end up saying that ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is one of the greatest Romance movies ever made, and that wouldn’t necessarily be a false statement.
Or maybe it is. If you take those scenes that would qualify this as a romantic piece and you weigh them against all the other elements that made this movie a classic: the fantasy sequences, you could end up thinking that the romantic elements present in this film are mostly anecdotic, not entirely necessary and even distracting when it comes around the end of the film, as they don’t really have a sufficient weight when it comes to the final decision of our protagonist. So, maybe in the end, calling this movie a romantic masterpiece just because it’s a masterpiece that happens to have romance elements might be a fake statement. It could be a fantasy masterpiece.
But I’m here to argue the placement and final disposition that this movie had in my personal ballot. I do think this is a romance masterpiece, not because it’s a movie that could entirely be placed in the romance genre, but because the quality of those small and pretty scenes is enough for it to be considered.
At this time, it would be superfluous to try to describe the plot of this classic film, I mean, it’s ingrained in everyone’s minds pretty much, and even if you haven’t seen the movie, it’s one of those you know about because you’ve lived in the world where it was a cultural landmark that influenced many filmmakers, as well as serving as some kind of blueprint for other movies, tv series, videogames and even literature, where the character finally understands his own true value through the experience of seeing the world without their birth happening; and that’s why when I finally saw the movie for myself, much later after the parodies and references, I knew the story practically beat by beat.
Which on its own doesn’t mean that the film isn’t refreshing or even great when you finally see it, as it holds its own strengths and surprises, mostly due to the wonderful dialogue and the whole first half of the film, that chronicles the life of our protagonist (played perfectly by James Stewart), something that shows us how sweet and beautiful his point of view is, contrasted to his later choice to possibly kill himself, it’s a dissonance that shocks once you find out about it, but later it becomes clear, as the life in which he sacrificed so much of his own dreams and desires, suddenly becomes hopeless and bears no real fruit.
But again, I do not wish to mess around with the bulk of what some call the “interesting” part of the plot, as it bears no relation to the romance elements of the movie, but I may tell you about how this movie made me fall in love with it during its first thirty minutes. We are seeing the life of George Bailey, the protagonist of the movie, we are seeing the “film of his life”, as presented to the angel that will later try to amend the decision that he is about to make, we are part of the witnesses of how his life turned out to be due to accidents, happenstances and his own will to make things different. Then, we see him walking at night, right beside Mary, the woman that eventually will become his wife. And then, this dialogue:
George Bailey: What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.
Mary: I’ll take it. Then what?
George Bailey: Well, then you can swallow it, and it’ll all dissolve, see… and the moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair… am I talking too much?
This might be the most iconic dialogue exchange of the movie when it comes to the relationship of George and Mary, and it’s maybe my favourite romantic dialogue of all time, in a movie that is filled with speeches about how good we must be in our lives, that might be the most transcendent one, the one that makes you feel something inside as you hear it, the voice of James Stewart carefully controlling the speed and intonation of every word, making you realize that this is what love and romance is made of.
The image itself may be clichéd nowadays, boyfriends and girlfriends constantly gift the moon to each other and it’s constantly changing owners as if it were a pair of bowling shoes, but here it’s given a new atmosphere and a new aspect, it could be given and then eaten. Maybe the most beautiful thing that has ever been said is the whole thing about how when you swallow the moon it would dissolve and moonbeams would shoot out of someone’s fingers. That to me, is the concept of romance, anyone would melt right away if you’ve heard those words told to you… and if you haven’t seen the movie.
The concept of love has been discussed by many people: poets, philosophers and many other scholars and common people, they try to find a reason behind it, something to grasp and then find out exactly what it’s made of. But, in the end, I think that everyone must try to spend a couple of years thinking and experiencing it, just to find your own reasoning behind it… or you could just understand it as the urge of lassoing the moon to give it to your loved one. That’s better.
