FUN WITH THE SACRED AND PROFANE AT WORLD’S END?
For many of us, traditional Christmas movies are a ritual and part of our nationally shared collective consciousness. Feeling good about the unasked for gift of life can be especially hard during this festive season with news of irrational evil and bloodletting. However, great holiday movies can be a legitimate antidote to this malaise as they remind us of the hope for peace and love that is often elusive, and perhaps illusive as well, but is always worth the risk. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, CHRISTMAS VACATION, THE CHRISTMAS STORY hardly need to be touted they have become such a part of our American mass media rites. Robert Zemeckis’ CHRISTMAS CAROL with an exceptional Jim Carrey as Dicken’s tightwad curmudgeon is a beautiful and frightening motion capture piece of pop movie art that is becoming a seasonal staple. So is the eerie POLAR EXPRESS, in which zombie-eyed kids visit a gigantic Santa who rules an icy kingdom of forced cheer in the North Pole populated by genetically bred, mostly male, red-uniformed midgets (I use that word advisedly). I love this film for all the wrong reasons.
For a worthy but lesser known film that fills the movie void this end of the world solstice, try the under-appreciated gem REMEMBER THE NIGHT (1940) with Fred MacMurray as a prosecutor falling in love with shoplifter Barbara Stanwyck over Christmas. Here, writer-director Preston Sturgis is at the top of his game. Also worth a look are movies that take seriously both the profane and the sacred. First, the sacred.
KEEP WALKING (CAMMINA CAMMINA)
The journey of the Magi to Bethlehem is the subject of the great Italian artist and filmmaker Ermanno Olmi’s 1982 epic tone poem. Shot in Northern Italy in rustic and rural locations and filled with amateurs, this magical film is spiritually rooted in a way that is open to all faiths. And even to those with no faith. I was reminded at times to Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” as the Magi interact with a caravan of soldiers, merchants, villagers and assistants following in the direction of a comet. This rich tapestry makes real a journey cloaked in mystery and humanity.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AND OTHER STORIES
This collection of three stop-motion Christmas themed stories can be found in discount bins and dollar stores. But don’t mistake that for a shoddy product.
Animator Will Vinton popularized and coined the term “claymation.” The first title in the set is the multi-award winning “The First Christmas.” Christopher Plummer narrates the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus. The range of detail and emotions is portrayed is startling.
Charles Dickens’ “The Chimes” is about a man that sees so much sadness around him that he regrets being born when church bells heard in a dream send another message. Derek Jacobi narrates. “The Christmas Gift”, based on the Peter, Paul & Mary song “Christmas Dinner” is only 9 minutes long but is heartfelt and not treacle. I was touched.
RARE EXPORTS
And now for the profane. Originally an award winning series of short films, now expanded by director Jalmari Helander into a highly unusual feature, this strange, sometimes horrifying Christmas tale is set in the frozen wastes of Finland where local reindeer herders battle an ancient, mythic, but newly manifest evil: Santa Claus. Yes, THE Santa. But it’s Santa’s vast army of vicious brutish, elvish “helpers” that must be killed — or tamed for future sales around the world. Single father Rauno (Jorma Tommila) and his young son, Pietari (Onni Tommila) must sort out a truth for themselves that will ensure their future. This disturbing, regional folktale made real is unlike any Christmas movie you have seen. You have been warned.
AROUND TOWN
Cinemas Palme d’Or is to be commended for their sneak previews and event screenings. GUILT TRIP’s director Anne Fletcher held a lively Q&A revealing all kinds of Barbara Streisand trivia and setting the record straight that she is a curious and creative partner and in no way a demanding diva. Although it took Babs a year to make a decision to star in Fletcher’s film, it was only after her son Jason said, “Mom, you should make this movie,” that she signed on. The movie almost lives up to its terrific title about a ”Jewish mother” who takes a cross-country road trip with her loveless son (Seth Rogan) and finds common ground and a renewed relationship. It’s a fun trip worth talking.
Last Saturday, author Stephen Robello discussed the film adapted from his curious book “Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.” Anthony Hopkins and Hellen Mirren play the Hitchcocks during a time of great tension in their creative lives. The atmospheric period drama is finally an unexpectedly sweet love story. Both films are now playing at Palme d’Or. We are so lucky to have this theater in our community. What a gift.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Assuming of course the world’s still with us. RobinESimmons@aol.com
