One of Miranda's daily tasks was to watch It's a Wonderful Life (or re-watch if you've seen it already). In other parts of the world, you can call this a quintessential film for the Christmas holidays. Not so much in the Philippines and here in New Zealand, though. My go-to film would have to be Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer from Rankin-Bass.
But I've seen this movie 'advertised' in so many ways in social media and news so I knew I just had to watch it. But where? It's not available in streaming sites.
I was pondering on purchasing a DVD copy online when I decided to search further. Luckily I found Beamafilm, a streaming site free of charge if you use your library card! And fortunately I have one!
The film was shot in 1946 and has, in some ways, a similarity with the story of A Christmas Carol in that the main character gets to live in a "what if" scenario, an alternative reality of sorts. The story is straightforward enough, but it's the latter half of the movie that struck a chord. I don't want to give away the plot; I'm sure there are other sites that discuss that. But personally I found the movie thought-provoking. It makes you think about decisions you make and how it affects those around you and the circumstances that would have been altered. It is more of a grown-up film though, I think. I would not have enjoyed it if I saw it when I was a kid. So I think that the timing of getting a hold of this film in my middle age is just right.
But there's a nostalgia feel for Christmas films which is established only if you actually watched it year after year. And Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer has that for me. When this film is played on the local TV channel it was a sign for me that Christmas season has arrived. And in the Philippines, that's as early as September! And while it's not as popularly screened here in New Zealand, I don't have to worry about that as I have it on DVD.
But will I watch this movie again next Christmas? Yes I will.
No comments:
Post a Comment