TITLE: On Christmas films AUTHOR: Joe Johnson DATE: 7:29:00 AM ----- BODY:
It's that time of year when we attempt to confirm the holiday with movies. There's nothing wrong with that, though it's primarily about one thing: feeling like Christmas. Christmas movies, like Christmas music, are an attempt to establish the mood.

The most successful movies are about this - the idea that Christmas is a mood, a "spirit,” rather than a celebration. This post isn't simply a complaint about that situation. If it weren’t for the "Christmas spirit" we probably wouldn't get the day off work.

Christmas spirit movies generally fall into the categories of having an epiphany, usually about what "this season is all about" (i.e. family, friends, giving) - the Charles Dickens interpretations.

Many “Christmas spirit” movies include variations and interpretations of The Christmas Carol. These start to show up in 1908 and move on into a number of modern interpretations. The most famous adaptations are the George C. Scott (1984) and the Alastair Slim Scrooge (1951). The Flintstones do a version as do the Muppets, which is surprisingly faithful to the original story.

The variations are perhaps even more famous: consider Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life, which has become as essential a part of Christmas as a manger. The Richard Donner/Bill Murray ironic take, Scrooged (1988), is an attempt to update the story for a bit more "sophisticated" and ironic audience (it is also surprisingly inappropriate for showing at most youth church activities). The Family Man (2000) is perhaps the most recent incarnation.

Christmas spirit movies tend to be about just the decoration of Christmas. Consider pictures like A Christmas Story, The Christmas that Almost Wasn't, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, The Grinch, Trapped in Paradise, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, The Santa Clause, The Polar Express, Elf, etc. The Christmas spirit is simply a political/cultural agreement in these movies - a mood of the season that compels certain dress and behavior. Generally, these movies require a new mythology to give the season meaning. Hence, the Santa legend (and Rudolph and Frosty) gets thrust into prominence by those stop-motion Rankin-Bass television specials of the 1960s-70s. (I blame/credit the famous 1897 editorial, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.")

A few Christmas spirit movies use the season for comedic relief and atmosphere: Mixed Nuts, Edward Scissorhands, Trading Places, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Die Hard. For some reason, this seems less sentimental and exploitive.

The trick comes when finding a movie that can talk about the "Christ" or "Mass" of Christmas. Although I wasn't deeply intrigued by the appearance of this year's The Nativity Story, I am thankful for it's creation and will probably watch it with my family next year on DVD. But it gets difficult to find films that integrate the "Christ of Christmas." There are a few - very few.

On the television front, it's impossible to do better than the reading of the old King James translation of Luke's Gospel in A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's pure beauty and simplicity. Pee-Wee's Christmas Special, despite the holiday-season dressing, takes a moment to explain that Christmas is specifically about Christ's birth. The Rankin-Bass The Little Drummer Boy still works and was my favorite as a kid.

The Bishop's Wife (1947) is a movie that includes a very pointed sermon. The Bells of St. Mary (1944) features an enjoyable Christmas pageant. The Fourth Wise Man (1985) is a television movie attempt.

There are a couple films that incorporate the Nativity in remarkable, poignant ways. Pasolini's The Gospel of St. Matthew (1964) is breathtaking. A big surprise comes in Richard Dutcher's States of Grace (2005). I won't say how it integrates Christmas, only that it's remarkably powerful. (Note: In case this interests you, Pasolini was an atheist and Dutcher is a Mormon and neither film is especially appropriate for younger audiences.)

There aren't a lot of actual Christ-mas movies and perhaps there's a reason. The Nativity doesn't sell well and it doesn't excite most people outside the Church. Even within the Church, it's often sentimentalized. But if you're a Christian and the incarnation of the Son of God means what it should mean, hearing hymns about Jesus' birth and the sovereignty of God's purpose more than compensates for the lack of viewing options. There's something special about the old-fashioned Christmas pageant, watching kids act out the story of the journey to Bethlehem and the birth in the manger. Perhaps it just doesn't translate to film as easily as Santa and snowy New York streets.

(Note: There are a couple war films that have strong Christmas themes. I don't remember 1992's A Midnight Clear very well, except as a solid WWII picture. I'm particularly interested in the 2005 French film Joyeux Noël, which is based on a true story of Christmas invading war - and which I haven't seen yet.)

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