海角大神

Twenty years ago, a pair of Christmas movies made cash registers ring like jingle bells. In 鈥淓lf,鈥� a human raised by elves searches for his father in New York City. 鈥淟ove Actually鈥� came out a week later. The British megahit, nicknamed 鈥淟oathe Actually鈥� by its detractors, features a patchwork of heartwarming, tragic, and raunchy Christmas storylines.

Those two films are credited with reinvigorating the Christmas movie genre. The recipe looks simple. Take one grumpy old soul crying out for redemption, possibly supernaturally aided. (If not ghosts, a dog will do.) Sprinkle in beloved holiday songs and sleigh bells. Add at least one embarrassing costume. Oh, and budget for plenty of fake snow.

Yet, for every occasional treat in the 21st century 鈥� including 鈥淭he Holiday,鈥� 鈥淛oyeux Noel,鈥� and 鈥淜laus鈥� 鈥� many more turn out about as well as a homemade Christmas sweater. Too often, holiday movies forget the most important ingredients. Great Christmas stories tap into a longing for meaning in life 鈥� that love can actually transform us. That generosity matters. That sincerity might seem hokey in a cynical age, but that innocence has pride of place, especially at Christmas.聽

鈥淎lmost every Christmas movie has some character or characters transforming to better, higher versions of themselves,鈥� says Jeremy Arnold, author of 鈥淐hristmas in the Movies.鈥� 鈥淭hat speaks to us because it鈥檚 the magic that we want Christmas to be.鈥�

The 鈥淐hristmas Carol鈥� effect

The spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge looms over Christmas movies past, present, and yet to come. Charles Dickens pretty much invented the fictional genre with 鈥淎 Christmas Carol,鈥� and his protagonist has been embodied by dozens of actors 鈥� notably Alastair Sim, Patrick Stewart, George C. Scott, and Michael Caine 鈥� and a Disney cartoon duck. Some variations of the tale, such as the 1988 Bill Murray vehicle 鈥淪crooged,鈥� critique materialism.

鈥淚n a lot of our Christmas comedies, we see there is a built-in cynicism about our consumer culture and about how what was initially conceived of as a religious holiday has become a marketing bonanza and an occasion for getting stuff,鈥� says film critic Ty Burr.

Countless other stories have modeled characters on Dickens鈥� iconic misanthrope, albeit without the Victorian sleeping cap. For instance, Alexander Payne鈥檚 new movie, 鈥淭he Holdovers,鈥� stars Paul Giamatti as a Scrooge-like boarding school teacher who is tasked with chaperoning a lonely student over the Christmas break. Dr. Seuss鈥� 鈥淗ow the Grinch Stole Christmas!鈥� (first adapted as an animated short and, later, a live-action film) features an avocado-shaped creature whose heart is two sizes too small. And in 鈥淥ne Magic Christmas鈥� (1985), a rancorous suburban housewife (Mary Steenburgen) meets an unconventional angel (Harry Dean Stanton).

鈥淗e kills off her husband and children in a car crash and then brings them back [just] in time so that she can understand the true meaning of Christmas,鈥� says Mr. Burr, author of 鈥淭he Best Old Movies for Families.鈥� 鈥淏elieve it or not, the movie works. But boy, does it get dark. And it鈥檚 a Disney movie on top of everything else.鈥�

The dark night of the soul is similarly bleak in Jimmy Stewart鈥檚 twin holiday classics, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a Wonderful Life鈥� and 鈥淭he Shop Around the Corner.鈥� Characters contemplate suicide, job loss, and financial ruin. In those films, human connection displaces the shadows.

The Cold War heightened that desire for security even more, says movie historian Vaughn Joy, who cites 鈥淲hite Christmas鈥� and 鈥淚t鈥檚 a Wonderful Life鈥� as her two favorite holiday movies.聽

The 1950s were an era when home and the nuclear family were seen as sanctuaries. A number of postwar Christmas movies 鈥� including 鈥淗oliday Affair,鈥� 鈥淢iracle on 34th Street,鈥� and 鈥淭he Bishop鈥檚 Wife鈥� (a 1996 remake starred Whitney Houston) 鈥� depicted the family unit as the center of one鈥檚 financial and emotional security. 鈥淎nd [it] is made into the ultimate ideal of security and kindness and generosity that just kind of marries very well with Christmas,鈥� Ms. Joy says.聽

Holiday fare as a way to heal

鈥淚t鈥檚 a Wonderful Life鈥� director Frank Capra and Stewart both served in World War II and understood the importance of love and family during its aftermath. Indeed, the two greatest eras for Christmas movies came immediately after world-altering tragedies: World War II and 9/11, says Mr. Arnold.

鈥淢y argument is that since it takes a year or two to make a movie and get it into theaters, it really can be seen in part as a response to those national traumas,鈥� he continues. 鈥淎udiences craved getting back together, being a community again, and sharing in a movie experience, laughing together and so on ... making them feel better and more secure at a time when they weren鈥檛.鈥�

In fact, 鈥淓lf鈥� director Jon Favreau, a native New Yorker, saw the movie as an explicit attempt to reclaim New York after the terrorist attacks. He鈥檚 spoken about showing the city dressed in its holiday best and about the desire to give its children a reason to hope. (To the dismay of parents, young viewers may have tried to replicate Buddy the Elf鈥檚 favorite recipe: spaghetti covered in M&Ms, maple syrup, and chocolate sauce.)聽

鈥淟ove Actually鈥� also was created in reaction to 9/11.聽

鈥淚t starts with that opening monologue by actor Hugh Grant, where he talks about when the messages people sent as the planes were going into the towers,鈥� says Scott Meslow, author of 鈥淔rom Hollywood With Love.鈥� 鈥淓ven now for me, knowing that that鈥檚 coming, it鈥檚 still kind of a record scratch. ... We think of these movies in these kind of hazy, feel-good terms, and it鈥檚 like, no, it鈥檚 explicitly about the immediate post-9/11 political era.鈥�

Director Richard Curtis shot clandestine footage of people reuniting at airports for his film, especially poignant in an era when people were afraid to fly. And his overlapping storylines crammed in as many different kinds of love as he could fit into 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The early 2020s, too, have been a time of bleakness, marred by pandemic and war. Somewhere, writers may be channeling their inner Charlie Browns, searching for the true meaning of the holiday.聽

In the words of the titular character of 鈥淎untie Mame,鈥� haul out the holly. Because we need a little Christmas now.聽