Blog Directory CineVerse: Notes you can take with you

Notes you can take with you

Friday, May 24, 2013

On Wednesday, CineVerse had the pleasure of discussing the merits of Frank Capra's "You Can't Take it With You," which holds up surprisingly well after 75 years. Here's a recap of that group talk:

ARGUABLY, THIS FILM IS LESS ABOUT THE ROMANCE BETWEEN TONY AND ALICE AND MORE OF A STORY ABOUT A DIFFERENT PROTAGONIST. WHO IS THIS PROTAGONIST AND WHAT IS THE PROOF THAT HE IS THE MORE IMPORTANT CHARACTER THAN THE TOP-BILLED LEADS?
·       Tony and Alice aren’t really forced to change; their relationship is challenged by social forces, but there isn’t much conflict or transformation required here
·       Instead, Tony’s father Anthony Kirby is the character who undergoes the most radical evolution, from an avaricious big businessman who ignores his son to a man who recognizes how he’s neglected his relationship with his son and others and is missing out on the fun in life.
·       The catalyst for this change is Grandpa Martin, a kindly patriarch and inspirational optimistic who encourages people to be free spirits.
·       The film’s title, after all, must particularly refer to Kirby, who has the most money of all the characters, and who “can’t take it with him” when he dies.

THEMES EXAMINED IN THIS PICTURE:
·       Think for yourself and follow your true passions
·       Individualism should be valued over corporate gain and big business
·       Money and material possessions can’t buy love or guarantee happiness; family is more important
·       Even the most staunch, stubborn, greedy and opportunistic are capable of change
·       Utopia is possible within a nurturing family and supportive home; utopia is not possible within a system that devalues the individual as a cog in a capitalist machine
o   One critic eruditely extrapolates on this theory, saying that the film suggests how “monopoly capitalism’s success depends on eliminating utopian spaces.”
o   This same critic contends that, in Kirby’s insinuation that the politicians have been bribed to allow him to create a vast monopoly, Capra is infusing a veiled message that he has “doubts about the New Deal’s empowering of the federal government to restrain monopoly capitalism.”

THIS MOVIE WON BEST PICTURE AND DIRECTOR OSCARS FOR 1938 AND WAS HUGELY POPULAR THAT YEAR. BUT HAS IT AGED WELL OVER 75 YEARS?
·       Arguably, it’s a bit long and drawn out, combining elements of screwball comedy and romance with a social message picture that, tonally, can clash a bit
·       It’s not as uproariously funny today as it probably was in 1938
·       It was a soothing film to end-of-the-Depression era audiences and, thus, a product of its times
·       The film has an overly and unreasonably optimistic tone without many shades of gray: love conquers all, goodwill and happiness conquers greed. Today, the movie can appear corny and Pollyannaish.
·       Yet, its basic themes are still relevant today: family and personal happiness is more important than wealth and power; do what you love to do.

OTHER CAPRA FILMS:
·       It Happened One Night
·       Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
·       Lost Horizon
·       Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
·       Meet John Doe
·       It’s a Wonderful Life

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON THEMES THAT RUN THROUGH MOST CAPRA MOVIES?
·       Populist values
·       The struggle of the everyday common man against the machine of politics, commerce, and corruption
·       Man conflicted by alternating realities (consider George Bailey: he has a lust for Violet, a need for Mary; he desires fame and success and to escape the confines of social responsibilities, yet he’s compelled to stay in Bedford Falls, mortgage his dreams to keep a positive cash flow)
·       Strong, charismatic female leads: Jean Arthur in Mr. Smith, Mr. Deeds, You Can’t Take it With You; Stanwyck in John Doe, Colbert in It Happened One Night
·       The masses are like sheep and democracy can be dangerous: consider how easily manipulated people are in Meet John Doe, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, etc.

FILMS THAT REMIND YOU OF “YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU”
·       Mary Poppins: the transformation of the rigid, unattentive father is similar to patriarch Kirby’s transformation
·       The Hotel New Hampshire: another tale about an eccentric family
·       Cheaper by the Dozen: another story about a large family with a quirky patriarch
·       Dinner at Eight: another film depicting a dinner party gone awry

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