Merry Christmas to you, wonderful old readers!
It’s a Wonderful Life is a film I know inside and out. George Bailey, Clarence, Mary Hatch and Uncle Billy are practically old friends at this point. I could probably walk the fictional streets of Bedford Falls in my sleep. Basically if you couldn’t tell, this is my all-time favourite Christmas movie – and one of the best films I have ever seen.
I vaguely remember half-watching it when I was little, while playing with one new toy or another.
Yet even then the film burrowed its way into my brain and left an impression on my young mind. The scenes of George offering to lasso the moon for Mary or the dance at the high school were imprinted in my memory.
When I finally sat down to watch the film properly as a young adult, I could instantly remember these moments.
In the years since then, it has become a tradition to make an annual trip to Bedford Falls – at least one time.
Yet no matter how many times I have watched it, I still find myself welling up in the final moments as the town rallies around George.
The film has always managed to have an effect on me.
But getting to actually experience It’s a Wonderful Life in 4K on the big screen was just something else, it was magical.
I have been trying to almost will myself into feeling extra festive this year – including watching 20 mostly awful Christmas movies in 12 days.
I bought an extra tree for my bedroom as well as tinsel and given it a festive makeover. But for whatever reason it had not really worked, it didn’t really feel like Christmas.
Until I sat down in the cinema at Gunwharf Quays. Over the space of two hours, I felt myself being almost supercharged with festive spirit.
Perhaps it was just the fact I needed to watch a decent Christmas film, or maybe it was getting to experience the movie the way it was intended.
But by the time the credits rolled, trying to hide the tears in my eyes, I felt like I could power a reindeer-pulled sleigh with my festive spirit and fly around the world.
Was that the sound of a bell ringing?