Christmas!! In the world of Drifting Cloud, Christmas time means Christmas films. It’s the time of year when the broadcasters show all the very best films, and they take up all my attention when I really should be working. (That and my parent’s new puppy who is too adorable for words.)
So since the timing has worked out right, I thought that my first favourites list should be my favourite Christmas films. The ones that fill me with that elusive holiday cheer.
5. Elf
(2003, Jon Favreau)
“The best way of spreading Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”
A fairly recent film that has already gained ‘Christmas classic’ status. It’s about an elf called Buddy who discovers that he is really a human and journeys to New York to find his real family.
It sounds like it should be a really terrible film, but somehow it isn’t! It has lots of family entertainment and cheesy Christmas messages, yet it has a more adult side to it too.
As pointed out by The Nostalgia Critic, this is all thanks of the lead actor Will Farrel. He plays up the adult child character to a huge extent, and the result is hilarious. Probably the best part of the film is when he first arrives in New York and is totally clueless to how he should act. Think Borat, except funny. He sees the whole place as a big playground, like how a small child sees Disneyland.
But this innocence also has adult undertones. Like when he sees sexy lingerie for the first time in a store, and he’s aroused but doesn’t know why. Same thing happens when he lays eyes on his love interest, an elf helper for a mall Santa. Later he walks into the women’s changing room when she’s taking a shower, just because she has ‘the most beautiful singing voice in the whole wide world.’ Maybe it’s just me, but it’s simultaneously really sweet and super hot!
4. The Nightmare Before Christmas
(1993, Henry Selick)
“How horrible our Christmas will be!”
“No. How ‘Jolly’!”
Some say it’s a Christmas film. Some say it’s a Halloween film. I say it’s so good, it’s great at any time of year.
The film starts in the world of Halloween Town, and the stop motion animation techniques enhance the visuals and create a wonderfully dark and scary atmosphere. Traditional animation or CGI couldn’t possible make a landscape like this.
The story follows Jack Skellington, the much loved leader of Halloweentown who has grown bored and unfulfilled with scaring people, and wanders depressed into the woods (there’s a reason this film is popular among emos). Somehow he ends up wandering into ChristmasTown and is fascinated by all the bright shiny things he sees. Then he gets a genius idea - he and the other monsters are going to take over Christmas from ‘Sandy Claws.’ They fail miserable, of course, but their failure is hilarious and fascinating to watch. Monsters bursting out of Christmas toys, skeleton reindeer pulling the sleigh and the army shooting them down with missiles.
I love everything about this film. The visuals are amazing, the music is stirring and the message is something that really helps me - Even if you fail epically, as long as you do your best and have a good time then it doesn’t matter. Now that’s a Christmas message.
And of course, I love the ending too. ‘We’re simply meant to be.’ Awww…
3. The Snowman
(1982, Dianne Jackson & Jimmy T Murakami)
“Nobody down below believes their eyes”
This is such a fricking classic! And there’s a reason, it’s just beautiful from start to finish. It may be short but every minute is used to it’s full potential.
The story is simply about a boy who builds a hugeass snowman that comes to life and flies him off to the North Pole for a Snowman Rave. The genius of it is that there is no speech, just the combination of animation and an orchestra soundtrack.
The animation is amazing, especially considering it was made in the early 80’s and the whole thing is almost entirely white. How do they make the outline of he snowman stand out against the landscape? And it is backed up by the lovely soundtrack which carries the story much better than dialogue ever could. Especially the famous ‘Walking in the air’ song.
Everyone loves this film. No one can seem to decide whether they like the flying scene or the snowman party better. I just love the whole thing, it’s a work of art and a fairy tale. Right down to the tragic ending.
The VHS copy we had when I was young also had a very similar film about The Happy Prince fairy tale. It makes me well up and cry just as much as The Snowman.
2. Tokyo Godfathers
(2003, Satoshi Kon & Shôgo Furuya)
“This is a Christmas present from God! She's our baby!”
A great example of a perfect script. I wish it would become popular among more than just Japanese anime fans. It was written and directed by Satoshi Kon, who sadly passed away earlier this year, who is mostly known for surreal films like Paprika. Personally I hated that giant mindfuck of a film, yet I still admit it was perfectly crafted and superbly animated.
This film is no exception. It portrays a dark and dirty side of the city of Tokyo, but it is all about miracles and portrays every emotion perfectly with it’s animation.
It’s the story of 3 homeless people, former failed gambler Gin, mad transvestite Hana and tomboy teenage runaway Miyuki, who on Christmas eve find an abandoned baby and go on a quest across all of Tokyo to find the mother.
Even though it’s subtitled, I’ve rarely found a film which makes me laugh so much every time yet also has me in tears. The tragic back stories of all 3 main characters are explored throughout the film. It feels like they’re not only trying to find the baby’s mother but their own homes too.
It’s the type of film that shows you something different each time you watch. Like the number 1225 constantly showing up, the imagery of angels and wings and the minor characters who reappear again in surprising ways.
I recommend everyone to give this film a try. I watch it once a year at Christmas time as the perfect treat.
1. Love Actually
(2003, Richard Curtis)
“Let’s go get the shit kicked out of us by love.”
It was really hard to choose between these two films as my favourite, but I chose this one because it can have you crying in just the first 20 seconds. Because that very first bit, footage of people hugging at the arrivals gate of Heathrow Airport with a voice over by the Prime Minister, completely sums up what this film is - It’s just an exploration about love.
There is no central plot but lots and lots of loosely connected plots about a different type of love - romantic love, platonic love, first love even tragic love. And the Christmas setting makes it work, because it is the season of love, way more than Valentines day.
Just like Tokyo Godfathers, it is both funny, sad and heart-warming. It’s also one of the films I show to my boyfriend from Finland as an example of what the British are really like. That when we discover our husband is cheating on us, we don’t make a big fuss. We go upstairs and have a bit of a cry then go back downstairs and act like everything’s fine.
Again, the script is perfect. I find it’s not the big overblown moments but the small ones that make me burst into tears, even when I know they’re going to end happily.
In a way, this is a film about miracles too. It doesn’t have angels or divine intervention or anything, but the characters take action and create their own miracles. And that’s what makes it my number one Christmas film.
Merry Christmas to you all! Have a good one!
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