Most Inspiring and Feel Good Films

[Skinwalker]

There are so many wonderful movies that can be mentioned in this category. To my way of thinking, these films are ones that inspire us to live better and treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. They can also cross all cultures with this universal message that are common to all humanity regardless of class or race. Films in this category also help us to reaffirm our own self worth and the sacredness of life. They can teach us many things and open up new doors of love, learning and understanding.

I think that the top of the list for me would definitely be "It's a Wonderful Life" by Frank Capra. If you've ever doubted your own self worth or how much good you may have done with your own 'little' life, and ever said or thought, "I wish I'd never been born!", then this film is for you. Even though this film has come to be known as a Christmas Movie, it was never intended to be one. However, the fundamental message of the movie is universal..."no man is a failure who has friends." We are all capable of creating good for others and have often done so unawares. A film sure to warm the cockles of your heart.

Here's a nice montage of the film on YOUTUBE.



Here's Roger Ebert's take on it.

t's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Roger Ebert / January 1, 1999



The best and worst things that ever happened to "It's a Wonderful Life" are that it fell out of copyright protection and into the shadowy no-man's-land of the public domain. Because the movie is no longer under copyright, any television station that can get its hands on a print of the movie can show it, at no cost, as often as it wants to. And that has led in the last decade to the rediscovery of Frank Capra's once-forgotten film, and its elevation into a Christmas tradition. PBS stations were the first to jump on the bandwagon in the early 1970s, using the saga of the small-town hero George Bailey as counter-programming against expensive network holiday specials. To the general amazement of TV program directors, the audience for the film grew and grew over the years, until now many families make the movie an annual ritual.

That was the best thing that happened to "It's a Wonderful Life," bringing cheer into the lives of director Frank Capra and star James Stewart, who both consider it their favorite film. The worst thing--which has inspired Stewart to testify before a congressional committee and Capra to issue a sickbed plea--is that the movie has been colorized. Movies in the public domain are so defenseless that you could cut one up to make ukulele picks, and who could legally prevent you? And so a garish colorized version--destroying the purity of the classic original black-and-white images--has been seen on cable, is available for local syndication and is sold on cassette.

It is a great irony that the colorized version has been copyrighted, and so many stations are paying a great deal for the rights to an inferior version of a movie that they could show for free in black and white. If I were a local television program director with taste and a love of movies, I would find out when my competitor was going to air his colorized version, and counter-program with the original black-and-white movie, patting myself on the back for a public service. Maybe it could be promoted with a clip of Jimmy Stewart telling Congress, in his inimitable way, "I tried to look at the colorized version, but I had to switch it off--it made me feel sick."

What is remarkable about "It's a Wonderful Life" is how well it holds up over the years; it's one of those ageless movies, like "Casablanca" or "The Third Man," that improves with age. Some movies, even good ones, should only be seen once. When we know how they turn out, they've surrendered their mystery and appeal. Other movies can be viewed an indefinite number of times. Like great music, they improve with familiarity. "It's a Wonderful Life" falls in the second category.

I looked at the movie once again recently, on the splendid video laserdisk edition from the Criterion Collection. The movie works like a strong and fundamental fable, sort of a "Christmas Carol" in reverse: Instead of a mean old man being shown scenes of happiness, we have a hero who plunges into despair.

Here is a clip of what happens when George finds out (with a bit of divine help) he was 'never born'.-YOUTUBE WARNING - The ending is also included so switch off at around 1:50 if you don't want to watch

The hero, of course, is George Bailey (Stewart), a man who never quite makes it out of his quiet birthplace of Bedford Falls. As a young man he dreams of shaking the dust from his shoes and traveling to far-off lands, but one thing and then another keeps him at home -- especially his responsibility to the family savings and loan association, which is the only thing standing between Bedford Falls and the greed of Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), the avaricious local banker.



George marries his high school sweetheart (Donna Reed, in her first starring role), settles down to raise a family, and helps half the poor folks in town buy homes where they can raise their own. Then, when George's absentminded uncle (Thomas Mitchell) misplaces some bank funds during the Christmas season, it looks as if the evil Potter will have his way after all. George loses hope and turns mean (even his face seems to darken, although it's still nice and pink in the colorized version). He despairs, and is standing on a bridge contemplating suicide when an Angel 2nd Class named Clarence (Henry Travers) saves him and shows him what life in Bedford Falls would have been like without him.



Frank Capra never intended "It's a Wonderful Life" to be pigeonholed as a "Christmas picture." This was the first movie he made after returning from service in World War II, and he wanted it to be special--a celebration of the lives and dreams of America's ordinary citizens, who tried the best they could to do the right thing by themselves and their neighbors. After becoming Hollywood's poet of the common man in the 1930s with an extraordinary series of populist parables ("It Happened One Night," "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "You Can't Take It With You"), Capra found the idea for "It's a Wonderful Life" in a story by Philip Van Doren Stern that had been gathering dust on studio shelves.

For Stewart, also recently back in civilian clothes, the movie was a chance to work again with Capra, for whom he had played Mr. Smith. The original trailer for the movie (included on the Criterion disk) played up the love angle between Stewart and Donna Reed and played down the message--but the movie was not a box office hit, and was all but forgotten before the public domain prints began to make their rounds.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is not just a heart-warming "message picture." The conclusion of the film makes such an impact that some of the earlier scenes may be overlooked--such as the slapstick comedy of the high school hop, where the dance floor opens over a swimming pool, and Stewart and Reed accidentally jitterbug right into the water. (This covered pool was not a set but actually existed at Hollywood High School). There's also the drama of George rescuing his younger brother from a fall through the ice, and the scene where Donna Reed loses her bathrobe and Stewart ends up talking to the shrubbery. The telephone scene--where an angry Stewart and Reed find themselves helplessly drawn toward each other--is wonderfully romantically charged. And the darker later passages have an elemental power, as the drunken George Bailey staggers through a town he wants to hate, and then revisits it through the help of a gentle angel. Even the corniest scenes in the movie--those galaxies that wink while the heavens consult on George's fate--work because they are so disarmingly simple. A more sophisticated approach might have seemed labored.

"It's a Wonderful Life" did little for Frank Capra's postwar career, and indeed he never regained the box office magic that he had during the 1930s. Such later films as "State of the Union" (1948) and "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961) have the Capra touch but not the magic, and the director did not make another feature after 1961. But he remained hale and hearty until a stroke slowed him in the late 1980s; and he died in 1991. At a seminar with some film students in the 1970s he was asked if there were still a way to make movies about the kinds of values and ideals found in the Capra films.

"Well, if there isn't," he said, "we might as well give up."

[zakk]

I love love love LOVE It's A Wonderful Life! I can watch that movie from start to finish anytime it comes on. AAAAHHHHHH.

[Aryan_]

[Anderson]

Gigli.....

[Jamroll]

Pursuit of Happyness.

[IbnMardhiyah]

Jamroll said

Pursuit of Happyness.

yea.

co-signed

[Skinwalker]

zakk said

I love love love LOVE It's A Wonderful Life! I can watch that movie from start to finish anytime it comes on. AAAAHHHHHH.

Glad you're a fan like me zakk! I never get tired of it either.

[Skinwalker]

Jamroll said

Pursuit of Happyness.

Yeah I saw that film recently. A truly inspiring film. One of those against all odds films that inspires and teaches.

[Wolfn]

[IbnMardhiyah]

The Secret.

At first glance, it seems kinda cliche and lame ... until you realize so much of it is in Islam already, and even all that which is in Islam already, you didn't know about or realize fully. If there is anyone out there who wants to turn their life around, set major goals, rock it with real optimism almost all the time and have less stress in your life, then you need to watch this movie.

[Fortune]

[Kona_Silat]

Wolfn said

Tatunga..Buffalo.. Dumb bear

Some of the movies mentioned are not exactly feel good movies..i don't know about Deer hunter.

I would say Shawshank Redemption is a feel good movie.

[kamuzrana]

Amelie makes me feel the world is a better place. I can watch it forever and ever and then after I am filled with hope and happiness.

[zzze]

asslamau al aykum

I thought amelie straight away

[Skinwalker]

Haven't seen Amelie. Plan to see it one day.

Ah Kona. You beat me to the punch! Yep. Dances with Wolves is inspiring also. Shows how the West was lost and one of the first films to show the tragedy of it all in terms that an audience could sympathize with on a smaller scale.

I also like Braveheart-YOUTUBE. That belongs in this category.



Edward I of England, known as "Longshanks," has occupied much of Scotland, and his oppressive rule there leads to the deaths of William Wallace's father and brother. Years later and after Wallace has grown up with his uncle outside of Scotland, the Scots continue to live under the harsh thumb of Longshanks' cruel laws. Wallace returns, intent on living as a farmer and avoiding involvement in the ongoing "Troubles." Wallace rekindles a romance with his childhood friend Murron after showing her the carefully preserved thistle she gave him as a child, and the two marry in secret to avoid the primae noctis decree the King has set forth. After Wallace beats up a group of English soldiers attempting to rape Murron, the village Sheriff publicly cuts her throat before Wallace is able to save her. An enraged Wallace, with the assistance of his fellow townsmen, slaughters the English soldiers at the encampment, killing the sheriff in the same manner that Murron was killed. He then orders the burning of the local English fort, and unintentionally kindles a Scottish rebellion.

News of the rebellion spreads quickly, and hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans volunteer to join Wallace's militia. Wallace leads his army through a series of successful battles against the English, including the Battle of Stirling and sacking the city of York. However, he is betrayed by the Scottish nobility and defeated at the Battle of Falkirk. He goes into hiding, fighting a guerrilla war against English forces and personally executes two Scottish nobles who betrayed him. Meanwhile, Princess Isabelle, whose husband Prince Edward (Longshanks's effeminate son and heir) ignores her, meets with Wallace as the English King's emissary. She and Wallace share a tryst, during which she conceives Wallace's child. Still believing there is some good in the nobility of his country, Wallace eventually agrees to meet with the Bruce. He is caught in a trap set by the elder Bruce and the other nobles, beaten unconscious, and handed over to the English Crown. Robert the Bruce is enraged by his father's treachery, and disowns him forever.

In London, Wallace is brought before the English magistrates and tried for high treason. He denies the charges, reasoning that he had never accepted Edward as his King. The court responds by sentencing him to be "purified by pain." Later, in a London square, William Wallace is brutally tortured to death, being alternately hanged, racked, and finally disemboweled alive. He signals to the magistrate that he wishes to speak. Using the last ounce of strength in his tortured body, he cries out, "FREEDOM!". He turns his head and sees Murron in the crowd smiling at him, and smiles lovingly back at her as he is finally beheaded.

Some time later, Robert the Bruce takes control of the remaining Scottish army and faces a ceremonial line of English troops at the fields of Bannockburn. Cheering Wallace's name, Robert Bruce and the Scots charge the stunned English lines and win their freedom.

Who can forget his awesome speech to his fellow Scots ... "They may take our lives ... but they will never take our FREEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!"