Sure, we all love Elf, Home Alone, Love Actually and maybe even Miracle on 34th Street. But there are also lots of movies that can give us that cozy, but wistful, holiday feeling without being so obvious about it.
For me, it generally starts with multi-colored tree lights and maybe a holiday classic jingling quietly in the background. Sure, there might be automatic weapons, explosions, cursing and absolutely no Santa Claus, but does that mean that can’t be “holiday”? After all, family fights are a long-standing holiday tradition too.
Merry Christmas Mother Lovers
Let’s begin with an action film that is at last gaining recognition as a Christmas classic: Die Hard. Yes, it’s set at Christmas time, and NYPD cop, John McClain, generically estranged from his wife, has flown out to Los Angeles, set on a reunion with his now west-coast-based family. It’s Christmas! The kids! Even his suit-wearing, successful, business wife is bound to succumb!
Reunification obstacles intervene, however, in the form of mercenary faux-terrorists, and after about an hour and twenty minutes of breaking glass, lunk-crushing and adorable alliances, the family reunion is in the bag. Santa’s bag, you might say. About 30 people died, including maybe 10 bad guys, but a happy ending at Christmas-time is a happy ending indeed.
Family Comes First
Along the same lines, let us consider The Godfather, Part I. While not entirely set during the holidays, the film does feature a few key yuletide scenes. To wit, Don Corleone has been seriously wounded (mafia-related gunshots) just before Christmas, and is being cared for in a dark, sparsely decorated Long Island hospital. Multicolored lights? Check. Tinkling music in the background? Check. Snow on the ground? Check. The ICU is lightly staffed because … plot points. The Don’s Number One Son, Michael, is fortuitously visiting his Dad that night and cottons on to the fact that the rival mafiosi have returned to the hospital to finish the Don off.
With the help of one very nervous nurse (who is already in a shit mood because she’s working nights at Christmas) and “I am Enzo, the Baker,” Michael manages to wheel the Don’s hospital bed to safety. Sure, they saved the life of a murderous gangster, but a happy outcome at Christmas-time is still a happy outcome.
Bruges is in Belgium
And last, let us consider the ultimate “unconventional” choice, In Bruges. This offbeat dark comedy — or occasionally humorous catalog of violence, depending on your mood — features two failed Irish hitmen – Ray and Ken – who have been exiled to the city of Bruges while their evil boss, Harry, tries to figure out what to do with them. Spoiler alert: it’s not good. Our Dumb and Dumber protagonists are holed up in Bruges during the Christmas season. Ray fookin’ hates Bruges because he’s “not retarded” (debatable). Ken, on the other hand, rather likes the sleepy medieval town.
Yes, another gangster movie that takes place during Christmastime. Something about the juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane. Let’s be clear, there is nobody to like in this movie. They are all horrible. And also monumentally stupid. In Bruges has made me wonder if it’s a more realistic portrayal of so-called organized crime than the Godfather. The characters are incompetent, they’re violent, they’re racist, they’re sexist and every other non-PC thing you can imagine. They repeatedly make the worst decisions possible.
Ray has botched his hitman career by accidentally killing a young boy while in the process of doing a paid hit on a priest. (Yoikes, what’s the story there?) Ken has fouled up by 1) letting Ray do the hit before he was pro-level and 2) not dispatching Ray immediately upon seeing the murdered kid.
Now here’s the dark comedy part. Ray is near-suicidal about the dead kid. But not quite ready to end himself. And, although he knows it’s expected of him, Ken can’t kill Ray because they’re friends. Until he kind of can. So … friends? Meanwhile evil-boss Harry has hopped on over to Bruges to finish the jobs himself, starting with Ken. However, it turns out that Harry can’t kill Ken unless Ken “gives him a reason,” such as trying to fight back. See, Harry has principles. Everyone knows this.
Let us not forget that it is Christmastime in Bruges. There are multicolored lights, carol-singers, lots of homey cafes and amber pints of beer. Our three heroes spend a fair amount of time in bell-towers and churches, but none of it rubs off on them. After a series of spectacularly dumb decisions, they all end up dead — along with a few additional not-very-nice, but technically innocent, victims.
I did learn a few things from In Bruges. First, I would like to visit Bruges — but maybe only for a day or two. Second, I did not know how close the city was to England. You really could hop right on over.
And third, for me, the thing that qualifies a film as a Christmas movie, even more than twinkly lights, is redemption. A la Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Or It’s a Wonderful Life. Or virtually any Hallmark movie. The main character grows to understand the value of friendship, or family, or community. Their cynicism or despair is banished, and they move forward with hope.
Is there redemption in Die Hard? I say yes. Our estranged couple grasp how much they still love each other and see the value of staying together, even if sacrifices must be made.
Is there redemption in Godfather I ? It’s a little more nuanced than Die Hard, but I still say yes. Michael, who has broken his father’s heart by refusing to join the family business, saves his Dad’s life, ultimately whispering to him “Pop, I’m here”. He has joined with his father, even if he has sacrificed his last scrap of decency to do it.
Is there redemption in In Bruges? The movie toys with us throughout — maybe Ray will truly repent and settle down with a nice girl. Maybe Ken will refuse to kill anyone and open a pub in Bruges. Maybe Harry will decide he really isn’t cut out for the hitman business and let bygones be bygones.
But nope. Nobody repents nothin’ and everybody ends up dead In Bruges. But I guess that’s what makes an independent movie independent. Also, Die Hard and The Godfather were made in the last century, intended for popular consumption and big-deal movie theater releases. By now we’ve seen those two films so many times that the violence and bloodshed isn’t as shocking as it once was. But the gore in In Bruges is hard to watch.
But In Bruges was made in the early 21st century and is twisty, self-aware and full of the contemporary snark that makes redemption unlikely. So it is not, in my opinion, a holiday movie. It is simply set during the season.