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Discuss whether “It’s a Wonderful Life” seems to conform to the model of the "Classical Hollywood Cinema. What motivates the action? Do any characters have goals? Does the film exhibit techniques which maintain continuity? Is the narration generally omniscient, or restricted in some way? How does it potentially embody the basic traits of classical Hollywood narrative (causality, motivation, goal-oriented protagonists, etc.)? Classical Narration of any HOLLYWOOD CINEMA are fundamentally broken down to the following elements, namely- action springing from the individual characters as “usual agents”, Concentrated preliminary exposition which trigger strong “First Impressions” which become the basis for our expectations across the whole film – known simply as the “Primary Effect ” -along side with other chief characteristics including , Desire which functions to get the narrative going, Goals- which shape our expectations, , Cause and effect – implying change (maintaining continuity), Motivation strives to be as clear and complete as possible, Repetition of story information, Self-Conscious, omniscience and communicative degree of narration implications, Strong Objective narration, and finally Strong Degree of closure at the end. We shall now analyze each element as stipulated above in greater depth with reference to the Classic Hollywood Film, “IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE” by Frank Capra.The story revolves around the hero , George Bailey (James Steward).,whom never seems to come out of his quiet birthplace in Old Bedford Falls. As a young, vivacious, enthusiastic man; he dreams of making it big in the world. He longs to travel off to the far ends of the earth to accomplish his lifelong ambitions- One to travel extensively around the globe and second to gain entry into college and become an architect himself. Circumstances hindered him from doing so. He gave it all up to stay home (Bedford Falls) to manage the Bailey Building and Loan Society which he overtook after his father’s (Peter Bailey) death. In the entire movie, George lived by a creed-that was-he continued to place the human needs of others above riches, as a result, as seen in the end his friends and family in times of great need are there for him in good and bad times. Each character has certain traits and reacts to certain situations as an agent of action and decision. In “It’s A Wonderful Life” though George may appear as suave, strong , good shoulder his head kind of an individual who has got everything under control seem to lose his grip when the situation gets out of hand. When reality sets in, he takes it on in great despair. In the scene where he despontely wonders outside into the dark, snowy night and drives aimlessly in his car. In his state of drunkenness he crashes his car into a tree and comes out of it alive and decides to tread on foot. In the next scene he heads for the bridge with the water pounding in great waves of the icy water and decides to do the unethical form of death, for his absent-minded uncle bailey (Thomas Bailey) misplaced a large amount of eight thousand dollars in cold hard cash. Unable to find a solution to rectify the predicament that his uncle had left him in, George does the unthinkable –He contemplates to commit suicide. In here the audience is made to question his principle and moral ambiguity of his life. It showcased an element of dark side. Throughout the movie, George solves everyone else’s problem but now seem dump-founded when the tables are turned onto him, he seemed ‘paralyzed’ to find an amicable solution for himself. The character played by Clarence (Henry Travers), George’s lovable bumbling guardian angel, whom was sent by the almighty above, to arrive in Bedford Falls and prove to George that life is worth living for. As his angel, Clarence reacts to George’s situation by using reverse psychology on him. In the scene where they were in the shed, Clarence pointed out the fact that by jumping into the water himself he had inevitably allowed George to save him.
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