RKO Radio Pictures/Liberty Films
There are few pieces of American culture that are more commonly associated with Christmas than Frank Capra’s 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life, which has become a staple of the holiday across the 50 states.
What makes It’s A Wonderful Life so special is how relatable it is — it doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen a movie before or are an iconic director like David Lynch, its theme will resonate with you all the same.
It can be difficult to imagine someone like Lynch — director of iconically dark films such as Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Mulholland Drive, and more — being on the same emotional wavelength, but that’s simply the power of It’s A Wonderful Life (and a misunderstanding of who Lynch was, frankly, as he was a deeply emotional man).
You need to watch late, iconic director David Lynch getting emotional as he breaks down the beauty of It’s A Wonderful Life
Similar to It’s A Wonderful Life being on TV at Christmastime every year, a clip of the late David Lynch reacting to, and breaking down, the emotionality of the film also goes viral like clockwork given its potency. The clip came from Lynch’s filmmaking course on Masterclass.
Released in 1946, Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life starred James Stewart as George Bailey, one of the most beloved and iconic performances in the history of American cinema. Additional cast members included Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond, Frank Faylen, and Gloria Grahame.
It’s A Wonderful Life can currently be found streaming on Amazon Prime Video, although, be warned — the black and white version cuts out a key sequence from the film. The colored version, however, shows the full film.