I’ve seen ‘It’s a wonderful life’ a number of times now. I know what happens and yet each time the ending moves me emotionally. The ending is so powerful that it is most likely the reason the movie has lasted throughout the ages. So while it’s still fresh in my memory I’m going to have a stab at why it’s so powerful.
Well first off you have an extremely likable main character in George Bailey. A guy who’s been extremely generous to everyone he meets but is thwarted at every turn by bad luck from achieving his greatest desire of travelling the world. As an audience member you become extremely frustrated on his behalf and just want to see him happy.
Then after he sees what life would be like without him, George has a new lease on life. He’s extremely grateful for everything he has, even that drafty old house. As an audience member we’re glad to see him happy but he still has to face the reality of the money owed and the beckoning prison sentence.
Therefore I believe that it is the overwhelming joy when the townspeople bring in the money that is key to it’s powerful ending. They are smiling and saying they ran over straight away as soon as they heard he was in trouble. Also the carefree nature of how they donate the money. They just dump it on the table, like Martini who just upends a jar full of money onto the table.
Another aspect is the building of the joy. After donating each person stays in the house, creating an atmosphere. At first it’s just a few townspeople but by the end, the warrant for George’s arrest is torn up, $25,000 is wired over (well clearing the missing 8,000 owed), Harry has left the white house to come toast his brother and the heaving house breaks into song.
Sometimes these feelgood endings are in danger of being too cheesy but the whole ending scene in this movie feels very sweet and sincere. It’s ordinary people giving everything they can to help out their friend.
Thomas Duggan 