Most Capra-corn Film From Capra?
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Chwelve — 19 years ago(December 10, 2006 04:58 PM)
I don't know if I totally understand the "Capra-corn" label. "It's A Wonderful Life," as the rest of his work, seems to have a lot of pretty dark stuff going on in itI don't think it would be as inspirational or moving or whatnot if it wasn't there.
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biograph_company — 18 years ago(April 23, 2007 05:29 PM)
Absoltutely, I agreb68e. Someone with brains! WOW. (That IS meant as a compliment). Capra Corn? MY AS#! Let's talk about the metephor for todays films, like "Tarantino terror" there's a synonym.
Thomas R. Bond II
Biograph Company -
masterofmydomain78 — 18 years ago(April 24, 2007 01:47 PM)
"Capra-Corn" is one of the most stupid labels ever, period.
And I've found this, taken from http://www.gildasattic.com/fcapra.html
"Frank Capra remains one of the cinemas most provocative and intellectually stimulating directors. His work has been the subject of countless analyses, including those by Jeanine Basinger, Leland Poague, and Raymond Carney whose brilliant study of the filmmaker links him to American transcendentalism and romantic painting. His work has been a continued source of inspiration to such later directors as Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, and John Cassavetes, and Japans Aki2000ra Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima. He has received virtually universal praise for his exceptional cinematic skills and his unusual gift for directing players. It was Capra who made Barbara Stanwyck and Jean Arthur stars and helped shape the screen images of Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Clark Gable, and Claudette Colbert. And from the standpoint of his thematics, the Sicilian immigrant, along with John Ford, was the director who was most responsible for expressing the American national consciousness on screen in the 30s and 40s. However, Capra still has fierce detractors, like Joseph McBride whose extremely negative biography of the director depicts him as an opportunist more interested in self-promotion than the ideals expressed in his films. McBrides one-sided interpretation, deriving from his highly selective approach to research, was embraced by critics who had long disparaged the filmmaker as the sweetly sentimental purveyor of "Capracorn." Ironically, this view of Capra as a complacent manipulator of mass emotions has also been promulgated by his latter-day conservative admirers who have sought to recast him as the "family values" director in contrast to contemporary Hollywoods supposed ultraliberalism. Even among the critics who most appreciate him as a subtle and powerful artist, there are sharp divisions between those who revere him as an idealist with an affirmative vision of mankind and those who see his point of view as darker and much more despairing. In truth, Capra resists any attempts at simple categorization because his work is multi-layered. Much like his literary antecedents, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, Capra was both a popular humorous entertainer and a complex visionary artist. Also like Dickens and Twain, Capra was simultaneously radical and conservative in his outlook, a romantic and a realist in his aesthetics, a man of both tremendous faith and immense doubt. The force and enthusiasm with which he developed and transmitted his vision galvanized his gifted collaborators who responded with equal conviction to his magnetism. The architect of his films from start to finish, Frank Capra was one of films premier geniuses who helped to realize the arts full potential through a body of work that continues to challenge and appeal to the mind and heart."
And that's it!!! -
masterofmydomain78 — 19 years ago(December 22, 2006 08:25 PM)
(I don't know if I totally understand the "Capra-corn" label. "It's A Wonderful Life," as the rest of his work, seems to have a lot of pretty dark stuff going on in it)
Totally agree, just take a look to "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" and the portray of the politicians, in fact this film is even more actual today.
Many people seems to forget that Frank Capra is one of the greatest critics of the hipocresy behind the "American Way Of Life".
Some people only see the surface of his movies, but a closer look reveals a lot of dark tb68hemes hidden in this so called "Corny histories"
(Does no one see the Capraesque characteristics in "The Majestic." This to me has to be one of the top films to relate to Capra's style)
Capra is one of the most influential directors ever, his touch can be seen in every kind of movies, there's the obvious choices like "Groundhog Day" or "Dave", but what about films like "Back To The Future", "The Truman Show" or even more dark movies like "Blue Velvet" ? -
Dancon7 — 19 years ago(March 05, 2007 09:36 AM)
"What are the Capra touches in Blue Velvet?"
Well, in It's A Wonderful Life, George Bailey gets hit in the ear and starts bleeding, and in Blue Velvet they find a severed ear with ants crawling all over it. So there you go. -
thapie — 19 years ago(March 06, 2007 02:49 PM)
i think the term capracorn is a very old shopworn saying that has stuck and i can see where it comes into play in some of his films but not enough to realy stop their value as classics.
and in blue velvet frank was a gas huffer and in it's a wonderful life mr. gower sure lookd like a gas huffer! -
SaintMark5 — 19 years ago(March 31, 2007 04:03 PM)
"in Blue Velvet they find a severed ear with ants crawling all over it"
This, I would venture to suggest, is more of a reference to1354 the hand with ants crawling out in Bunuel and Dali's Un Chien Andalou, of whom Lynch was a huge fan. -
masterofmydomain78 — 18 years ago(April 22, 2007 02:41 AM)
(What are the Capra touches in Blue Velvet?)
The despiction of a small community, the definition of the different inhabitans (All them importants, some in a lesser degree) and the most relevant touch the portray of the small community gives us at first a sense of a very "American Way of Life", but only in the surface, because hidden in this town, there's a lot of dark stuff.
As an example, in "It's A Wonderful Life" we can see that without George Bailey, the town became REALLY evil (crime, gambling, prostitution, bad politicians, etc.)
A spooky kind of town like Twin Peaks or Lumberton, two archetypical cities created by David Lynch.
Or course in the film of Capra all ended well, but in the alternate reality that the angel Clarence show us, we can see that this little american town can be potentially VERY evil. -
marvel88 — 18 years ago(August 21, 2007 04:41 PM)
Yeah, that term is just stupid. Capra certainly did deal with very dark topics. In a way, the crowd scene near the end of "Meet John Doe" could be very frightening if considered from a certain point, as well as the way Jim Taylor handles the small-town press in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Though these are dark, there's no reason Frank Capra had to be Bergman and not allow his films to end the RIGHT way. There's nothing wrong with inspiration.
"I know you're in there, Fagerstrom!"-Conan O'Brien -
ZildjianDFW — 16 years ago(December 12, 2009 10:45 AM)
The film world, especially the more snobby, pseudo-intellectual crowd, has had a tendency to belittle Capra and his films, coining words like "Capra-corn" to make him seem like a Disney Land ride. For some reason, a certain sector of the art world, including in film, has developed this notion that if a work is depressing, tragic, cynical, and such, is intrinsically more valid than a work that is uplifting and inspiring. The fact of life is this: life is hard, but a phoenix can only rise when it's burned. Great tragedy can lead to great growth. And that's what Capra's films show. All of them (except maybe the more light-hearted comedies) show characters that go through hard times but come to the other side stronger for it. Many of his movies are actually pretty dark. "It's a Wonderful Life", for example, was controversial in its time for being TOO dark. But the film-snobs don't like Capra because his movies are ultimately optimistic. It's a lot easier to succumb to the darkness than it is to face it and walk through it.
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wjm6292 — 13 years ago(July 04, 2012 06:50 PM)
its easy to poke fun at the corniness of some of his movies, as many could almost be considered fairy tales. i actually think lost horizon was his best movie. and based on his body of work, if someone put him at the top of the list of great directors i would not argue
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elisedfr — 12 years ago(May 18, 2013 02:46 AM)
HuhI don't think It's a Wondeful Life is corny. Or it's the most tortured and imaginative corny film I've ever seen. Frankly, when poor George Bailey arrived to the "new" town and none of his friends or family recognize him, I call it disturbing.
I'd say High Hopes even though I enjoyed some moments of it. I have never seen the Bing Crosby-Jane Wyman one though but I don't really want to.
If I'm not mistaken the term Capra-corn was invented by a critic in the 50's for his new, more harmless movies. It's a bit streched out to use it for anterior, far more complex movies.
" You ain't running this place, Bert, WILLIAMS is!" Sgt Harris