It seems hard to believe that for almost 20 years now, just like mulled wine and gingerbread every Christmas, we are also waiting for the screening of Richard Curtis’ 2003 blockbuster “That’s how love is” on one of the TV channels, or – as in the streaming era – significant increase in views. How did this romantic comedy, which is not really very romantic, not very funny, and only tentatively associated with Christmas, manage to win the hearts of viewers around the world and become a true holiday classic?
The “Christmas movie” is a special phenomenon in Western culture, to which the diligent craftsmen of Hollywood have been bringing viewers for decades. Presumably, the jester family comedy “Home Alone” has already become a typical Christmas movie for some Latvian viewers, while for those who are more patriotic, the homemade “Christmas Jampadracis”, but of course the options are much, much wider if we take including all movies about Santas, elves and related creatures.
However, a real Christmas movie does not always have to be primarily aimed at a family audience and serve to amuse children. A great example is Frank Capra’s 1946 drama It’s a Wonderful Life, which today is considered not only one of the best Christmas movies, but also one of the best movies in the history of cinema. And 20 years ago, it was also joined by “That’s Love” – a story by Richard Curtis, a classic of British romantic comedies, about the misadventures of several interconnected Londoners against the background of Christmas decorations and gift-buying fever.
With today’s perspective, it can be seen that “That’s how love is” was created as a pretentious exercise in multi-level storytelling, which was previously so popular in auteur cinema, but with clear ambitions of commercial cinema. It is literally packed with the most popular British actors (Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson, etc.) and the 21st century. artifacts of early British pop culture – especially felt in the film’s soundtrack. In a word, “That’s how love is” was designed as a “sure hit” and it became one.
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2023-12-24 12:07:16
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