Photo12An image from Home Alone, one of the Christmas classics
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:00
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Jules Jessurun
editor Online
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Jules Jessurun
editor Online
Candy Cane Lane, Klaus, The Christmas Chronicles, The Nightmare Before Christmas, First Aid at Christmas and of course Home Alone: this is a small selection of the Christmas films that can be seen on TV and streaming services this year. But finding really good films on offer is sometimes quite difficult, say film experts.
Many Christmas films have always been made in the United States, but not all productions found their way to the Netherlands, says film critic Wilfred Takken. For NRC Since 2018, he has been watching the new Christmas films that appear on streaming services. “Streamers have increased the reach, you can put all the junk on it.”
He is mainly referring to the so-called Hallmark Christmas films that can also be seen on TV on RTL 8 and on streaming services, including Videoland and Prime. These films were originally made for the American Hallmark television channel, which fills the network with them every year from October.
Also a film journalist at NPO 3 and VPRO Cinema Extra Noa Johannes, who likes to watch Christmas films this period, speaks of a “mega offer”. “It really kills you. You can no longer see the forest for the Christmas trees: wonderful!”
An illustration of that offer: Variety charted that Hallmark last year forty films released that take place during the Christmas holidays. And then there is competitor Lifetime, which also produces many of these films. The Christmas film offering on streaming services is supplemented with old cinema films and original productions, of which more are released every year.
NOS/Froukje VisserThe ten best Christmas films according to critics
Both reviewers mainly mention Hallmark films as having lower quality films. Johannes speaks of “the fast food among Christmas films”, guilty pleasures. “The quality bar is lower, but there is a large audience for it.”
Takken: “These are usually very conservative rom-coms with an often busy woman from the big city who is successful, but misses something. She then withdraws to her native village and falls in love with a childhood friend.”
These types of formula films are still popular, but Takken sees more variation on streaming services. “For example, there are stories about gay couples. And you see a little more color and films with a predominantly black cast.”
Imago Stock & People GmbHSene from the Christmas film Dashing through the snow, which has been shown on Disney+ since last month
Yet he says that there are also aspects that, according to him, you would not accept in other films. He mentions, among other things, “the pot of sugar” that has been spread over the films: the cloyingly sweet nature of many of these films. “You look less critically. You accept things that you normally wouldn’t accept.”
Johannes acknowledges that as a critic she sometimes sets the bar a little lower than normal when watching Christmas films. “But that does not mean that very good Christmas films are not being made. Because also within the genre there are films that can not only be viewed from a nostalgic point of view, but that are really well put together.”
She cites classics such as: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) in The Holiday (2006), but also The Holdovers, it came out this year.
NOS/Froukje VisserChristmas films with the highest grosses
Johannes mentions as an example of a successful Christmas film in recent years Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey from 2020. This Netflix musical film is about a toymaker who, among other things, searches for a stolen invention with his granddaughter. The film was made by black director David Talbert, who was a big fan of Christmas films.
Johannes: “He wanted to share that passion with his own child and saw that many of those films had almost no main characters of color. He didn’t mind that, but he did think: let me make my own magical film with a colorful cast.”
She also mentions the Claus familyseries as an example of successful Christmas films in recent years, a Flemish-Dutch co-production about a boy who helps his grandfather, who is Santa Claus.
Although not a Christmas film, but a Christmas series on Netflix, both film experts mention the Norwegian Christmas comedy series Home for Christmas as a good example of a truly refreshing production. Johannes: “He’s not afraid to color outside the lines. Nice and quick and not too well-behaved.” Takken also praises the Norwegian series Christmas stormfrom the same makers.
Classics?
Whether these titles will really become classics like Love Actually in Home Alone, they dare not say. “In any case, I don’t think you will get films that will replace the most popular classics,” says Johannes. “A title like Home Alone will last a very long time. Every generation shares this with its children.”
Takken thinks that some new films have the potential to become a Christmas classic. “It is always possible. For the film studios it is just like with Christmas songs: it is a hundred shots and then one hit.”
2023-12-23 15:00:01
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