Isn't Life Wonderful

After "The Great War" (later called "World War I"), unfortunately orphaned Carol Dempster (as Inga) goes to Germany, with an also-on-the-move homeless Polish family. There, she waits for handsome soldier Neil Hamilton (as Paul), childhood sweetheart from her "adopted" family. So, living virtuously must have been difficult for the couple, since they grew up together. Presently, Ms. Dempster and Mr. Hamilton find their changes for happiness averted by devastating post-war conditions…

Absent collaborators G.W. Bitzer, Robert Harron, and Lillian Gish might have given director D.W. Griffith another masterpiece with "Isn't Life Wonderful". His closest film-making partner was, by now, protégée Dempster. One of the problems with Dempster is evident herein - note the scene where she forces herself to "smile" while Mr. Hamilton is bedridden; this acting business is swiped from Ms. Gish's "smile" in "Broken Blossoms" (1919); and, Hamilton is directed to act like Mr. Harron.

This doesn't mean Dempster and Hamilton aren't adequate in the parts - but one of Mr. Griffith's problems was pigeonholing an actress like Dempster into something she was not. Griffith directed a "type" - the old lady, the mother, the virginal heroine, the suitor, etc. Herein, he is obviously directing his cast to act like the "types" co-created with performers like Gish and Harron; and, he incorrectly assumes one performer (Dempster) is able to deliver the same kind of performance as another (Gish).

This thematically beautiful film was said to be Griffith's apology for his ostensibly pro-War and necessarily anti-German "Hearts of the World" (1918, with Harron and Gish). But, Griffith apologists should have looked at "Hearts" more closely, and beat a hasty retreat; because, the turnaround began within that film. Like a war weary world, Griffith foresaw a pacifist mood. He knew how to be both ahead of the curve and behind the times; pulling no punches, "Isn't Life Wonderful" serves up blistering pessimistic optimism.

******* Isn't Life Wonderful (11/23/24) D.W. Griffith ~ Carol Dempster, Neil Hamilton, Lupino Lane, Frank Puglia

...but I like this one better than even some of his more celebrated movies. I connected more with the story here, which to me is paramount. Nothing in this movie seemed melodramatic or implausible; even the happy ending shows that the characters still live in simplicity, not luxury. Also, he doesn't rely nearly as much on his sentimental titles; although some are present, it's not enough to be annoying. Even though it's not as groundbreaking as his earlier work, I found it very affecting and real in the best ways. Plus Carol Dempster gives a stellar performance, one of the most moving that I've seen from any era of film.

Griffith does a really good job of showing the horrors of war as they relate to the masses and then personalizing it. We are focused mostly on a family that has connections to all the implications of the First World War. Our primary focus is on lovers, the woman in waiting, and the man with scorched lungs from a gas attack. This war was probably the most devastating ever fought because of the dirty conditions and the hand to hand combat. The Germans used poison mustard gas which killed and maimed. And yet this film has a positive message because humans are resilient and manage to move forward no matter how horrible the cost. A more mature D. W. Griffith film.

Well, after seeing this D. W. Griffith film, it seemed very odd to me that the same director who apparently despised Black people had a very sensitive place in his heart for the German-speaking people following WWI. By the way, if you don't believe me about the "despised Black people" comment, try watching his films BIRTH OF A NATION and HIS TRUST. In both films, the Black actors are in fact Whites wearing makeup. In BIRTH OF A NATION, Blacks are shown as being evil and lazy and out to rape the White women if left unchecked by the wonderful KKK. In HIS TRUST, a Black slave acts like a lapdog in his devotion to his White "betters".

So, despite this awful baggage, it was shocking to see how favorably the former enemy were treated in this film. The main characters are Germans who had lived in land previously part of the old Germany--now part of Poland. They moved back to their ethnic homeland and settled into an impoverished Berlin. This sensitivity towards America's former enemy actually mirrored the change in attitude in general in the US, as people were now reassessing their role in the war and many felt, in hindsight, that we should have just stayed neutral.

The film shows the daily privations of this family as they just try to survive. Starvation and the difficulties of existing, interestingly enough, do NOT destroy or diminish their humanity--though it does do this to some of their fellow countrymen. This abiding faith and goodness in the face of adversity is why the film is entitled "ISN'T LIFE WONDERFUL". And, despite Griffith's tendency to often use "schmaltz" and heavy-handed melodrama in his films, this is a pretty restrained and beautiful movie.

Not as mind blowing as "Intolerance", as Epic as "Birth of a nation" or beautiful as "Broken Blossoms", this film still holds up very well in Griffith's catalogue. Some great stuff, and many masterly sequences. Funnily, this was made at a time when Griffith's influence and credibility was waning, but in many ways this film is as influential as any of his others. "Isn't life wonderful" takes social realism to a new heightened level, and had immediate impact on G.W. Pabst when he made "Joyless Streets", which in turn influenced the entire Italian Neo-realist movement! This film confirms Griffith's position as the most important director of them all.