How does a timeless slice of cultural ephemera get turned into a 90 minute TV movie?
It's a long walk from establishing the time, place, and characters of the feature, to giving fictionalized context for the famous editorial. The movie weaves in thematic content including xenophobia, classism, sexism, alcoholism, harassment, wealth inequality, faithlessness in light of unanswered prayers for healing (quell surprise) - and, very early on, drawing a comparison between faith in a god and belief in a Santa Claus from the overly simplified and uninformed perspective of childhood innocence (you're SO close, kid). There's a lot going on here, not even taking into account a rather astonishing cast (a very young Katharine Isabelle! Ed Asner! Charles Bronson!), or strong production design and art direction to bring to life New York at the turn of the century. Attentive costume design, and set design and decoration, are one matter; the screenplay also includes extra period references, and flourishes in the dialogue, to make sure we grasp the time in which the picture is set.
For all that, though - for everything the screenplay broaches, including illness, loss, grief, hopelessness - the film is gratifyingly sincere, and refuses the easy melodrama or otherwise embellishment that would dilute the story it has to tell. Characters have refreshing personality, dialogue is real and heartfelt, scene writing is unexpectedly rich and compelling, and the overall narrative is - against all odds - satisfying, and even fulfilling. Yes, there's also astoundingly strong overemphasis on the everlasting import of the editorial, before Virginia even writers her letter; the feature rather inflates itself, and to this end is a bit ham-handed. However, much more so than not, all involved simply work hard to ensure that 'Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus' effectively communicates the same feelings as Francis Church's famous words.
I admire the heart that the assembled actors poured into their roles; even Bronson defies the limits of his low-boiling hardness to give a performance of minor nuance. Charles Bernstein's score rather reflects the romanticized tenderness that pervades the film, but is no less earnest to that point. It could be argued that this production is overly sentimental, too full of good will for its own benefit. But the fact remains that the picture is genuine, and heartwarming, and declines all the artifice that we have come to expect from TV movies. For whatever minor indelicacies or subjective disagreements one may find among the content, 'Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus' is, far and away, a touching piece, ever so excellent in its writing and craft, that I think deserves far more recognition.
How does a timeless slice of cultural ephemera get turned into a 90 minute TV movie? In this case, it turns out, with utmost honesty.
It's a long walk from establishing the time, place, and characters of the feature, to giving fictionalized context for the famous editorial. The movie weaves in thematic content including xenophobia, classism, sexism, alcoholism, harassment, wealth inequality, faithlessness in light of unanswered prayers for healing (quell surprise) - and, very early on, drawing a comparison between faith in a god and belief in a Santa Claus from the overly simplified and uninformed perspective of childhood innocence (you're SO close, kid). There's a lot going on here, not even taking into account a rather astonishing cast (a very young Katharine Isabelle! Ed Asner! Charles Bronson!), or strong production design and art direction to bring to life New York at the turn of the century. Attentive costume design, and set design and decoration, are one matter; the screenplay also includes extra period references, and flourishes in the dialogue, to make sure we grasp the time in which the picture is set.
For all that, though - for everything the screenplay broaches, including illness, loss, grief, hopelessness - the film is gratifyingly sincere, and refuses the easy melodrama or otherwise embellishment that would dilute the story it has to tell. Characters have refreshing personality, dialogue is real and heartfelt, scene writing is unexpectedly rich and compelling, and the overall narrative is - against all odds - satisfying, and even fulfilling. Yes, there's also astoundingly strong overemphasis on the everlasting import of the editorial, before Virginia even writers her letter; the feature rather inflates itself, and to this end is a bit ham-handed. However, much more so than not, all involved simply work hard to ensure that 'Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus' effectively communicates the same feelings as Francis Church's famous words.
I admire the heart that the assembled actors poured into their roles; even Bronson defies the limits of his low-boiling hardness to give a performance of minor nuance. Charles Bernstein's score rather reflects the romanticized tenderness that pervades the film, but is no less earnest to that point. It could be argued that this production is overly sentimental, too full of good will for its own benefit. But the fact remains that the picture is genuine, and heartwarming, and declines all the artifice that we have come to expect from TV movies. For whatever minor indelicacies or subjective disagreements one may find among the content, 'Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus' is, far and away, a touching piece, ever so excellent in its writing and craft, that I think deserves far more recognition.
How does a timeless slice of cultural ephemera get turned into a 90 minute TV movie? In this case, it turns out, with utmost honesty.