Let's get something said straight off the bat: this film was one of the finest supporting performances I've seen, and one of Peter O'Toole's finest period. He was the absolute catalyst, conscience, and integrity of this story, which is partly autobiographical concerning its subject: Thomas Kinkade, the Painter of Light.
The true-to-life film stays put within the timeframe of a couple of weeks before Christmas (in 1978) in the life of the artist in his hometown, so it is difficult to criticize the plot. But one element that is quickly drawn out: the town is hurting, a shadow of its implied former glory--much like Radiator Springs in Disney/Pixar's Cars. And not just the town, but the people residing within. A father still grieves for his son, killed in Vietnam; the town loafer feels less than useful beyond his gossip services; the beauty queen is relegated with little else to do but flirt her way to another beauty crown far beneath her aspirations to be an actress; an electrician and snooty church couple have relegated Christmas to a holiday lighting competition; a renowned artist is utterly failing to deal with the physical limitations of old age and the passing of his true love.
Young Thomas Kinkade's life is hardly a happy place to be. His father has ditched his family for an opportunity to run a pizzeria in Sacramento (not an hour away); his mother has lost her job and is weeks away from losing the family home (unbeknownst to her two children, or anyone else); Thom's love interest would have him shake Placerville from his soles and move to the city where she believes his art talents can be only appreciated.
There are so many lines of utter beauty in this film--mostly delivered by Peter O'Toole's "Glen"--that one could keep a Facebook status busy for a week:
- "Don't reduce art to something about the artist. Art isn't about the artist it is about life."
- "Art should bring emotion that can topple tyranny."
- "[Art] is the chance to illuminate where you live, to inspire your neighbors."
- "Do you think that because [your neighbors] aren't sophisticated they don't deserve your best art?"
- "[If] you are willing really to see with your eyes and your heart, one image can change lives; you can introduce men to their souls."
That last quote really made me consider Kinkade's critics. The hundreds (thousands?) who believe that Kinkade isn't a "true artist" because he has successfully commercialized his art, bringing it to millions. And what's worse, Kinkade is a man of deep Christian faith and American patriotism--two marks wholly out of favour with the sophisticated art connoisseur. They claim that his art is unnatural; that the homes look like they are comically ablaze with fire from within, while light with "no source" reflects upon exterior landscapes.
What these critics do not grasp, by want or ignorance, is that Thomas Kinkade does not paint the light of science. These critics have long stopped believing in miracles or the True Light that is God. They see life as drab, something to suffer. Dark. They do not see Kinkade's art with their eyes AND their heart; they do not want to be (re)introduced with their souls--or the One who created them. Thomas Kinkade paints a light that they cannot comprehend, and so to them it is rubbish and spiritually diabetic; Kinkade's painted light is idyllic and joyous, emotions they are no longer in touch with. Their attitude recalls Jesus admonition to us all in John 3:19-21.
The light Kinkade paints was glimpsed on a mountain of transfiguration and on Easter morning; it was seen by shepherds and wise men; it was experienced by ordinary men with tongues of flame on their heads so that they might inspire us to see the plan of the God of grace and truth. This light manifests itself to our neighbor through acts of love and charity, of illuminated truth and inspiration. This light consumes the person and their environment like a bonfire because it is the Light of Christ. The light in our lives that appears to have no source is in fact light from The Source shining on his creation and making everything within its rays radiate with beauty, reflecting its Source.
This film puts all of this into action. It throws light into the dark corners of the lives of the people of 1978 Placerville. Watching the light play across their faces as they crawl out of their hibernation is a joy. The movie is built upon a simple concept hardly foreign to storytelling, but it is a concept too often poorly executed in two-dimensional contexts or in innumerable shades of diluted politically-correct grey.
The Christmas Cottage squarely identifies the Christian faith as life-changing light, and its critics largely echo the same mantra as Kinkade's. No matter. Even with the story's largely predictable course, it's a path that is more than relevant; it is a path populated with people and events serving as necessary reminders each Christmas that inspiration need not always extend over the horizon. And don't forget about the light of the sky breaking through the dark forest.
GRADES (based on a 32" Dynex HDTV & a Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-ray player):
Film: A+
Blu-ray: B+ (video), A (audio), A- (extras--includes a feature commentary with Thomas Kinkade and deleted scenes, but the rest of the extras felt a bit thin on content)
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