When director Bob Clark was making "A Christmas Story" in 1983, he probably didn't know that it would go on to be a classic -- that 20 years after the fact, there would be cable TV stations that play the movie round the clock on Christmas day. As far as he knew, he was just converting the popular written and spoken work of Jean Shepherd, whose essays often dealt with his childhood in the 1940's Midwest.
Culled from a number of different pieces by Jean Shepherd, and a few inventions of the director and cast, "A Christmas Story" is comprised not of a single story, but a number of Christmastime vignettes featuring the same family, all with a common element running through them (whether in the background or foreground). That element is quest of Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), one of the family's two boys, to receive the ultimate Christmas gift: a Red Ryder BB gun, or as he calls it, "an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle".
Ralphie is absolutely obsessed with obtaining the BB gun. He leaves Red Ryder advertisements in his parents magazines, he fantasizes about saving his family from robbers, and even seeks out Santa's help when him mom tells him "you'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie's quest is so important to him, his desire so strong, that the viewer can't help but identify with him, even if the Christmas present they once wanted above all others wasn't a BB gun.
The narrative structure employed by "A Christmas Story" is not uncommon -- the most well-known example, apart from the movie itself, is "The Wonder Years", a TV show about a young boy narrated by his adult self. The juxtaposition of young Ralphie's actions with old Ralphie's words and thoughts makes his quest seem even more all-important, and creates not just a little hyperbole on the behalf of the elder Ralphie's memories.
"A Christmas Story" is sweet, but it is far from saccharine. From Ralphie's constantly swearing father (a man seemingly ahead of his time) to the bitter "Battle of the Lamp", the film takes turns satirizing and paying tribute to life in the 1940's, especially during Christmas.
If there is any reason that "A Christmas Story" has risen to stand with such movies as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 13th Street", it's because it is honest. The movie pulls no punches (except perhaps in the case of a certain word that isn't "fudge") and doesn't try to paint an overly idealized or cynical portrait of the era at hand. By using the actual memories of author (and in the movie, narrator) Jean Shepherd, "A Christmas Story" is infused with enough life and relevance to make it worthy of being a Christmas classic.
Culled from a number of different pieces by Jean Shepherd, and a few inventions of the director and cast, "A Christmas Story" is comprised not of a single story, but a number of Christmastime vignettes featuring the same family, all with a common element running through them (whether in the background or foreground). That element is quest of Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), one of the family's two boys, to receive the ultimate Christmas gift: a Red Ryder BB gun, or as he calls it, "an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle".
Ralphie is absolutely obsessed with obtaining the BB gun. He leaves Red Ryder advertisements in his parents magazines, he fantasizes about saving his family from robbers, and even seeks out Santa's help when him mom tells him "you'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie's quest is so important to him, his desire so strong, that the viewer can't help but identify with him, even if the Christmas present they once wanted above all others wasn't a BB gun.
The narrative structure employed by "A Christmas Story" is not uncommon -- the most well-known example, apart from the movie itself, is "The Wonder Years", a TV show about a young boy narrated by his adult self. The juxtaposition of young Ralphie's actions with old Ralphie's words and thoughts makes his quest seem even more all-important, and creates not just a little hyperbole on the behalf of the elder Ralphie's memories.
"A Christmas Story" is sweet, but it is far from saccharine. From Ralphie's constantly swearing father (a man seemingly ahead of his time) to the bitter "Battle of the Lamp", the film takes turns satirizing and paying tribute to life in the 1940's, especially during Christmas.
If there is any reason that "A Christmas Story" has risen to stand with such movies as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 13th Street", it's because it is honest. The movie pulls no punches (except perhaps in the case of a certain word that isn't "fudge") and doesn't try to paint an overly idealized or cynical portrait of the era at hand. By using the actual memories of author (and in the movie, narrator) Jean Shepherd, "A Christmas Story" is infused with enough life and relevance to make it worthy of being a Christmas classic.