The best Christmas films that aren’t really about Christmas

By Aaron Wilkinson, 3rd Year, History

With Christmas less than a month away, the shops are starting to play Christmas songs and TV channels across the country begin to shift towards festive films, but there are plenty of Christmas films not really about the holiday that either pop back into relevance for the season or just don’t really bother with the magic of Christmas.

A ritual of British Christmas seems to be the lethargic family unit watching various movies on the television as the food overload slowly passes. As we approach the break I am sure many of you are planning film nights watching Elf (2003), Love, Actually (2003) or other quintessential Christmas films, even Die Hard (1989), which I’m getting out of the way now.

However, for me the fond memories of Christmas don’t invoke films focused on tinsel on a tree. Instead it is the classic cinema that curiously is aired during the festive season despite either a very thin connection or absolutely no relevance to Christmas. So here are some of the best Christmas films, not necessarily about Christmas, from a few different genres.

War Films

For some reason, many TV channels chose a holiday based around family, celebration and traditionally considerable religious overtones to air classic war films such as The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Great Escape (1963), and The Dirty Dozen (1967). For me, no Christmas film compares to the memories of sitting in the front room with my family watching Steve McQueen riding a motorbike around German Occupied Poland, or the fine figure of Gregory Peck climbing up a steep Greek cliff.

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A brilliant film is the British-Japanese Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) which stars David Bowie as a British soldier in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Admittedly set on Christmas Eve and therefore actually a lot more to do with Christmas than others mentioned, it is thoroughly emotional and will definitely make you feel grateful for all that you’ve got.

Personally, the best war film not about Christmas is certainly The Great Escape (1963). I cannot remember a December where it was not played several times on terrestrial TV and its classic characters permeated with great action allow it to pace itself perfectly for the lethargic mood of a post-Christmas dinner watch.

I cannot remember a December where it was not played several times on terrestrial TV

Fantasy Films

Much as war films make a return, there is always a classic trio of films that resurfaces around Christmas. Of course, this is Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), now joined in this category by its prequel, The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014). These films are very much the antithesis of the typical Christmas film, yet to me they truly define the films of the festive season.

This might be because the Christmas holiday is the only point in the year where you have both the time and the excess food and drink necessary to see the whole trilogy through. Let’s not forget that the total length of the director’s cuts is about 11 hours.

Another typical film is Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), a classic children's musical fantasy. I refer here to the version starring Gene Wilder, which is what I remember being aired the most, but in recent years it seems to be sharing the spotlight with the 2005 Johnny Depp version.

The best link I can find from these films to Christmas is the intense amount of chocolate. I can only imagine a trip to the Wonka factory is as bad for the blood sugar as the inevitable gorging on Christmas day.

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Oddly enough, Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (1992) does also take place during a Gotham Christmas, but it’s so downbeat and grey that I don’t think it truly counts as Christmas. While Danny DeVito as the Penguin is glorious to behold, the film feels far too flat and unmemorable to be a classic non-Christmas film.

The Lord of the Rings films definitely take the point here though. The sight of so much chocolate in Willy Wonka has made me feel ill once or twice, usually because I am so full when I get around to watching it. At least with the Lord of the Rings you’ll be ready for the leftovers when you’ve finished them.

Comedy Films

Most of the comedy films around Christmas seem to be American, at least in my experience. The classic John Candy comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) seems to do the rounds and will almost certainly invoke sympathy from those having to deal with the rigmarole of travel in the festive season.

At least with the Lord of the Rings you’ll be ready for the leftovers when you’ve finished them

Personally, the best comedy is Trading Places (1983). Starring comedic greats Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy as an investment banker and a low-life hustler respectively, the film addresses Reaganite capitalism against a Christmas Philadelphia background in one of the best satirical films of the 20th century.

I hope that if you haven’t seen some of these films before, you might just consider putting them onto your Christmas film rotation. They may not be as seasonally relevant as others, but they are all incredible films and classics of Christmas.

Featured: IMDb / Svensk Filmindustri

Which of these genres is your favourite for a Christmas change?