Isn’t Life Wonderful

In Brief: Frequently cited as D.W. Griffith's last masterpiece, Isn't Life Wonderful (1924) does mark a break in his career, since it is his last independent film. But its status as a masterpiece strikes me as an overstatement of some note. It showcases nearly every one of Griffith's weaknesses and very few of his strengths. The film is not out of step with the Griffith of this era. There is the marked tendency to tell the story — and how the viewer is supposed to feel about it — through seemingly endless inter-titles. (I suspect Isn't Life Wonderful is unique in including an onscreen title of an excerpt from a review telling the viewer how swell a nameless critic from the New York Evening Post said it was.) The film constantly insists — via titles — on the truthfulness of its title, all the while depicting how lousy life in post-World War I Germany was. However, it is a brave work — foolishly so for a filmmaker in need of a hit to save his studio — in its subject matter. The problem is that there's little of interest in the presentation. Griffith was a great innovator, but you'd never guess that from the bland direction in evidence here up until the final 30 minutes.   The Hendersonville Film Society will show Isn't Life Wonderful Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.