Five films about family to watch for Thanksgiving

Long before our current pandemic, we had this strange ritual where we would gather around the table with our dysfunctional families for a week just to survive one dinner and watch football. With a Thanksgiving that, for many, will lack the traditions that characterize the holiday, at least these films remind us of what makes it important, family. Whether depicting biological, chosen, or even crime families, these films are affecting portraits of family units.

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

This Orson Welles epic portrays the decline of a wealthy family in the early 20th Century. Welles juxtaposes the fortunes of the Ambersons with a constantly changing America they are unable to adapt to. This is a frank look at a tumultuous family as old feuds, unrequited love, and a neglected business tear the Ambersons apart. The film was famously cut by RKO without Welles’ approval, with a tacked-on happy ending. However, the studio cut ending is powerful in showing how even the most tumultuous of relationships can be reconciled.

The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic saga of the Corleone family once again places family drama on an epic scale. The family bond is of utmost importance to the Mob and Coppola looks at how these ties can build and corrode due to the inherently violent and cutthroat nature of the business. A classic portrait of one family’s intense devotion to each other.

Crooklyn (1994)

This semi-autobiographical Spike Lee Joint follows the Carmichael family during the summer of 1973. This pick carries some bias as watching the film was a Thanksgiving tradition for this writer. With a period 70’s soundtrack and expressive direction from Lee, the film remains a heartfelt and nostalgic look at a family.

Boogie Nights (1997)

Few filmmakers have consistently looked at family ties as Paul Thomas Anderson. Whether it be the father-son relationship at the heart of There Will Be Blood or Barry Egan’s seven sisters, family in Anderson’s films are usually a source of estrangement or alienation. In Boogie Nights, the characters, who work as adult entertainers, have been abandoned or shunned by their traditional family, especially in the case of Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg). As a result, these close-knit characters have created a surrogate family, lovingly portrayed in the final scene.

Shoplifters (2018)

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film follows a group of shoplifters as they struggle to live in Tokyo. The group becomes a tight-knit family, even taking in an abandoned young girl. Kore-eda has stated he began developing the film with the question “What makes a family?” The result is one of the most touching films of the past decade as the group attempts to lead a domestic family life in spite of the painful realities of poverty.

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