It Was a Wonderful Life

Starring:Alice (XII), Marjorie Bard, Dennis Cohen, Wayne Doss, Jodie Foster, Jeanette Goldberg, Lou Hall, Linda Hernandez, Josephine, Marie (XI), Steve Renehan, Reena Sands, Terry (VIII), Gordon Tuthill
Studio: New Video Group
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The 1992 documentary It Was a Wonderful Life won several awards for its depiction of homeless women--the "hidden homeless" who don't sit on the streets and beg for change, but who live in motels and cars, often with children, while they desperately try to set their lives right. Several of the movie's subjects were left helpless from a bad divorce; one woman, a former singer, was abandoned by her affluent husband while pregnant with his sixth child. He now avoids paying child support, trusting in an over-loaded bureaucracy with limited power to enforce the law. It Was a Wonderful Life isn't the most artfully made documentary, but after listening to the revealing stories of these women--all struggling but determined to survive--you'll find yourself sizing up your own life, wondering if a brief illness or a lost job could steal your own life away. Narrated by Jodie Foster with music by Melissa Etheridge. --Bret Fetzer
Description
In this award-winning festival standout, Academy Award nominee Michèle Ohayon (Colors Straight Up) presents a riveting and powerful account of six women who are members of America's growing "hidden homeless" population. Narrated by Jodie Foster, and with

Average customer rating:

Great Documentary

Haunting and tragic

It Was a Wonderful Life

Unsettling, if you're a twentysomething suburbanite

Unsettling, if you're a middle-aged woman without security

It Was a Wonderful Life
Starring: Alice (XII) , Marjorie Bard , Dennis Cohen , Wayne Doss , and Jodie Foster
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00016XNI4
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Amazon.com

The 1992 documentary It Was a Wonderful Life won several awards for its depiction of homeless women--the "hidden homeless" who don't sit on the streets and beg for change, but who live in motels and cars, often with children, while they desperately try to set their lives right. Several of the movie's subjects were left helpless from a bad divorce; one woman, a former singer, was abandoned by her affluent husband while pregnant with his sixth child. He now avoids paying child support, trusting in an over-loaded bureaucracy with limited power to enforce the law. It Was a Wonderful Life isn't the most artfully made documentary, but after listening to the revealing stories of these women--all struggling but determined to survive--you'll find yourself sizing up your own life, wondering if a brief illness or a lost job could steal your own life away. Narrated by Jodie Foster with music by Melissa Etheridge. --Bret Fetzer

Description

In this award-winning festival standout, Academy Award nominee Michèle Ohayon (Colors Straight Up) presents a riveting and powerful account of six women who are members of America's growing "hidden homeless" population. Narrated by Jodie Foster, and with

Customer Reviews:

Great Documentary.......2007-05-10

Although this documentary was done fifteen years ago, I rented it because of the title. I find it interesting to know how women do end up homeless. I remember Sixty Minutes doing a segment on homeless women when I was in high school. I have to say that these women are more resourceful than a woman who has a job and a home.
It's a shame that our legal system can barely do anything to help these women to get back on their feet. Yet, they can respond quickly to high-profile cases that are sometimes too outrageous or frivilous. These were women who had good, if not great lives. They were married with children. Some of them were working to make ends meets and not having to worry about tomorrow. Then something happened.
Marital discord, medical injury, loss of employment turned their world upside down. I felt sorry for these women because they were struggling to stay afloat when things took a turn for the worse. Some of them wouldn't turn to their families or friends for assistance; and one didn't have anyone to turn to for assistance.
The thought of what these women are going through is a reflection of what can happen to me and several other women. As much as I whined and complained about not having a place of my own and having to struggle financially, there is always a ray of sunshine.
The only thing we as women need to do is to acknowledge our presence and look out for our well-being. And help each other.
I wonder if there was ever any thought to follow-up on this documentary. One committed suicide and the other was never heard from again. It would be interesting to know what they have been doing since this documentary was made.

Haunting and tragic.......2006-07-05

I'll always remember that in the early 1990's, at the time this documentary was first released, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" did an entire episode about it. On the Oprah show, they showed many lengthy clips from the movie, and then, near the end of the show, Oprah revealed the dark fate that ended the life of one of the six ladies that were featured in the film. The audience GASPED at the awful news, and for days I was haunted by it.

Immediately after the Oprah episode ended, all those years ago, I tried to look for the movie on video, but it was never released on the VHS format.

All of these years later, when I learned that they were putting this movie onto DVD, I bought it right away. After watching it, for days I was once again haunted by this sad story.

The documentary as a whole isn't the best documentary ever made, but after the movie is over and you read the tragic follow-up, then you will see what makes this movie so sad and important.

I only wish they'd included the Oprah episode on the dvd as a special feature.

It Was a Wonderful Life.......2005-04-12

I like Jodie Foster and I happened to find this movie. It turned out to be so good. This movie is a documentary about hidden homeless women. Those could be any one of us. I want to have the strength of holding myself tight enough that it won't affect by any changes around me.

Unsettling, if you're a twentysomething suburbanite.......2004-04-10

This is the type of film that haunts me, that reminds me to figure out what the heck I'm doing with my life to promote fair policies and foster cooperation in my community. Unlike more recent and flashier "social issue" documentaries, this film, and the stories of these working homeless women, play gently and firmly on your conscience. I remember these characters -- I'll remember them for a long time. Foster's narration is note-perfect.

I'm thankful for films like these. The trick, then, is for me, for us, to turn it into to some form of support.

Unsettling, if you're a middle-aged woman without security.......2002-12-23

I'm in my late 40s, and this film portrayed the situation that I fear most - losing my job and not being able to find another one, then losing my apartment, and then being at the mercy of the elements. I have very little family to fall back on, and I could only count on them for very short-term assistance. I suffer from mental illness that can only be controlled with medication, so losing access to medical insurance would plunge me back into depression and emotional instability.

I found the six women who were portrayed in this film to be a lot more resourceful and optimistic than I feel my potential to be.

The film was shot in the early 1990s, so watching it a decade later is a bit strange, since I wonder how much LA has changed in the interim. I suspect that the huge amount of illegal immigration into that area makes it even more difficult to find cheap housing than was the case 10 years ago.

In the late 80s and early 90s there was also a lot more sympathy for homeless people than there appears to be now, and there are probably less municipal/state/federal resources available now than there were back then. Now that the states are all running large deficits in their budgets, and the cost of housing has skyrocketed, it's probably a dreary prospect to be tossed out of the "safe" world.

Jodie Foster's narration was a bit underwhelming, but then that may have been appropriate, since the focus should remain on the subjects of the documentary.

This film shared the same problem with the whole concept behind most documentaries, namely: why do the documentarians not provide assistance to their subjects? Or do they have an obligation simply to portray what they observe without interfering?

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