As published in CLAUDIA

The power of a precise soundtrack is undeniable and ever since cinema became sound-based, music has taken center stage in narratives. When the end of the year comes, it becomes a character in itself, marking iconic moments and translating the spirit of Christmas in unique ways. Whether through contagious joy, reflective melancholy, or unusual humor, songs help build narratives that span generations, with great recent examples and older ones.

I don’t even need to go far: the greatest Christmas classic of the last 20 years, Love Actually, will forever be associated with one of the Christmas classics of the last 30 years, All I Want for Christmas Is You, by Mariah Carey. The song that tops the most played songs of the holiday season on all platforms (in 2021 alone, it was played on Spotify a billion times) encapsulates the film’s romanticism and Christmas optimism, as well as reinforcing the role of music in creating specific moods.

In this same vein, Emma Thompson and her husband, Greg Wise, began working on an idea for a romantic Christmas film back in 2016, a few months before the death of singer George Michael (on Christmas Day), which came to be known in Brazil as A Second Chance to Love but in the original it was the name of the Wham! song: Last Christmas. The production was only completed in 2019 and starred Emilia Clarke, in an unpretentious and cute story that takes us through Christmas-filled London (Covent Garden has never looked so beautiful on screen) with an inspiring message of nostalgia and second chances that echoes the story itself. It is already on the list of “Christmas classics”, alongside Love, Actually and The Holiday.

But obviously using Christmas songs in films set during the holiday season has never exactly been “new”. Classics like “White Christmas” have a special place in cinema.

The song that went on to win the Oscar for Best Song in 1943, an American standard that the composer himself, Irving Berg, considered perfect, was introduced by Bing Crosby in the film Holiday Inn, in 1942, but it was so impactful that it spawned its own film, White Christmas, in 1954, consolidating the theme as an anthem of hope and comfort. Over the decades, you can bet that if the film is set at Christmas, a different version of White Christmas will play. And you will get emotional and want to be in a cold place full of snow.

Another hit, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, is not much different. Immortalized 80 years ago by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis, from 1944, it encapsulates the emotional duality of the holidays: joy and longing in balance. It is so perfect that it marked Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) Christmas in the first film of the Sex and The City franchise.

Other Christmas songs have become notable in unexpected films. Jingle Bell Rock, for example, became a symbol of humor in Mean Girls 20 years ago, when the main characters gave a hilarious and unconventional performance. But it had already appeared in Home Alone 2, among many others. In contrast, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) resonates as a nostalgic celebration, whether in Gremlins (1984) or in the aforementioned Love Actually.

The impact of these songs goes beyond the obvious. In the original 1990 Home Alone, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree turns Kevin’s fake party into one of the film’s most memorable moments, while Silent Night is used to create an introspective atmosphere in several productions, such as The Christmas Chronicles. Even songs that evoke the beginning of the Christmas season, such as It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, return to Home Alone 2, carrying the audience into the holiday spirit.

These songs don’t just punctuate cinematic moments; they create collective memories. It’s impossible to listen to these songs without remembering the films that made them iconic. In each note, there is an invitation to revisit emotions, celebrate traditions and, of course, relive the magic of Christmas — a magic that cinema, with the help of these songs, perpetuates year after year. And of course, try to create the perfect playlist. Do you have yours yet?

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