The first trailers for the film Last Christmas were released in the summer. Surely you then thought that the release of another romantic comedy is expected, which are stamped every year for display at the winter holidays. But director Paul Feig and writers Briony Kimmings and Emma Thompson surprised viewers with an unusual ending and message. Instead of the typical story of a girl and a guy who met on Christmas Eve, but initially disliked each other, we got something new. It is still about the magic of love, but in a context that is usually rarely paid attention to. Let’s quickly figure out what the meaning of the film Last Christmas is.
Synopsis for Last Christmas. What is Last Christmas about?
The film takes place in London on the eve of Christmas and winter holidays. Kate, played by the inimitable Emilia Clarke, was once a bright and cheerful person. At the same time, she is actively engaged in self-destruction, drinking and closing herself from her friends and relatives. As an aspiring singer, she goes to auditions, but she never gets a call back. Therefore, the girl is forced to work as an elf animator in a store where she is haunted by failures and the boss, who is tired of the negligence of the employee. At home, too, not everything is going smoothly, Kate cannot and does not want to find a common language with her mother.
A series of meaningless and monotonous days is interrupted by an acquaintance with a young man named Tom, played by Henry Golding. Tom is a dreamer and optimist who brings Kate back to a fulfilling happy life. She again realizes the beauty and value of simple things, builds relationships with loved ones and finds harmony with herself. During one of their meetings, a frank conversation takes place in which Kate confesses that she almost died last Christmas. The girl had a weak heart, exactly a year ago she was admitted to the hospital. The only chance for salvation was the transplantation of this important organ. The operation was successful, but left a psychological trauma, which derailed the girl’s life in the past year. It was difficult for Kate to accept the fact that her own heart, alive and hot, was cut out of her chest and thrown away like some kind of garbage, and an unknown donor’s organ was inserted in its place.
This conversation became a key event in the relationship between Kate and Tom. After him, the guy begins to behave unusually cold. It turns out that last Christmas he worked as a courier and had an accident. It was Tom who became the donor whose heart saved Kate’s life. The guy realizes that he is dead. At the same time, he is a part of Kate, which she now happily accepts in herself.
The meaning of the film Last Christmas
The story of Kate and Tom is designed to show that you need to fight your fears and not let misfortune and trauma take over your life. The main character of the film clearly shows this difficult battle, turning from a cheerful girl into a selfish alcoholic and back into a selfless person. But not only her struggle is worth paying attention to. Kate’s mother, Emma Thompson’s Adelia, lives in constant fear for her family, who are refugees from Yugoslavia. She fears the possibility of expulsion from the UK back to her homeland. But even in London, she fears attacks by xenophobes. This mother-daughter parallel is not so obvious, as Kate had little to no contact with Adele. But both heroines don’t feel safe enough to call love into their lives. The same applies to Kate’s sister Martha (Lydia Leonard), who is afraid of her own relationship for fear that her family will not approve of her choice.
The idea that the negative experience of the past can become a constant companion of life can be traced even in the song Wham! “Last Christmas” (the original title of the film sounds exactly like that). The hero of the song talks about a heart that was broken last Christmas. He does not want to give up and intends to look for that special person who will accept his heart. But this decision is postponed until next year.
Real relationships are not like a rainbow and butterflies fluttering through the flowers, but in difficult times they become the strength of a person, his support and salvation. Therefore, Kate accepted Tom’s help, although she had previously rejected friends and relatives. The guy showed her that you can accept and love your injuries, which until then carried only negativity. The symbol of this acceptance is the donor heart, which Kate hated with all her heart.
The main idea of the film Last Christmas is the need to love yourself, no matter what, and fight for the opportunity to smile every day, not to let tragedies ruin the rest of your life. After all, only when a person loves himself, he can love others and the rest of the world.
The meaning of the ending of the movie Last Christmas
It’s hard to tell if Tom is a ghost or a figment of Kate’s imagination. As proof of the first version, one can cite the fact that the guy was aware of his death. And who else comes to people at Christmas? Suffice it to recall the legendary work of Dickens, in which ghosts visited the hero to help return to the right path. The meaning of the finale is that the decisive thing is still love for oneself, and only then for other people.
