My Cultural Diet

Frank Capra’s best known for classics like It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and of course, It’s a Wonderful Life. In the midst of those, he directed this fantasy adventure, adapted from James Hilton’s novel, about a British diplomat who arrives in the hidden city of Shangri-La after his plane crashes in the Himalayas. The utopian society appeals to the cynical and world-weary diplomat while others in his group, led by his brother, fear they are being held against their will and seek to escape. Capra went way over budget when filming Lost Horizon, and it’s easy to see why. Originally a six-hour-long epic, it’s a lavish production from start to finish; look no further than the gorgeously elaborate Shangri-La sets, which epitomize the “Streamline Moderne” aesthetic (and earned a “Best Art Direction” Oscar). Given that it’s a vintage Hollywood take on Asian culture, though, Lost Horizon has no lack of Orientalism or whitewashing. What’s more, the film’s depiction of a peaceful society free from hatred and greed, and its criticism of the Western world’s race to the bottom, can get preachy. And yet, there’s some truth there. I can’t deny that Lost Horizon’s idealism awakens some yearning in my own heart for such a peaceful place, especially in light of my own homeland’s ongoing surrender to greed and bigotry.

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