esrosedotblog

CATHARSIS

When WWII was over, the displacement of society was total. I was 8 years old and can remember the times in a detail that I don't maintain from any other period of my life.

Todays Movie: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) captures that time. It is one of the NYTimes1176BestFilms. Adapted by Robert Sherwood from MacKinlay Kantor's novel; William Wyler directs this rich souvenir.

It gives us the story of three returning veterans and not only develops a terrific story; it has characterizations and performances that stick: Frederic March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright. And, any film that has Hoagy Carmichael in it has a lingering sweetness. He was not just a composer and piano player. I saw the picture when it came out and remembered some pieces of it. It holds up just as well today.

One of the reasons that this film was important is that it faced the facts of this enormous upheaval that was going on. It honestly depicts the problems of veterans adapting to a peace time life. It presents, I think fairly, the civilian reaction to the sudden shifts brought on by the War's end and the veteran's return. The inclusion of Harold Russell, an actual 2-hand amputee, in the film had a great deal to do with the 'reality' of the film and the depth of feelings associated with it. Russell was quite a guy in real life and it conveys in the film. He is the only 'actor' to win two Oscars for the same role.

These days when photos of the dead and wounded are withheld, there cannot be a public reckoning of the cost of war or the need for facing its aftermath. Not to get all political like, but this is one very big reason why we have so much pent up emotion about the whole thing. We are not even encouraged to mourn or care about our own. The images we see are all about what is wrong with us. And even those are denied. And so on. I will spare you the rant.

This gets a 5 on the Netflix5 scale. Gotta see it if you have not. It is one of the highest IMDb ratings as well.