Review of The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) by Randy J — 11 May 2017

This film stands on its own merit. It's no surprise some viewers and critics are so obtuse and biased they lack the perceptual aptitude to become immersed in the multi-dimensional dynamics of every character in this film.

.. experiencing the cruelty of war's after shocks at some recognizable level by everyone. No one catches a break in this movie - not even the charming and innocent little sister and her friends. Everyone feels the aftershock of three soldiers returning from war and trying to pick up the pieces and move on - confronting survivor guilt, ptsd, love's betrayal, family estrangement.

The film has authenticity and pulls no punches, and the use of framing, deep focus and mirrors are used to full effect and for affect - the powder-room mirror scene being one of the most brilliant uses of a mirror shot in any film with no cuts.

It's a scene even professional film critics miss. But the tools of direction, script and camera work are secondary to the performances and story line that provide a time machine-like view into the past.

Indeed, some audiences of the 21st century will have trouble understanding without keeping in mind that this was a time when an entire country of citizens felt the reality of war with rationing, restrictions and blackouts after sundown with armed neighborhood escorts.

Americans have forgotten. Every American felt WWII - not like it is in this century where soldiers return home from combat to see their fellow Americans completely detached from the hardships of war taking place abroad.

.. but for them just another day like nothing traumatic ever happened. This movie reminds us of a time when everyone felt war, and the story offers its 1946 audience the thing it needed most in that year facing recovery - a hope of reconciliation.