Review of The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) by Matthew C — 26 Jan 2013

Another powerful story from the war and post-war era of Hollywood. The cast is superb and the wit and emotion of the characters is so charming and palpable, that it's almost impossible not to care what happens to these simple people trying to return to simple lives.

Each delivers a home run in scene after scene concerning with doing the right thing, being a better person, and learning from the awful truths of a now recent world war. Harold Russell has a special place in this movie and he is truly the heart of what this film is about.

Endurance, self-determination, and the courage and grace it takes to come from such disaster into the light of a new life filled with joy. March and Loy are brilliant as the strong and true couple: characters which are lacking in today's cinema.

The film deserves the awards it received in many areas of achievement. The films lasting testimony is also something lacking in today's cinema, the triumph of reality. So much now is lost in fantasy and relativity which devoid much of meaning.

This film is all about what is real and why it lasts. I think the real and true things seldom are what we choose but are what are revealed to us from higher understanding. The Best Years of Our Lives means what do we live for and why do we live.