Gábor Pusztai

"The Best Years of Our Lives" is a 1946 drama film directed by William Wyler. The film was critically acclaimed, winning seven Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. Bosley Crowther, the New York Times’ film critic said: "It is seldom that there comes a motion picture which can be wholly and enthusiastically endorsed not only as superlative entertainment but as food for quiet and humanizing thought... In working out their solutions Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Wyler have achieved some of the most beautiful and inspiring demonstrations of human fortitude that we have had in films." I can only agree with Crowther. I think this movie is worth watching because it gives us an entertaining insight into the situation of war veterans after the Second World War, and does so by presenting us with not one, but three different stories.

First of all, the movie is easy to recommend to any student learning about WWII or anybody who’s interested in it. Watching this movie, the audience can connect more easily to this era and can begin to understand the situation of veterans coming home. The three main characters in this movie - Fred Derry, Homer Parrish, and Al Stephenson – meet on an airplane during their flight back to their hometown, Boone City. The story follows their struggles as they try to fit back into society and their families, and try to make a living. This phase, however, doesn’t go as smoothly as they thought because of their memories of the war, the environment they got used to during the war, and their mental and physical ‘legacies’ of it. They are also, at times, halted in this process by members of society who didn’t experience the war directly. For example, Fred comes across a person at his workplace who questions some aspects of the war. This infuriates Fred, who attacks this man which eventually costs him his job. Through this scene - and many others, of course - the issue of the war veterans trying to fit into society is mediated, which was a common problem at the time, and I think anyone interested in this era and the situation of the people after the Second World War will find this movie worth watching.

Secondly, the movie focuses on three different stories. The movie looks at the three main characters’ – Fred’s, Homer’s, and Al’s – post-war lives trying to get them back on track. Incorporating three different storylines into the film means it achieves more depth in the problems it’s dealing with.

One storyline of these three is Fred Derry’s story. WWII, among other effects, resulted in an economic depression which was felt all over the country. This had an effect on Fred’s life as well - it is rather difficult for him a get a proper job, and, in addition, being only a soda jerk before the war doesn’t help. Facing the issue of not being able to provide his wife the money required for the lifestyle she is used to, he finds himself in a declining marriage.

The second storyline is Al Stephenson’s. Of the three main characters, he’s the only man who’s married with children. Although he’s excited to join his family again, he finds himself in awkward situations because it is hard for him to communicate with them. Having a hard time socializing, he immediately turns to alcohol. For example, on the very first night he arrives home he realizes how little he is capable of small talk with his family and, instead, seeks the company of fellow soldiers in bars. The result of this is him heavily drinking all night. This aspect of the film reveals to us another common problem at that time – former soldiers’ alienation. Frequently, many of them felt unpleasant being back in social environment and could only get along with fellow veterans.

The third storyline follows Homer Parrish’s return to Boone City. He suffered a burn while he was on a Navy ship. The injury was so serious that he had to have both his hands amputated. Although he got pair of a kind of prosthetic gripping devices, they make his being a cripple very easy to notice – they are steel hooks. Homer’s character can be interpreted as a representation of all veterans and their struggles to fit back into society. He lost his hands during the war – which can be interpreted as him losing his connections with society, or the visual symbol of the fact that a veteran will never be the same again because of his memories of the war. He also often deals with great stress because of him being different from others and, because of that, not being able to socialize. This, too, can be interpreted as a burden he carries with him which he cannot break away from by any means. Although the military trained him how to use his prosthetics, he wasn’t trained how to fit back into society and handle his situation within it.

In conclusion, the viewer gets three great stories with one movie which give an insight to post-WWII sociological problems (great for people interested in the time after the war) through the difficulties Fred and his wife live through, the troubles of Al fitting back into his family and the hardships Homer has to face. If you want to see what all this leads to, go ahead and watch the film – you’ll probably have a good time doing so.

(2010)

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