Genre: Drama / War
Duration: 172 minuten
Alternative title: De Beste Jaren van Ons Leven
Country:
United States
Directed by: William Wyler
Stars: Myrna Loy, Fredric March and Dana Andrews
IMDb score:
8,1 (74.999)
Releasedate: 25 December 1946
The Best Years of Our Lives plot
"Three wonderful loves in the best picture of the year!"
Three American soldiers return to Boone City after fighting in World War II. Their lives have been severely affected by the events in Europe. Homer Parrish has lost his hands, Al Stephenson returns to a changed family, and Fred Durry faces a bad job and a loveless marriage. Together, the three must find a way to deal with their experiences and get their lives back on track.
Actors and actresses
Milly Stephenson
Al Stephenson
Fred Derry
Peggy Stephenson
Marie Derry
Wilma Cameron
Butch Engle
Homer Parrish
Hortense Derry
Pat Derry
Reviews & comments
IH88
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- 9481 messages
- 3163 votes
“You gotta hand it to the Navy; they sure trained that kid how to use those hooks.”
“They couldn't train him to put his arms around his girl, or to stroke her hair.”
Masterpiece. The way William Wyler shows what three veterans, who fought in World War II, all encounter upon returning home is fantastic. This is arguably the best and most realistic film on the subject ever made, and the fact that the film is from 1946 makes it all the more amazing. Wyler himself served in the war as a pilot of B-17s (much like Fred Derry in the film), and he incorporated his own experiences into the script.
It is well known that returning home after the war was not always a party, and in The Best Years of Our Lives, Al, Fred and Homer also struggle to find their feet again in a rapidly changing society. All the actors are great, but what Dana Andrews and Harold Russell show here as Fred and Homer is masterful. Goosebumps at the scene in which Homer shows Wilma (whom he wants to marry) what awaits her due to his disability. Teresa Wright is also great as Peggy, and the chemistry between her and Dana Andrews crackles off the screen. The film is long but that didn't bother me for a moment. The feel good ending suits Wyler, and the same goes for the movie.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
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- 10345 messages
- 6193 votes
Mme.
Second Wyler. The first, The Big Country, I find a lot more pleasant to follow. This film certainly has a good premise, but the execution is nowhere near as good as the former and after an hour I actually thought it would have been more beautiful. Unfortunately, you still have two to go after that, and that's quite a lot.
Still, as I said, the first hour is still doable. These kind of movies are never really in my favorites, but I still liked to follow. With the necessary (and annoying) bit of theater included, but at that point it was still nice to behold. Then it starts to descend further and further into events that are not very interesting.
I especially liked the characters, dialogues and events. No one really knows how to captivate, when they should. I'll be honest in the fact that each character has their own face, but that's about it. I always found the elaboration of his problems very similar, while they are completely different. The tone remains the same all the time.
Although the film starts to intrigue again towards the end, I struggled quite often with the second hour. After a while it all managed to fascinate me moderately and I thought it was nice. Knowing that I still had 172 minutes to choose from, I became demotivated to finish this film, especially since it takes a long time before you get back into it.
That does not alter the fact that the message is important and the execution is not necessarily bad. I just get the feeling that the story itself is preferred over the directing itself, and that makes for a bit of a tough film here and there. That it takes a long time is still defensible in some way, but I regularly experienced a bit of difficulty getting through it.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico (moderator films)
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- 10017 messages
- 5398 votes
The problems surrounding trauma processing and reintegration after Vietnam are well known, but these phenomena actually mark every war, whether it has been won or not. Even after WWII. Victories are often romanticized, but in reality deep wounds also need to be healed and taking up the thread of normal life is not always obvious.
We follow three different men, each with their own problems and life situation. The stories are well explored and there is a connection between the viewer and the characters. The cinematography is good and the story is also captivating. The acting and dialogues are more than up to standard, so that the film remains entertaining, although almost three hours is quite long.
This film won many awards at the time, and rightly so I think. It is a timeless film, one that may have scored at the time because the war was just over. Beautiful!
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