Painting an authentic, distressing & heartbreaking portrait of post traumatic stress disorder and expertly led by riveting performances from its outstanding ensemble, The Best Years of Our Lives is a work of restrained craftsmanship that narrates its drama with deft composure and has a thorough understanding of its subject matter.The story concerns three United States servicemen who get acquainted while on their way back home after the end of World War II but face trouble in readjusting to civilian life. The plot follows their lives as each one of them struggles in their own way and has difficulties coping with the horrors of the past and living in the present.Directed by William Wyler (best known for Ben-Hur), it's astonishing just how much the film gets right in its depiction of the hardships faced by soldiers when they return home after serving in the battlefield and being changed by the horrors of it to such an extent that their very own home starts feeling like a place they can't recognise anymore.Through the crisis of our trio of characters, the film offers an interesting glimpse into the experiences of countless others who were affected by war and the struggle they faced with social readjustment. The way it captures the minute details only points to the extensive research & observation that went into the script, for the characters are fully fleshed & well-defined.The post-war era is illustrated in fine detail and the black & white images are sharp & crisply photographed. Clocking at nearly 3 hours, its runtime seems daunting at first but for the most part, the film is a smooth ride. Its length is felt only during the second half when the interest starts dwindling but the relaxed pace does allow our characters enough space to breathe.Coming to the performances, The Best Years of Our Lives features a terrific cast in Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright & others, and nearly all of them are at the top of their game. March, Andrews & Russell play the trio of characters whose post-war journey is what this film is about. They are all excellent in their roles but the ladies aren't far behind and chip in with strong inputs of their own.On an overall scale, The Best Years of Our Lives is crafted with care, narrated with flair and is incessantly human in its approach. An essential viewing that handles its content with respect, its silent, thoughtful contemplation on PTSD is still as relevant today as it was at its time of release. Firmly grounded in realism & having stood the test of time all these years, The Best Years of Our Lives is one of the best offerings of its kind that's definitely worth your time & money. Thoroughly recommended.

Title - The Best Years of Our LivesDate Released (UK) - 5 March 1947Average Rating at Time of Review - 8.1Position in IMDB's Top 250 at Time of Review - #249Directed By - William WylerStarring - Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews & Fredric MarshPlot - Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.To be honest, I'd never heard of this film before it came time to watch it. That fact along with the three-hour runtime of the film made me a little apprehensive. A film needs to be pretty great to make me want to pay attention for such a length and given that I'd never heard of it, my expectations weren't very high going in. What I did think was that it seemed like a brave venture; coming out just a short while after the Second World War this film looks at how war can negatively impact a soldiers state of mind. Not to mention it was surrounded by war movies filled with adventure and heroics. Watching the film, I realised that it wasn't the "pretty great" I needed to make me want to stick around, however it was enjoyable. Most importantly, it never felt like a slog - in fact I found myself quite surprised when the credits rolled. The fact that it never felt three hours long is a point in its favour. Was it a brave film? In theory, yes. Based off of IMDB's plot description, yes. In actuality, no. Whilst the film touched upon many very real issues that were (and still are) faced by soldiers returning home, I felt that they were sidelined pretty quickly in favour of the romance plot-line, in which two of veterans played critical roles. However the third veteran, the one with the most to say on post-war struggles given that he was an amputee, isn't important to the romantic sub-plot and has significantly less screen-time than the other two. Of course, those two still face their own post-war issues, however they seem to forget them pretty quickly.PROS:-The Acting: The acting in this film was by far the best thing about. Everyone seemed to fit perfectly into their roles and there was no performance I felt was under-delivered. When any of the three main gentleman are on screen together the acting really sticks out and those were some of the most enjoyable moments in the film. The Music: Music really helps to hold this film together and is used to great effect when acting as a scene-transition. It also doesn't feel intrusive and feels as though it belongs in the scene, unlike some other films from this same era. The Writing: This is a film based around character interactions and they are done wonderfully and you can tell the cast had fun playing their characters. Even during the more somber character interactions, they are written flawlessly and makes the film feel very grounded, no doubt helped by the set design and costumes. CONS:The Plot: I can't think of a great many flaws in this movie, but I can easily think of one and it is perhaps the biggest flaw a film can have. As I mentioned above, this film is about character interactions. No matter how good those character interactions are they do not carry a film of this length, it must also have a compelling plot-line. This film falls short on that front. There weren't a whole lot of moments that spring to mind as "memorable" and if I were caught-off guard I imagine I would struggle to recap the events of the film, even at the time of writing this review three hours after watching. There is also the aspect I mentioned earlier in regards to the post-war difficulties being put to the side for a more cliché romance story. This film could easily have been an hour shorter and due to the lack of a strong plot, it gets a lower rating than it perhaps could have. For every one thing I enjoyed about the film, there were 2 scenes that were completely inconsequential to the overall narrative. On top of that, the most compelling character in the film is the one with the least story and the film never really delivered on demonstrating issues faced by soldiers coming home. What they did show, however, was important. That is what this film is and what this film was - important, especially during its time. There would have been many people going through a lot of the stuff that the three soldiers went through and this film showed to them that they weren't alone. Seeing even the most downtrodden characters lives improve throughout the film also allowed them to hope, when some of them may not have had the will for it.

This is a gripping story about three men returning from WWII. They meet up as they are desperately trying to get a lift home from the air force. "Do you have an order?" asks the desk clerk of air man Fred (Burt Lancaster), expecting a chit. He quietly points at the medals on his chest. He quickly joins up with two others going to Boone, a little town in the midwest: army sergeant Al (Fredric March), and disabled navy man Homer, who gets by with hooks for hands (veteran Harold Russell).They sit in the nose of the plane looking at the landscape - they're flying low. Homer is thrilled by his first plane ride. He's just worried about how his girl will react. The others assure him he'll be fine. Back on the ground, they get a taxi and drop Homer off - he's nervous, but the others order him to get going. Al is dropped off at a fancy apartment block and is reunited with his son, daughter Peggy and too-understanding wife Milly (Myrna Loy). Fred, the officer, goes to his parents' house - a shack near a railroad, and sets out to look for his wife.They all reunite in the evening at Butch's bar (Hoagy Carmichael), drink too much and get a bit riotous (I fast-forwarded, I don't like drunk scenes). The trio have trouble settling in: Fred's wife turns out to have a taste for the good life he can't afford, he gets his old job back but loses it, he falls in love with Al's daughter Peggy...Homer just wants people to treat him as an ordinary person, and won't set a wedding date. He is a naturally happy soul, and if he loses his temper he quickly apologises, but he is suffering.Al goes back to work at the bank but his status is precarious - his jovial employer drops heavy warnings about lending to ex-servicemen without collateral. But of course it all ends happily. Al gives the bank board a drink-fuelled boot up the rear about lending to the right people (couldn't watch this bit either). Best bits: Fred trying to fit in back at the drug store. He's fine at serving chocolate sundaes, especially to his old mate Homer. But then Homer gets a lecture from some busybody who thinks you guys were on the wrong side in the war, and Fred decks him.Homer's scenes at home with his dad (who is a lovely man) and Wilma.Fred's scenes with his wife, excellently played by Virginia Mayo.Frederic March is good, but he's the Big Star, and the camera lingers on him too long. As I said, I didn't like his drunk scenes. Milly does her best, but she should send him to AA. Their scenes, and their heartfelt talks with their daughter Peggy, take too long.I once knew someone who stole his dialogue from this film...

This is one of the important movies. It was when it was first released in 1946, addressing as it did the issue of veterans returning from WW2, and the affect it had on them and their families. It focused on three men, all psychologically scarred, and one who has lost both arms. They return to a small city in the U.S., but the themes of the film were universal.That was 70 years ago, and over the years, the movie has tended to move into the background - there have been more wars and more veterans returning with their own issues.However, I think the importance of this movie can't be underestimated now that the WW2 generation is fading away.WW2 was well covered; we have millions of feet of newsreel film as well as towering stacks of history books. However, movies from the era do something quite unique; they get inside the emotions and the feelings - they represent the mindset of the time. Audiences identified with the issues through the stars in a way that was very personal. Hollywood did this job best - it was entertainment, but it was also a commitment to a generation.At the end of the war and into the 50's, Hollywood addressed the aftermath - "Till the End of Time", "The Men", "My Foolish Heart", "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" and others, but "The Best Years of Our Lives" towers above them all.The film could never really be remade. It was created by people who had experienced the war either in combat or on the home front. Many behind the camera had served including director William Wyler who had flown dangerous missions making documentaries about the U.S. Air Force; he was left nearly deaf from the experience.The film tackled tough issues and attitudes. Sergeant Al Stephenson (Frederick March) returns from the Philippines, but he hasn't seen his kids for years and he seems out of step with them. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) returns to an unfaithful wife and an uncertain future, he was good at war but what now? Real-life amputee Harold Russell plays Homer Parrish. He has much to overcome, but his girlfriend remains loyal, and he emerges as possibly the best adjusted of them all; he accepts what he can't change, and just gets on with it.The film has a powerful score by Hugo Friedhofer. Friedhofer was not as famous as Newman, Korngold or Steiner but he was as good. He surpassed himself here; his music helped express the unspoken thoughts of the actors - there are sections of this score that bring a lump to the throat.This was my parent's generation; my father was in the Australian army and fought in the war. And although this movie was about Americans, the story resonated far wider.Of course you could argue that some issues were not tackled - and that also gives an insight into an era, but with that said, this film is a window on the ideas and forces that were shaping society at a critical time in modern history. Seen that way, it's a movie that may never lose its relevance.