The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

"Fred Derry: How long since you been home?"

"Al Stephenson: Oh, a couple-a centuries. "

The movie about what happens to soldiers after their return home from the war is one that is still on the AFI top 100 films of all time. This movie, brilliantly cast, won all the major awards at the Academy Awards in 1947 including Best Actor for Fredric March. March’s performance as a banker turned Sergeant is just one of the reasons this movie will remind us in years to come that war is hell, and so is afterwards.



"The most fundamental value of mise-en-scene is that it defines our location in the material world: the physical settings and objects that surround us indicate our place in the world," (Corrigan White 85). Through the superb story structure and characterization, these potentially painful topics are handled with care. The three stories of the veterans, fold into each other. The men, who have never met before a fateful flight home, become lifelong friends.

Multiple close up and aerial shots are used in the beginning to give the audience a feel as to what the soldiers are experiencing. Al (March), is shown in his uniform, proud, and also eager to see his family. Homer, played by Harold Russell, is scared and nervous to go home. He has lost both his hands in the war and now uses prosthesis. Fred, played by Dana Andrews, was a newlywed a month before he signed up for the war. He has no idea what to expect when he returns. He only knows for sure is that he no longer wants to be a soda jerk. After returning home, then men continue to bond and stay current in each other’s lives.

The story of Al is one that connects all three. Al is at first uneasy being home. We see a close up him embrace his family, but almost as if he is looking right through them not recognizing them. He returns to his job as a banker and receives a promotion. A big project for someone to take on that just returned to civilization. Al can’t control his inner demons and begins to turn to alcohol for solace. He turns to the bar which Homer’s Uncle owns and meets up with Fred. A night of drinking ensues and the patchwork of the three characters turns into one story. It leaves the audience wanting more, feeling as though these veterans could be someone you might know.

At one point, all three of the men go through an identity crisis; separately yet together. They haven’t quite figured out if they should continue to be soldiers or become the regular Joe next door. The strong supporting actors including Al’s wife and daughter, played by Myrna Loy and Teresa Wright respectively, play an important role in defining the three veterans and bringing them back to reality. In one scene in particular, we see Fred looking in the mirror while he is holding a photograph of himself his wife kept on the dresser. We all look to the mirror for answers. The truth though is staring right at us. We see what we want to believe is real. Fred sees for the first time he has become someone he no longer wants to be. He wants to be the family man he was before the war. As for the other characters, Homer stops his self pity and becomes the man he wants to be, a great husband to his wife. Fred also becomes the man he wants to be. He divorces his wife and finds that true happiness might be a struggle but the rests, just like war, in the end are worth it.

The Best Years of our Lives. Director William Wyler. Starring Frederic March, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright. MGM. DVD. 2000.

Fred, Al, Homer

Al-Family

Al-Mirror

IMDB

The Best Years of our Lives

Corrigan & White (2009), The Film Experience: An Introduction.

The Seventh Seal (1957)

"Nothing escapes me. No one escapes me."

-Death

Who hasn't wanted to gamble with Death?

Set in the 12th century, The Seventh Seal (1957) follows a knight on his journey home after the Crusades. Swedish Writer and Director Ingmar Bergman turns his screenplay into the two questions every human will ask themselves- Is death inevitable? Is there a God? This hybrid genre movie will leave you with the answers you may or may not be looking for.

The black and white movie has a dark mysterious setting that enhances life’s puzzling questions. We at first hear commanding non digetic music and then the subtle sounds of the ocean waves crashing. A perfectly placed chess board is next to the sleeping knight, who is lying on the rocks. Death then shows up as says to the knight, played by Max von Sydow, and says, “I have been at your side a long time.” We learn that Death not only has a face but likes to play games. "We rarely experience the traditions of naturalistic and theatrical mise-en-scene in entirely isolated states",(Corrigan White 88). In this now iconic scene, the knight and Death begin to play a game of chess; in a battle to delay the knight’s death.

The mis-en-scene of this shot is worthy of being recreated, which it has been throughout the years in such films as, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991). Bergman uses the 180 degree rule here by setting up this scene. On the left we see death covered in a black robe but with a pale white face. Death has selected the black chess piece and says, “It becomes me well.” What got my attention about this shot is how Death is covered in black but the clouds in the sky in the background seem to be allowing the light to shine through. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel? Or maybe there is a God looking down on us? On the right side of this medium framed shot, we see the knight in a gloomy light, his features only visible by the shadows of the light from the left. The dimness above him seems to be telling of his inescapable fate, one that cannot be one by a game of chess, no matter how good you are.

Throughout Bergman’s seventeenth movie as a Director, the contrast between black and white is visible in every scene. We follow the knight’s point of view as he travels along his journey home to his wife. He meets a set of friendly actors who are shown in a lighter context as to foretell the audience of their outcome. These characters bring reason to the knight as when he is eating strawberries and says, “I shall remember this moment: the silence, the twilight, the bowl of strawberries, the bowl of milk. Your faces in the evening light. Mikael asleep, Jof with his lyre. I shall try to remember our talk. I shall carry this memory carefully in my hands as if it were a bowl brimful of fresh milk. It will be a sign to me, and a great sufficiency.” This is a defining moment in the film when the audience will learn the answer to the questions.






The Seventh Seal. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Starring Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot. Criterion. 1957. DVD. 1999.

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IMDB-The Seventh Seal (1957)
The Seventh Seal (1957)

Corrigan & White (2009), The Film Experience: An Introduction.

The General (1926)

"If you lose this war don't blame me."

-Johnny Gray

Before there was color, there were black and white films. Before there was sound, there were silent films that created a motion picture without the use of noise. Director Buster Keaton’s The General (1926) has both these elements and yet still creates one of the most cinematic motion pictures today.

Keaton not only does his own stunt work, like moving a log while the train is still in motion, but also still has time to make sure his camera work is flawless. According to imdb.com, “In the train crash a dummy was used as engineer. It looks so realistic that the townspeople who had come to watch screamed in horror.” He doesn’t need fancy CGI or animation to bring this film to life. His character is the main point of view and his camera follows him through his journey. Filmed in parts of Tennessee and Oregon, the story unfolds with us viewing him on a stolen train in search of his beloved locomotive, The General, and also Annabelle, his damsel in distress, during the Civil War era. He uses multiple extreme long shots to show us the train in front of him with his darling Annabelle captured onboard. He sometimes uses an overhead shot to show us what he is doing so we see the whole picture, like when he is putting wood into the train so it doesn’t stop. Many times we see a medium shot and it brings us into Keaton’s world and his famous ‘great stone face’. His dead pan expressions are right on and sometimes you just can’t help but laugh out loud.

Throughout the film, the characters of Keaton’s Johnny and Annabelle are seen talking but are never heard. You can read their lips but it’s their actions that really do all the talking. There are a couple of scenes in which images as text appear to fill us in as to what is going on. Though it’s not really necessary, it gives the characters appeal. The opening text is quoted as saying, “There were two loves in his life: his engine and...” and then a close up of his beloved Annabelle is shown. Johnny’s closing line of, “Soldier!” after being asked his occupation, makes us happy and applaud Johnny’s new found title. Both of these added texts to the screen show us Keaton’s great awareness to little details. Keaton’s attention to detail in comedy makes you forget the film is silent. Though there is music added to the version I viewed it didn’t take away from the film; it enhanced the images being shown on screen.

When The General (1926) was released it was critically panned. It was one of the most expensive movies at the time as well. I wonder if it was because a comedy film like this had never been created before or the audience was expecting something else. Keaton is quoted as saying this was his favorite film he worked on. He had total and complete artistic control, very rare back then and unheard of today. Today the film is on AFI’s Top 100 Films of all time. I’m sure it will stay there for the next 100 years.

The General. Directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman. Starring Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Frank Barnes, Charles Henry Smith. Kino International. 1926. DVD. 2008.

Filmsite- The General
IMDB- Buster Keaton

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Corrigan & White (2009), The Film Experience: An Introduction.