May Challenge: The Best Years of Our Lives

The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)

Click here for the basics

Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=3

WWII, Veterans, Homecoming, Adjustment, PTSD, Complex Relationships

Why have I waited so long to see this?! A new favorite classic for me. Everything about this film is great--the narrative threads, long shots, the acting, the music... It is so important that we tell the veterans' story in a simple way. And even though The Best Years of Our Lives was about WWII--released just after the war ended, in fact--it still holds up today, showing the same kinds of problems veterans face now. There are beautiful moments (yes, I cried a few times) and everyone ends up happy, which isn't necessarily reality, but it is exactly what the film should do. Plus it has Hoagy Carmichael. How can you not watch a film that has Hoagy Carmichael! :)

--Don't understand the ratings? Click here

May Challenge - 8 Classic Films I Still Haven't Seen

As you all know, I'm a huge fan of lists and film challenges. Several years ago, AFI came up with a list of 100 Years, 100 Movies. I, naturally, made it a goal to see them all eventually. I'm still working on the list and decided to designate May as my month for some classic film watching. Here's what I'm planning...though I have seen parts of most of these, never the entire film. Once I see it, as usual, I will post my impressions!

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)


The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)


The African Queen (1951)


An American in Paris (1951)


Shane (1953)


The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)


The Defiant Ones (1958)


Ben-Hur (1959)