I saw "The Best Years of Our Lives" without really knowing what to expect and must admit that I was blown away. It is one of those rare war films that manage to be profound without being preachy, and it is definitely the best film about the soldiers homecoming that I have seen. There are many great scenes, but my favourite is at the end with Dana Andrews inside the old plane and we hear all his memories and the source of his nightmares. Not only does Andrews do a stunning job here, but I also loved that we were not given a visual flashback, but are left to imagine the horrors he has been through.
And yes, I've seen Laura. As a direct result of loving "The Best Years.." actually. Now I find film noirs great fun, and really enjoyed the film - even if the solution to the plot was a bit strange.
there is a way in which they do not seem *as real* because they're not in color, so there's a distance between the viewer and the victims, IMO.Hmm..yes, I see your point, and it is very interesting. For me b&w photos automatically attain this
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I've seen all three of those, although the first two didn't make a huge impression on me one way or the other. (Well, except for Marlon Brando being kind of awful.)
For In Harm's Way, though, I have a deep and abiding love (except for the very beginning, in which all the female characters look straight out of the mid-1960s instead of 1941). I think that John Wayne, Patricia Neal, and Kirk Douglas knocked it out the park in that one, actingwise. Going to have to get the DVD out now and have a rewatch.
Random fandom fact: The new BSG's Colonel Tigh was based in part on Kirk Douglas's character in In Harm's Way.
I kept expecting Brando to turn at the camera and say: "Only kidding!" But he didn't, and at one point this French woman describes him as a golden god and I just started to snigger.
in which all the female characters look straight out of the mid-1960s instead of 1941)
Yeah, especially the hair cut and the little dresses. Personally I don't understand it because I've always found the 1940's aesthetics to be vastly superior to the 1960's, but oh well. Strangely enough it is usually the female haircuts and clothes you can date a movie on. Take Pearl Harbor for instance (or not, if you're not masochistic) where all the women look like the 1940's done Christina Aguilera style.
The new BSG's Colonel Tigh was based in part on Kirk Douglas's character in In Harm's Way.
This makes so much sense and is the coolest fact I've learned in a long time. Hee.
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And yes, I've seen Laura. As a direct result of loving "The Best Years.." actually. Now I find film noirs great fun, and really enjoyed the film - even if the solution to the plot was a bit strange.
there is a way in which they do not seem *as real* because they're not in color, so there's a distance between the viewer and the victims, IMO.Hmm..yes, I see your point, and it is very interesting. For me b&w photos automatically attain this ( ... )
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For In Harm's Way, though, I have a deep and abiding love (except for the very beginning, in which all the female characters look straight out of the mid-1960s instead of 1941). I think that John Wayne, Patricia Neal, and Kirk Douglas knocked it out the park in that one, actingwise. Going to have to get the DVD out now and have a rewatch.
Random fandom fact: The new BSG's Colonel Tigh was based in part on Kirk Douglas's character in In Harm's Way.
Reply
I kept expecting Brando to turn at the camera and say: "Only kidding!" But he didn't, and at one point this French woman describes him as a golden god and I just started to snigger.
in which all the female characters look straight out of the mid-1960s instead of 1941)
Yeah, especially the hair cut and the little dresses. Personally I don't understand it because I've always found the 1940's aesthetics to be vastly superior to the 1960's, but oh well. Strangely enough it is usually the female haircuts and clothes you can date a movie on. Take Pearl Harbor for instance (or not, if you're not masochistic) where all the women look like the 1940's done Christina Aguilera style.
The new BSG's Colonel Tigh was based in part on Kirk Douglas's character in In Harm's Way.
This makes so much sense and is the coolest fact I've learned in a long time. Hee.
Reply
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