RKO Radio Pictures
2024 has , thus far , been kind of a unknown twelvemonth for movies . While there have been some marquee titles in theaters likeThe Fall Guy , and some breakout remove on streaming likeScoop , thanks in turgid part to the strike that lasted for months on end , there are few movies than we might unremarkably wait .
This temporary drop off in the supply of new titles is a perfect excuse to do a little exploring . While it may not be the most popular cyclosis service , Peacock has a library of majuscule titlesthat are well deserving exploring . This May , we ’d recommend break out one of the old movies on the table service , The Best Years of Our Lives , which tells the history of three World War II old hand who devolve home at the end of the war . Here ’s why you should check it out .
RKO Radio Pictures
It’s remarkably prescient about the nature of trauma
The subject field of trauma has come a retentive way sinceThe Best Years of Our Liveswas first discharge in 1946 , but this movie is nevertheless a surprisingly penetrative examination of the loiter trauma these three military personnel face as they attempt to imbibe back into their even life .
In chronicling the lives of three military personnel of dissimilar ages as they return from the warfare , we get to see how each of them handle the strangeness with being expect to resume whatever they were doing before the warfare as if the entire struggle simply never happened .
It was directed by someone who had experienced the war firsthand
It ’s perhaps unsurprising thatThe Best Years of Our Livesis so sensitive to the plight of veterans , given that it was direct by someone who had been close to the warfare . William Wyler target two documentaries about the war and volunteered to serve as a John Roy Major during the dispute . He also made several films explicitly about the war , including the equally greatMrs . Miniver .
Wyler ’s technique for draw trauma might seem a small go out to a advanced audience , but what unquestionably holds up is the sensitivity he gives his character , never expecting them to “ man up ” or “ get over ” the horrible things they ’ve see .
It features a slew of great performances
The Best Years of Our Liveswas a major favorite at that year ’s Academy Awards , and with good reason . Each of the movie ’s three main histrion are remarkable , and that ’s especially true of Harold Russell , who plays Homer , a piece who lost both his hands during the war and has to turn back to his eminent shoal sweetheart completely changed . He pull ahead two Academy Award for his functioning , and is the only performer to have pulled off this feat .
While the human being are at the center of this story , The Best Years of Our Livesalso gives its female performers , most notably Myrna Loy , plenty of opportunity to radiate as we occur to sympathise the way the warfare and its aftershocks transformed not just the man who depart but also the fair sex who stayed .
The Best Years of Our Livesis streaming onPeacock .
