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Posted: |
Jun 15, 2013 - 1:08 PM
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By: |
Regie
(Member)
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THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES by Hugo Friedhofer
Because of the overall subject theme of the film, the entire score has a sadness,
nostalgia and wistfulness about it.....with a final, uplifting theme that expresses the
idea of a positive and uplifting future.
The emotional scoring of the "elevator scene and homecoming"---virtually a wordless dialogue sequence---is one of the film-scoring classics of all time. I dare anyone to watch this film with true immersion in the story and not be in tears by the end of this scene. Brilliant staging and direction by William Wyler, and subtle and sensitive performances by the four performers.
With current events, and soldiers returning from wars once again, many with the same problems (or worse), it's surprising this film does not seem to have the fame and resonance that it once had. Today's life is a virtual re-enactment of the past as it appears in this film.
Absolutely have to agree with these sentiments. And the whole score by Friedhofer has been under-appreciated for decades. The opening title music - I cannot seem to find the soundtrack anywhere - is my favourite all time film theme. Actually, this film IS my favourite in a lifetime as a film lover. Never been surpassed, but in a very close contest with "Picnic".
On so many levels "Best Years..." is extraordinary, not least the beautiful chiarascuro photography of the great Gregg Toland, but the acting of the principals and, of course, Harold Russell. (I've seen a few films recently with Cathy O'Donnell in them and she was exactly the same as she was in Wyler's film - a doe-eyed innocent, which became rather cloying).
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Star Trek III. Very powerful and overflowing with emotion.
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