# 188 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Best Years of Our Lives is a post-war film about three servicemen who come home from the World War II and try to re-adjust to the society they used to be part of. All three of them come from different social classes: a banker, a soda jerk, and a football player, and they all find it hard to get on with their lives after the war.

I was about to exclaim, "Not another old movie!" when I saw what was next on the list, but as the movie progressed, I realized how interesting and warm-hearted it actually was. It's nothing overdramatic like Born on the Fourth of July or The Deer Hunter. I mean, those films have a point too, they show us, the people who have never been to war, what it was really like, and how much it messed up people's minds. But to those, who went through all of it themselves, I think The Best Years of Our Lives is the best film to watch because it shows how important it is to stay optimistic in any situation. It's so full of hope and encouragement, that I couldn't help enjoying it.

It's not all joyful though, it protrays many hardships demobilized soldiers go through, but in the end, there is a happy resolution for all problems. Not very realistic, some might say, and it may be true, but I think that's exactly what people needed right after the war, considering that the film came out in 1946, when almost every family could relate to it.

I felt like the ending was a little rushed. I'm talking about the wedding scene, where Fred and Peggy make up all of a sudden, and start discussing spending the rest of their lives together. To me the scene seemed really out of place, but I guess the screenwriter wanted to remove the uncertainty from their relationship. Anyway, this is the only flaw that I found, which makes The Best Years of Our Lives one of my favorite post-war movies.

Interesting fact: For his performance as Homer Parrish, Harold Russell became the only actor to win two Academy Awards for the same role.

Favorite quote: "I know what it is. How did I get these hooks and how do they work? That's what everybody says when they start off, "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Well, I'll tell ya. I got sick and tired of that old pair of hands I had. You know, an awful lot of trouble washing them and manicuring my nails. So I traded them in for a pair of these latest models. They work by radar. Look".

# 179 Hotaru no haka (1988)

Hotaru no haka, also known as Grave of the Fireflies, is a film about a relationship between two orphaned siblings, a teenage boy named Seita, and his younger sister, Setsuko. The story takes place in Japan towards the end of the World War II. After their mother's death, they end up staying with their distant aunt, but as soon as they run out of food, she becomes resentful and tell them that they have outstayed their welcome. Seita and Setsuko decide to start living on their own in an abandoned bomb shelter.

I have to admit that I had never seen anime until I was in college. Everyone around me was going crazy about it, and out of curiousity, I asked a friend of mine if she could recommend me a film she liked, to get me introduced to the whole thing. So guess what, she said that Grave of the Fireflies was a must-see, and I followed her advice. I really enjoyed it the first time I watched it, not to the point of falling in love with the genre, but at least I learned that there was some good anime out there.

Having watched it again, I have to say I have pretty much the same impression.  The movie makes you feel hopeless, from the beginning of it you know that nothing good is going to happen, and no matter how hard Seita tries, no matter how much he loves his sister and sacrifices himself, he can't help her. This is a story that has probably happened to many families and still happens to this day. But despite all of this, there are still some moments when we see how beautiful this life can be, like when you see fireflies in the dark. It's a very strong anti-war movie, and even though I didn't learn anything new from it, and may be it wasn't as deep as I expected it to be, it's also very emotional and beautifully drawn. 

Interesting fact: NTV in Japan produced a live-action version of "Grave of the Fireflies" in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Like the animated version, the movie focuses on two siblings and their struggle to survive the final days of the war in Kobe, Japan. However, unlike the animated version, the movie tells the story from the point of view of their aunt, and it deals with the issue of how a wartime environment could change a kind woman into a cold-blooded demon.

Favorite quote: "September 21, 1945... that was the night I died".

# 144 Ran (1985)

Being a movie critic is a tough job. Sometimes you don't like some of the highly appraised movies, and you have to give an honest review without looking like a complete idiot.

Ran is Kurosawa's fourth movie that made it on IMDb Top 250 list, and the only one of these four that is made in color. It's about a warlord who decides to devide his kingdom between his three sons, which eventually leads to war between the brothers and drives their father insane. Ran can be translated as "chaos", and this is exactly what this movie is.

The pacing is very slow, the scenes with the insane warlord and his jester are so long, and there's so many of them that it starts to get irritating. The dialogues aren't nearly as good as in Yojimbo, and sound really unnatural to me. And I guess I was expecting some kind of an intellectual twist in the story, but the plot is very simple. The acting, in my opinion, was too theatrical. The actor credited as "Peter", who played the jester, was good, but still I didn't feel any sympathy for him, or any other of the characters.

It was a great action film for 1985, with all the battle scenes, which by guess take about eighty percent of the movie's running time, but it has aged so much over the years, that I found myself unable to become engaged in it. The most spectracular scene of this film was probably the one in which the old man calmly sits in the castle tower while it goes up in flames. Unfortunately there weren't many close-ups in this film, for some reason Kurosawa keeps shooting his characters from a distance. The ending was a bit surprising, but not enough to change my perception on the movie.

Favotire quote: "Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies".
Interesting fact: The story was inspired by samurai legends, but also draws on William Shakespeare's "King Lear" as well.

# 137 Platoon (1986)

Platoon is a movie that came out the year I was born. Funny how I didn't know anything about the Vietnam War until I started watching IMDb Top 250. As much as I like learning something new, especially when it comes in a form of a movie, I wish there weren't so many war (or anti-war) movies on the list. But these are just some general thoughts on the subject. Now let's get to this specific film.

Platoon tells us about the war through the eyes of Chris Taylor, played by Charlie Sheen. He, and his platoon are torn between two sergeants: Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). It's sort of a like a battle between good and evil, and it may sound a little bit clichéd, in fact there is a lot of dualty in this film. But it's interesting that the enemy doesn't qualify as either good or bad, it isn't taken into account at all, all that matters in this story is the war between the people who fight on the same side. I think that was a very interesting idea.

As I have already said, I don't know much about the Vietnam War, but I think Oliver Stone created a very realistic atmosphere in this film. Probably it because he's an actual Vietnam veteran. The things that were happening in Apocalypse Now weren't so believable, but here the director, the actors, and everybody who took part in making this film did a great job at capturing the war. It's interesting that Charlie Sheen's father, Maritn Sheen, starred in Apocalypse Now, another Vietnam classic.

The same as in The Deer Hunter, I was excited to see so many famous actors, such as Johny Depp, Forest Whitaker, and Willem Dafoe, back when they were young. The actors did well, but I feel like there was no need to mention it, as good acting is an essential part of any war film. Overall, I think that this is a great film. Not my favorite genre though.

Favorite quote: "I love this place at night. The stars... there's no right or wrong in them. They're just there".

Interesting fact: All of the actors had to endure a harsh 14-day boot camp in the Philippines before the shooting of the film commenced. The actors were given military haircuts, were required to stay in character throughout the camp, ate only military rations, were not allowed to shower, slept in the jungle, and even had rotations for night watch. 

# 136 The General (1926)

The General is an old old old movie. To the point that it bothers me. While I enjoyed watching some of Charlie Chaplin's movies, I'm still not a big silent film fan, as silent films require a lot more attention, and sometimes they're not worth this attention. This story takes place during the Civil War, and it is about an engineer who is turned down for service, which makes his girlfriend think that he didn't enlist because he's a coward, so he does all this crazy stuff trying to impress his girl.

Don't get me wrong, The General is not a bad film. As a matter of fact, at the beginning it is very interesting and even funny. However, it is not a pure comedy, there's a lot of action and romance in this movie. I can't say that this combination made the film look disharmonious. But it's hard for me to watch long sequences of action in the first place, and it's even harder when all of this action is shot in black-and-white. It was fun to watch the first train chase, but then there's another train chanse at the end, and it feels too much like deja vu. I got really bored towards the end of the film.

What makes this movie more valuable is that it's based on a true story of the Great Locomotive Chase. I always feel like adding one star to the movie's rating when I find out that it was based on a true story. This is just my thing. Not bad at all for something that was made in 1926, but I'd fall asleep if I had to watch it again.

No favorite quote in a silent film.

Interesting fact: Florida State University commissioned composer Jeff Beal to write a brand-new soundtrack for this silent film. It was premiered by the University Philharmonia along with the original film playing just above the orchestra. 

# 132 The Deer Hunter (1978)

I have recently watched The Deer Hunter, and to be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much from it. The movie is about a group of friends (Americans of Russian descent), and for the most part it shows us their lifes before and after they went to the Vietnam war. 

The story begins with one of the friends getting married. Despite the fact that none of the lead actors are ethnically Russian, I really liked the way a traditional Russian wedding was shown in the movie. Not that I'm a huge fan of Russian traditions, but the film is very good at depicting them. The cathedral and the choir looked authentic. According to IMDb the wedding scene took five days to film, and an actual priest was cast as a priest. After the wedding this loud company goes hunting, and then three of the friends go to war.

I really liked that it was not a typical war movie with all the war-type action. As a matter of fact only a short part of the story takes place in a POW camp. The rest of it focuses on the friends' lives after they escape from the camp. One of the friends loses his legs, another one loses his mind, and the third one tries to go back to living a normal life. So basically the movie shows different outcomes of the same story, and this outcome mostly depends on luck. Yes, luck plays a great role in this story, as well as in real life.

It was good to see Young Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep. De Niro looked so handsome in this film too. All of the actors did an excellent job. Russian roulette was surely among the best things about the movie. My verdict: The Deer Hunter is a must-see!

Favorite quote: "Why don't we go to bed? Can't we just comfort each other?" (sounded hilarious in the context of the movie).

Interesting fact: John Cazale, who also played Fredo Corleone in The Godfather, was very weak when filming began, and for this reason, his scenes were filmed first. Michael Cimino knew from the start that Cazale was dying from cancer, but the studio did not. When they found out, they wanted to replace Cazale. When Meryl Streep learned of their intentions, she threatened to quit if they did. Cazale died shortly after filming was completed. This was John Cazale's last film.