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Posted: |
May 11, 2001 - 3:07 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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I finally got to see this one on the big screen - recommended by the same guy who recently gave me the MOCKINGBIRD experience. Let there be no doubt: You guys know a classic when you see one! This was no exception.
Where to start?
First of all, it was a very ENTERTAINING film despite its length. Plenty of humour (such as the scenes when they're all pissed), emotional attention-boosters (such as the reunions) and compromizing situations (such as the encounter with civilian life).
It is also a film that must be contextualized in terms of the period in which it was released. The film has plenty of social commentaries. The postwar depression that hit the returning soldiers, portrayed realistically in this film, inevitably got it accused of communist propaganda by paranoid mccarthyists in the 50's.
But beyond that reductionist silliness, the film has plenty to offer. Everything from the realistic acting by everyone involved to Gregg Toland's beautiful "deep focus"-photography (particularly evident through Wyler's airplane fetisch in the beginning) to the versatile character gallery.
Although there are a FEW redundant reaction shots that really remind you that you're watching a melodrama of the highest sort, the narrative is admirably restrained (like MOCKINGBIRD). Scenes are usually cut off before they're allowed to sink into schmalz (well, there's the ending, of course....). The dialogue is well-timed and natural.
Plenty of scenes that are "loaded" with symbolic significance, such as Homer breaking the glass with his hooks or Fred walking through the airplane cemetery.
It's also easy to spot one of the themes that Spielberg became famous for - the trouble with communication. The soldiers find themselves in a paradoxical situation as they must adapt themselves to everyday life while maintaining the belief in the principles they fought for (such as Al handing out a loan without collateral or Fred sacrificing his job by punching an unwelcome customer).
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Friedhofer's score impressed me. There were, naturally, scenes in which the music overemphasized the emotions portrayed onscreen (no melodrama without those). But there was simultaneously a great portion of intelligent scoring.
Some instances come to mind:
As Homer wakes up in the airplane and spots his home-town below, Friedhofer's music wakes up with a beautiful harp melody that increases in volume and orchestration as the town is revealed to the viewers. He then kicks in with a "busy" city sound (think CITIZEN KANE's "Inquirer" theme) as the three soldiers share a ride home - and as they witness the changes that has taken place around them while they were gone ("the best years of their lives"...) - Butch has a new neon sign etc.
Then there's that whole "hangover" scene, in which Al stumbles around the room. Friedhofer underscores the sequence in a serious, ominous tone, NOT mocking the poor guy, and it really DESCRIBES his mental state musically.
Special notice must be made of the end, as Fred wanders around the airplane cemetery accompanied by brooding minor notes. Powerful stuff describing a man that is really down. Equally powerful is the music underlining Fred's disturbing memories as he is seen through the front window of one the "deceased" airplanes. In fact, the only thing carrying this scene is the music. There is nothing onscreen that would suggest such intense emotions. Great!
The score was recently rereleased on CD, wasn't it?
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I'm a regular guy and everything, not very soft-hearted, but I cannot listen to "Homer Goes Upstairs" without a tear coming to my eyes.I admit that Harold Russell's subplot as Homer, the sailer who lost his hands, is my favorite part of the movie. But the music transcends the film and lives beyond it. It calls up more imagery and emotions by itself than most "applied music" is capable of. To me this is absolute music. I know a man who's seen this film a dozen times but until recently never heard the London Philharmonic recording. While I'm not at liberty to reveal his name (it's Stephen Lister  ), I'm pretty sure he's happy with it. Tony Bremner had to re-create the sheet music for this score because the studio had thrown it away. If I heard right this happened to BEST YEARS, along with the sheet music for hundreds of other scores throughout Hollywood, because of some tax law passed in the 1950's. Stored documents became a taxable asset (I think), and vast untold troves of music went to the city dump. Along with who knows what other movie materials.
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What Zap said.  http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/smile.gif">Like The Great Escape, this is one of those movies I simply can't resist watching whenever it's shown on TV, even though I feel I could play every frame in my head anyway. As you point out so well, Thor, the music plays a very pro-active role in the movie, and (like Great Escape) this is one of the reasons I love it so much. When Zap shared the Bremner re-recording with me recently, and I heard the first few bars of the main title, I just wanted to run out and rent the VHS. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm going to duck out of here and check to see if it's available to buy on DVD... http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/biggrin.gif">
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Posted: |
May 10, 2001 - 11:20 PM
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By: |
Ron Pulliam
(Member)
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The shame of things is that the MGM DVD pictured in the first post is now the only version of this title.HBO also released it with wonderful extras, including isolated music score. I was going to put in a plug for anyone interested in these extras, but Amazon.com informed me that it's out-of-print, although used copies may be found in the usual locations....
[This message has been edited by Ron Pulliam (edited 11 May 2001).]
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I had never seen this movie until Howard L generously sent me a VHS copy. I can't even talk about it without tearing up. In fact, Bonita & I were telling our daughter about it just this afternoon, and we both had to reach for the Kleenex!
The Harold Russell subplot is worth the entire film; not that the rest of it isn't great as well, it is, for me, the most powerful part. Heart-rending.
Great score!
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Posted: |
May 14, 2001 - 8:54 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Yeah, thanks for the reminder about that thread, Howard.[This message has been edited by Thor (edited 14 May 2001).]
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