Describe a moment from the film that depicts one of the challenges of demobilization and reintegration. 
What is the overall mood (atmosphere, feeling and sentiment) of this film? Describe a moment that captures that mood and again refer to a specific scene.
Think about some aspects of film form (lighting, editing, cinematography and camera movement, music) as you watch the film. Pick out one formal aspect and explain how it works to make a specific statement about a character in the movie (male or female). 
1. A moment in the film that depicts one of the challenges of demobilization and reintegration is when the character Homer is returning home. He has lost both of his hands in the war which were replaced my claw like metal hooks. Though his family, and highschool sweet heart are aware of the situation, Homer is uneasy about returning home. He feels that he will be looked at differently, and is ashamed of his condition. When the taxi is driving the three men home in the beginning of the movie, Homer proposes that they all have a few drinks at Butch’s Place before they are dropped off. We see that he has mixed feelings about returning and is quite nervous. The other men deny his request and tell him that he must see his family. When Homer arrives, his family and girlfriend Wilma are incredibly happy to see him. Though they knew that Homer lost his hands, they hadn’t seen the hooks yet. Homer’s mother begins to cry as he waves goodbye to his new friends. She is devastated that her son has lost his hands, and feels terribly bad for him. As the movie progresses, we see Homer’s difficulty in adapting to life at home. He seems embarassed by his disability, and feels like a dependent baby who needs to cry in order to get anything. Homer even pushes Wilma away, who despite everything, still loves him as much as she did before he went away. We see Homer have a hard time accepting the fact that his girlfriend still cares for him. He feels like a freak who has to be waited on hand and foot. Though Homer is quite capable of most things, there are some tasks that he needed assistance with. For example, before he goes to bed each night, Homer must have his father help him detach his harness and get tucked into bed. This must have been incredibly hard for a grown man to have his own father baby him. Before he had returned home, Homer wasn’t ashamed to tell his story of how he had lost his hands, and is proud of his abilities to do normal activities such as smoke cigarettes and carry his luggage. At one point in the movie, Homer mentions that his father was packing his pipe, but realized that his son was watching and put it away. Homer’s father felt guilty that he had hands and his son didn’t, which added to Homer’s feelings of embarassment and shame. Finally, at the end of the movie, we see Homer overcome his difficulty reintegrating and accept his family’s love. He marries Wilma and is able to live a happy life.
2. The overall mood of the film is hopeful. We see three men from different sections of the service returning home to begin their lives as civilians again. A scene that captures this mood is when Fred is struggling to find work. Before the war, he had worked as a “soda jerk” and lived off $32.50 an week. After returning, and locating his wife, Fred is depserate to earn a decent wage and provide for them. His wife, who had been working long hours at a night club to support her lavish lifestyle of fancy dinners and nightclubs,quits her job. She figures that now her husband is home, he will get a good job and take care of her. She also knows that Freddy had received a 1,000 dollars from the government, which could be used for nights on the town. Fred soon reveals to his wife that his government money is almost gone and that they must live “poor” for a little while. His wife, who can’t fathom this idea, begins to lose love for her husband. She eventually divorces Fred and states that she needs to be pampered. Fred, who had just lost his job at the pharmacy, hits rock bottom when his wife leaves him. The reason I used this moment to capture the mood of the film is because though he went through a rough time, Fred was able to find a decent job at the end of the movie. He not only is able to find work, but he marrys Peggie, the woman who he had gradually fell in love with. This hopeful attitude that anyone can conquer adversity encapsulates the film and we see all three of the characters go through this process. When life seems so bad, and you are so low, the only place to go is up.
3. One thing that I noticed throughout the film, was the music. During almost every scene, music was played that produced a certain mood. Whenever Homer was shown struggling to accept his condition, a sad somber tune was played. This really made me feel sympathetic for the character, and I could feel the pain that Homer was enduring. This music reflected Homer’s attitude and displayed how his disability affected him. Another scene in the film where music made a statement about a character is when the men are in the taxi driving through their town. We get actual shots of a town during this time and the music is upbeat and hopeful. This gives the audience a sense that these men, despite their experiences in the war, had something to be happy about. All three men were incredibly happy to be home, and the music played during this scene made us feel like their lives were going to get better. One last note about how the music affected the film/characters, was when Fred and Peggie were together. The music played was soft and romantic, giving the audience the idea that these two characters were going to fall in love. We see a relationship progress, and the music played during these scenes gives the audience hope that these two will fall in love and be together at the end of the film, which they end up doing.
1. The character that undergoes the most severe reintegration and demobilization would be Homer. As soon as he returns home, he feels the effects of his battle wounds as his family and his fiancé react to his lack of hands. His mother instantly starts crying when she sees the hooks and his fiancé and father look at them with pity. The family gets accustomed to the new Homer after some time, but Homer still feels as though he is getting pitied and treated differently. One moment that stands out most in Homer’s struggle with reintegration is when he is getting ready for bed and his father has to help him dress. Homer’s blank expression while smoking a cigarette and being dressed shows how uncomfortable and emasculated he feels. To be a grown man and to depend so much on his father to do simple tasks makes the character of Homer an example of the pains of reintegration.
2. The movie portrays a mood of hope. This is seen most vividly in the final scene of the film. Homer is getting married to his high school sweetheart despite all the pain and suffering he has undergone since coming home. He has shown the difficulty of life for an amputee to his wife and she has vowed to take care of him and love him forever. Then Fred and Peggy end the movie with a kiss. They have fallen in love with the support of Al and Milly and plan to spend their lives together. Throughout this scene there is a feeling of hope as all the characters have tough, yet bright futures to look forward too.
One of the main ways in which this film depicts the challenges of reintegration is through the aspect of relationships. For example, there is awkwardness between Homer and Wilma upon Homer’s return home. Fred and Al watch from the car observing whether the family will accept him with his disability. Wilma embraces and kisses Homer, but as Al later comments, “The navy didn’t teach him how to hold his girl and stroke her hair.†This illustrates the difference of identity when one is in the navy and when one is a civilian. The navy has taught him how to get by with his amputee arms, however, it is an entirely new challenge to come home and be a civilian with a disability than a sailor who lost his hands for a good cause. There are other moments which show us the difficulties Homer faces, such as holding a glass of lemonade, and being able to dress himself in his pajamas before bed, which he needs his father to do. Homer’s early optimism in being alive and being able to use his new hands is later undermined by the fact that he is self-conscious when people look at him weird or offer help when he feels like he shouldn’t have to ask for it.
Towards the end of the movie, Homer decides to show Wilma exactly what she is getting into by showing her that he’s “like a baby, all [he] can do is cry for help.†He shows that he has learned how to take the harness off and “wiggle into his pajama top,†but then he can’t move his arms or if the door is shut, he won’t be able to open it. Wilma buttons his pajama top for him and tucks him into bed. This shows that with the support of loved ones, reintegration is much easier. It also illustrates that Homer will be okay once he realizes that it’s okay to ask for help because there are people who will help him. This is what ex-GI’s really need upon their return to civilian life: encouragement, support, and optimism.
The above description of a moment in the film is a good indicator of the overall mood of the film. When Homer, Fred, and Al are in the plane, they are happy and anxious to get home. They know what they left behind, but they don’t know what will be there when they get there. We see that Homer has to deal with his disability, that Fred has to deal with finding a job after being such high rank in the military, he has to take a low-paying job, and we see that Al has a different view of banking and money than previously. I would say that overall the film is optimistic. It shows the downsides of reintegration and the different struggles one has to endure, but it also shows that there is hope.
There is hope in Wilma for Homer to lead a normal life even without normal hands. There is hope for Fred to find a job that makes him feel worthwhile and that there is somebody, Peggy, that will love him unconditionally and there is hope that Al will become a better person. It is this hope that Al describes in his drunken speech that makes America.
An aspect of film that says something about a character is the way that the camera films Homer. The first time we see how much he needs help from others, his father is helping him get ready for bed, however, the camera doesn’t show his amputee arms. Later, the second time we see him show his difficulties, this time to Peggy, we see his amputee arms all the way, wrapped in gauze. The effect of this shows the shame that Homer feels for his arms in the first part, and the second time, when he is entirely exposed, it shows the severity of his disability. It is blunt and this honesty to Wilma makes this scene have a bigger impact on the audience. It shows how much Wilma loves Homer to not be bothered by the fact that he has no hands. This connects to what I said before about relationships. This effect shows the love and support Homer receives from his father that is very nice about helping his son out, and from his girl Wilma, who is willing to learn to live with this new Homer.
1. Homer has the most trouble reintegrating in the film. The scene when he is dropped off at his home is bittersweet. He hugs his parents and sister but when Wilma comes he holds back. He doesn’t know if she will still love him or if she will be afraid of him. I think that Homer worries that Wilma will think he changed during the war and is not the same person. His physical change may lead her to think that he has changed emotionally. There is an apparent awkwardness between Homer and Wilma. Although the Navy taught him how to survive and thrive with his prothesis they did not teach him how to interact with his loved ones. Homer rejects and is ashamed by the looks of pity that he receives from his mother, finance and father. The scene in particular that depicts this shame is when he is getting ready for bed but is unable to dress himself. His father has to dress him while he stands there smoking a cigarette. This is a great juxtaposition of the “cool pose” seen in the Sidney Portier films. While Homer feels completely emasculated having to have his father dress him, he still can manage to smoke a cigarette.
2. The mood of this film is hopeful. I think that Homer character is a good example of the overall mood. When Homer, Al and Fred are on the plane ride home, Homer opens up to them about his disability. He constantly repeats that it really isn’t so bad and that he can still function. However, there always seems to be an underlying tone of fear that the returning vets will not be accepted back home. Even though the Navy taught them how to function again as a civilian, they are still apprehensive as to whether their loved ones will look at them the same.
3. In the scene when Fred is returning home for the first time I could not help but notice the lighting. Right before he opens the door there is a light, probably from a window, but it shines perfectly both on his face and the door. He stands at the door a moment before knocking, almost as if contemplating his reintegrating. I think this lighting was perfect because light usually symbolizes rebirth and hope. This is perfect for the scene because he is coming home for the first time and it sends a hopeful message out to all returning war vets.
1. A moment from the film, The Best Years of Our Lives, that depicts demobilization, would be shown physically best with Homer. He was the first one dropped off at home between the three men and was also the one that was different on the outside the most. Instead of having hands at the end of his arms, he had hooks. When he got home from the war you could tell he felt self-conscious about it with his family. He was embarrassed that he didn’t have hands and therefore pushed away the woman he loved so he wouldn’t become a burden to her. The difficulty he had physically with these hooks also showed when he had trouble opening up a door, dropping a glass of lemonade, and getting ready for bed at night.
2. I felt that the overall mood of this movie was hopeful, yet it showed how tough life can be and how difficult it could be to overcome a situation. It portrayed how hard it was for the soldiers to come home from the war and adjust back to normal life like nothing happened, when in reality many tragic things did. This movie also showed how the families were there for them regardless, unlike some of the members of the community. Fred had to come home to have a worse job than he did before he left only to get fired from it after a customer was making fun of the war. He didn’t give up after this situation, he went on to have hope and find a job that he would be happier with. The music in this movie also showed us certain things to make us realize what was going on in the character’s head. An example of this would be when Fred went to the junk yard and climbed into one of the empty and broken airplanes. The music was intense as if something bad was happening. The camera kept going back and forth from his face to the broken propellers on the airplane. This helped to show that Fred was having a flashback from the war that he was reliving in his head. This shows that Fred internalizes much of his memories from the war instead of talking to a loved one about it.
1. One scene in the film that depicts some of the challenges of reintegration is when Freddy’s wife Marie asks him if he needs to talk about anything. She does this is an unkindly manner because she does not want to talk about anything Freddy went through in the war. It seems as if she is just asking to make conversation. Marie obviously understands that Freddy has some kind of emotional damage because he has nightmares about his friend’s plane crashing. Marie cannot and will not sympathize with Freddy. She wants to continue living her life the same way she has been, and she wants Freddy to support her. Since Freddy does not have a well-paid job, Marie divorces him. Marie’s lack of understanding and sympathy reveal to the viewer that it is extremely difficult for soldiers to be reintegrated into society without the support of the ones they love.
2. The overall feeling and theme of the film is change. The men hope that nothing has changed when they return home. They want their wives and girlfriends to love them and they want to have good jobs. Unfortunately, things at home have changed and so have the men. Freddy’s wife Marie says at one point, “We’re right back where we started.†Freddy takes offense to this because he is a completely different man than he was before he left. He has seen the horrors of war and will never be able to be the person he was before.
3. One important aspect of cinematography that I found interesting was the scene where the three men are in the taxi going home to their families for the first time. The men are all sitting in the back seat, and they are being filmed through the reflection in the rearview mirror. This scene shows how the men are still unified at the point, but must soon face the realities of their own individual lives. The taxi that they are in serves as a barrier between the men and the real world. Each man has some difficulty getting out of the car and back into real life. Up to this point the men have dreamed about the day they would return home, and now that they are back, they are not as eager.
1. The person that had one of the hardest times coming back home from the war and getting readjusted to regular life was Fred. I think that Fred has such a hard time because not only is his work life not doing well but his marriage is also rocky and he is realizing that everything has changed. The specific scene that I want to talk about is the one where Fred is starting his job at the pharmacy and is being trained by the man that he used to know and calls him his old nickname stinky, the man then in reply tells him that it isn’t stinky anymore but that it is Mr. so and so and then glares at him. This scene really says something about the level of respect that one would think that returning veterans would deserve and the level that was actually portrayed. Fred was in the war a hero and a hard working man that made a lot of money and upon his return to his life in America he became a nobody with a wife that cheated on him and a job that was not respectable and also degrading.
2. The overall mood of the film was dramatic but there was romance and comedy as well. A scene that depicts the movie as being a dramatic romantic film is the one where Homer is going to bed and Wilma comes into the kitchen. Wilma follows Homer up to bed and helps him take off his arm bands and then lets him know that she will love him and he doesn’t have to be afraid, he can love her back. I think that this scene helps set the tone of the movie because there were love stories between all three of the main characters and their girls, but also the movie and this scene is dramatic because it shows that the war is still a huge part of Homer’s life and that he finally becomes accepted and is truly home when Wilma tells him that she still loves him. I think that the scene is appropriate because it is dramatic but it also shows that the war will always affect their lives but then at the end it kind of makes everything better because everyone found love and almost forgot about the war because of that.
3. One aspect of the film making that helped to create a better view of the charater Al, was when he was going out on a night on the town just getting back from the war and there were many different spinning shots of lighted up flashing signs. I thought that it was a clever way to show all the different places that they had been and when they were spinning it helped to show that Al was getting drunker. It also showed that Al was a fun guy because of the fun and energetic music that was playing in the background.
In “The Best Years of Our Livesâ€, a specific moment that captures some of the issues and problems of demobilization and reintegration is when Frank is attempting to get a new job. Although he has spent three years in a highly specialized job with enormous responsibility overseas, he returns home to find that the only job available to him is as assistant to the man who was his assistant before he left. Not only is this degrading to him, but it quickly brings to light other problems, such as his shallow marriage to Marie. Marie’s affections for him quickly wane when he goes from glorious general to having a low paying job of little importance. That Frank has to essentially regress backwards in job position shows how ill-equipped the country was to handle veterans returning home and in need of jobs. He spent three years fighting in a war, and so was unable to gain work experience that was required of him to move forward in the work force once he returned home.
This film seems to take a hopeful view of reintegration overall. It seems to acknowledge that there are parts of the transition which are difficult and painful, but also assures the viewer that none of these issues are insurmountable. In fact, the hopefullness of this film seems rather fantastical. The problems which are initially brought to light seem to resolve themselves so easily. The final scene of the film represents this “problems glossed over for a happy ending†attitude. Homer is marrying his high school sweetheart, which to be sure is a happy event, however it is as though his personal trauma over his lost hands is absolved simply because he is getting married. Al seems to have a drinking problem, perhaps brought on by traumatic experiences in the war, however this is made light of-it becomes something of a joke by the end of the film. Finally, Frank is able to be united with his love, Peggy, because he conveniently married and then divorced an awful, shallow woman before the war. Everything seems resolved, however the issues have not been dealt with. Rather, they are smoothed over in order to create a happy, albeit unrealistic and rather unsatisfactory, ending for everyone.
In terms of film form, I found the costumes to be very integral in informing a particular characterization. Using Frank as an example, when he is dressed in his pilot’s uniform he seems to be someone great and heroic to many people he comes into contact with, including his wife Marie. The first time Marie sees him out of his uniform, her dissapointment is tangible: It is clear that for the first time she sees him as a rather ordinary person, not a war hero, and the image isn’t pleasing to her. When Frank first visits the drug store where he used to work, he is wearing his uniform complete with ribbons. One of the employees remarks that he will surely get the job because of his outfit, implying that because he displays such an impressive exterior he must be qualified. When he is actually working behind the counter at the drug store, wearing an apron, the rude customer remarks that he is a ‘nobody’. Overall, the costuming symbolizes formation of how each character is perceived.
When Fred, Homer, Al and his wife and daughter go out on the town on their first night back it showed that they were not yet ready to return, despite that they are where they had long to be for a while. When they all choose to go out to drink and forget their problems helps show that they still are not completely ready to return to their old lives. They all end up at the same place, by chance, which makes it evident that they have conflicts after returning home. Al has his family that doesn’t quite understand what happened and are hoping he would return and know what is going on. Fred is looking for his wife, and can’t find her in the nightclubs, and Homer’s return with hooks shocks his family so much when he doesn’t have the patience.
Another good moment that shows how on “edge†Al is, is when his wife is talking to him and she keeps telling him to sit down. He is so fidgety that he wants to just stand, and he seems very snappy at her.
The soldiers in the movie each come from different walks of life. Homer is young middle-class served in the Navy. Al is upper class and served in the Infantry, and Fred is poor and was in the Air Force, but the little time they had in the plane and in the cab home helped them bond in a way that they never would have bonded in their “normal†lives. They all have the war in common. The movie is extremely hopeful that these men will lead happy lives. When they have problems they can sense it from each other, which helps strengthen their bond.
One scene that showed hope and patience was after the first drink up they have together. Fred is so drunk that he can’t stand up at the door of the hotel and ends up in Peggy’s bed. In the nighttime he has such bad nightmares that he wakes Peggy up. Her patience, maternal instinct, and hospital knowledge allow her to help Fred. She represents the patience that the people around the returning vets should have. Peggy is perfect, and goes to Fred’s side fearless, when he is in such distress in his dreaming that it would seem expected and logical that he would be violent not knowing who is disturbing him, but he isn’t. It helps show that returning vets still have problems, although they might not always seem evident.
When Homer returns home and his family greets him the editors do a quick close up of the hook and then back to the whole family and then the viewer sees that the mother had noticed that her son’s hands are missing and she is distraught. It helps foreshadow the conflict that Homer’s claws will bring when he interacts with civilians that never experienced the war. It also shows how people are easily affected emotionally by disfigured people.
1. The physical and emotional trials and tribulations of demobilization and reintegration is portrayed in the character Homer. Before the war he was a football player – masculine, capable, and athletic. After he returns he is physically disabled having lost his hands, and unable to perform many every day tasks. His father has to dress him, and he is almost stripped of his masculinity because he cannot do the things he used to do, and things others do with ease. On an emotional level, Homer is apprehensive and afraid to go home because he does not know how his loved ones will react to his condition. Although his parents are happy to see him, his mother cries and it is difficult for them to accept his disability. He pushes Wilma, his fiancee, away because he is embarrassed and does not want her to have to deal with his disability. In essence, life almost becomes a burden to him because he cannot have the life that he used to and he is afraid of losing the people he loves.
2. I think that the sentiment of the film is adjustment to change. Each man’s life is changed in a great way, and once they return home they have to adjust to their new lives. Not only do they have to adjust to civilian life again and their physical and mental changes, but also get used to changes that occurred at home while they were away. The way they interact with family and friends, finding a new job, and living become huge adjustments that take time and patience. A moment that captures this is Fred getting adjusted to his job as a soda jerk. When a customer insults the war, Fred gets upset and assaults the man; Fred ends up getting fired. Firstly, Fred did not want to return to the job but had to so that he could make money. Secondly, he has to deal with people’s reactions to the war – he is not used to being around civilians and being home, so it’s difficult for him to accept negative opinions about a war he helped fight.
3. Music definitely helped viewers sympathize with Homer. During scenes when he was distraught or struggling with his disability sad, dark music would play in the background. This helped understand the severity of what he was going through so that people could view a glimpse of his suffering. The music helped set up the mood of various scenes and tugged at my heart strings.
1. The universal challenge for the men returning was assimilating back to their normal lives. Each character had trouble with returning home. When the three men were coming home they all said their lives would be different, Fred even said he would never go back to his old way of life. Fred had the hardest time finding a new job because all the “skills” he learned in service weren’t exactly useful skills, leaving him to have to return back to the very thing he dreamed about leaving due to the army.
2. The overall mood of the film is hopeful with underlying fear. Homer’s character really shows this well. In the beginning of the film Homer is very hopefully in the plane ride home yet as soon as he returns he wants to run away to the bar and can’t even hug his girl. Throughout the film Homer secludes himself but in the end when he shows Wilma what his life is going to be like he is hopeful once again about his life when she tells him she can handle it.
3. Music is a major factor in creating the mood in this film. As many people already stated somber music would play when Homer couldn’t deal with his struggles. When they were out at the bars the music was always upbeat which gave me the feeling that maybe the only times the men felt good is when they were getting drunk because they get to escape from the pain.
One of the challenges of demobilization and reintegration is coming home with a new handicap and trying to function in everyday life with it. The film depicts this through Homer as he tries to reintegrate back into the everyday life with hooks for hands. The night Homer comes back from the war, he is sitting in the living room with Wilma’s family and everyone is either staring at his hooks with pity or they are trying to pretend that they do not notice them. This is a really awkward moment for him and the part where he tries to pick up the drink and drops it just makes the moment to worse. All Homer wants is for everything to be normal again without people pitying him and staring at him like he is a freak. Homer’s situation reflects the lives of other war veterans trying to function in normal society with a disability while trying to get back the normal lives they had before the war.
The overall mood of the film is hope. A moment that captures this mood is when Homer plays the piano for Al at Butcher’s bar. Al runs into Homer at the bar and Homer has a giant smile on his face as he plays the piano with Butcher on the other side of him and Al cannot help but smile either. This scene exemplifies the mood of hope in that Homer has learned to accept his new disability and has moved forward with his life. Learning to play the piano with his hooks shows how he is making accomodations for his disability instead of letting it take over his life. This scene shows how there is hope for Homer’s future.
One of the prominent aspects of film form that stands out in this film is music. There is a scene where Homer is staring out of the plane at the clouds and there is somber but triumphant music playing in the background. The statement that the music makes here about Homer is that he has a lot of hope in him for his future when he goes home but at the same time he is feeling insecure about how his family and girlfriend are going to react to his new disability. The same kind of music is played when his family first sees him with the new disability and the mother starts to cry. The music here shows how Homer is disappointed at everyone’s reaction and feels ashamed about his disability as his mother is crying. The music overall reveals a lot about Homer’s character in that the triumphant tone exhibits his spirit of hope while the sad part reveals his insecurites and self-pity.
1 One moment from the film that depicts the challenges of demobilization and reintegration is Fred’s attempt to try and get a job. His rank in the army supplied him with money and respect something that does not transfer from his time as a pilot to his time as a civilian. The only position available to Freddie is a soda jerk and the disappointments only get worse from there. His return home seems to be the most traumatic as he returns to work at a job he is overqualified for, and a wife that doesn’t care about him at all. He is the only character who faces the challenges of reintegration alone. Homer and Al both have families and women who support them, Freddie’s wife leaves him and his parents are only in one scene, he is left to put his life back together with little help from anyone.
2 I felt that the overall mood of the film was very honest. The scence where Homer’s father helps him take off his arms shows the trauma of war in a very honest way and also creates an emotional response that is hopeful. Whatever condition the veterens return in with help and support they can readjust to their new post-war life. Seeing Homer’s bare arms is reality, nothing will ever be what it was for these men and accepting it helps everyone to move forward in a positive and understanding way.
3 I thought that the relationship between Wilma and Homer was so sweet and the way Wilma was filmed really embodied that. The lighting on Wilma’s face made her look almost angelic and along with her acceptence of Homer’s injury she really brought a positive character to the film. It helped to tie the movie together in an honest way but leave the audience with a genuine feeling of hope that things will get better.
Describe a moment from the film that depicts one of the challenges of demobilization and reintegration.
What is the overall mood (atmosphere, feeling and sentiment) of this film? Describe a moment that captures that mood and again refer to a specific scene.
Think about some aspects of film form (lighting, editing, cinematography and camera movement, music) as you watch the film. Pick out one formal aspect and explain how it works to make a specific statement about a character in the movie (male or female).
One moment that depicts the challenges of demobilization and reintegration would be when Al first returned home to his son, daughter Peggy, and wife Milly. As he enters his apartment complex, the doorman said, “Excuse me!†Al sharply replies “I live here, what’d you expect, a 4 star general?†When Al got to the door, his son opened it and was utterly surprised as was Peggy. As Milly asks who is at the door, she comes around the corner and they slowly walk toward each other and hug with a romantic kiss. They hadn’t seen each other in so long that Milly almost didn’t know what to do. Throughout their night together, the family is trying to reintegrate him back to the way it was before he had left, but the reality was that everyone had changed. It almost seemed awkward between the family, the son went to bed and thanked him for the souvenir gifts. This awkward tone was possibly because of Al’s time away from home. He mentioned he felt as though they grew up while he was away and Milly said she tried to stop them. He suggested a night out on the town it was almost like he wanted to go back to what he had known and been used to with his friends in the war. The 3 boys were so glad to be reunited and it hadn’t even been a day yet. It’s sometimes hard to return to a familiar place, because people and circumstances change.
The overall mood of this film in my opinion was very romantic. With each couple, there was a sense of true romance between them. Each main character ended up happily ever after with their true loves, Derry and Peggy, Homer and Wilma, as well as Al and Milly. One particular couple that stood out would be Wilma and Homer. She showed true devotion to Homer despite the handicap he attained from the war. As much as Homer was trying to push her away because of his own insecurities, she remained loyal and true to him. Each scene with a kiss captured a romantic essence and connection between the characters. Although at times it was a bit predictable, with the “happily ever after,†theme, the film captures a sense of hopeless romanticism, the ideal of true love and getting what you want and the person you want, no matter what you have to give up or lose to get it.
I noticed the film utilized music throughout the entire film and it seemed to coincide with the characters emotions. The music would be very strong in scenes such as when Derry went to the old plane shipyard and climbed into the plane. As he sat in the front of the plane, he became sweaty and nervous and the music escalated and went along with his emotions of fear and power. Then when the man yelled at him, “What are you doing in that plane?!†The music then calmed down, as did Derry as he returned to reality. The music at times would also be romantic, slow and emotional, for example when Derry and Peggy kissed in the end. It definitely made a statement with each character.
1)its seems that the challenges of demobilization and reintegration are expressed extensively through Fred. A proud man who did great things during the war seemed to have almost lost everything upon return. his old job has actually gotten worse and his short lived marriage has ended. coming back to a life with little job security financial stability and a poor home life to say the least sounds like the major struggles or reintegration.
2) I think there was an intimate romance to the movie and like along with what many other students have said much hope to be longed for not always recieved. I see great irony in the movie’s title, for either the men gave up the best years of their lives or perhaps as in fred’s case the crazy part might be the best years turned out to be in the war not after it. while irony isnt the best word for it a good scene is when fred is angered by the customer in his store who he assaults. its definitely not ironic that he got fired from his old job after doing better things; and perhaps he did deserve to get punished but it serves well in summing up the struggle. its almost as if theres a second war for these men to wage, and perhaps struggle is a better way to sum the movie.
3.) when seeing the movie you cant help but notice the camera work from shots movements to just the way the images fall into place and are aligned it helps show everything from struggles to friendships. music definitely plays a big role but the real impact in the work is done with the camera. turns out the camera man also did work on Citizen Kane which when comparing the movies comes at no surprise
I found the most intriguing challenge of re-integration to be the one faced by Sgt. Al Stephenson (March). Until seeing this movie I had only considered problems with re-integration arising when a soldier is in some way deformed or debilitated during wartime, such as the character Homer (Russell) faced. But who would have thought that returning to your perfect upper class family, with your well educated children who were old enough to recall who you were before you left would be awkward? I found it fascinating that it took the majority of the movie before Sgt. Stephenson’s family warmed up to him, despite him being over seas for less then 5 years. But it did happen, when the Sgt. Returned he had been used to the gritty, dirty, un-refined lifestyle of a low ranking military officer. Upon returning to his luxurious condo with his highly educated children, he found himself knowing less about the war then his own son did and seemed uncomfortable amongst all the creature comforts.
The overall feeling of the movie was portrayed rather disturbingly when Cpt. Derry (Andrews) finally accepted the fact that he would have to return to work at the drugstore he had sworn never to work at again. After going through a brief interview, he quickly found that all his heroism and sacrifice to protect the good life back home had no employment value in civilian life. He was only as well qualified as a kid that had not even completed high school. This does not reflect the over-all mood of the movie, but rather what I felt was the most important message to take away.
The scene at Sgt. Stephenson’s home after the first night back for the men, where the Cpt. Derry was passed out in Peggy’s room stuck with me. In this scene, the music became tense (similar to that of a horror movie) as Derry had his nightmare about his plane taking hits. He was sweating profusely and extremely distraught. Peggy hears this and enters the room, taking a rag wiping the perspiration from his face. As she sooths him, the music sooths as well. This scene is the first hint that Peggy is really falling for the Captain, and that possibly she might have qualities to offer that his wife (whom he had not yet met) may not.
1. Aside from the scenes with Homer, the biggest scene concerning reintegration is undoubtedly the “interview” at Fred’s old job, the pharmacy. While respected due to the duty he accomplished for his country, his skills are in no way useful to the world he protected and risked himself for. We even see this when his “chum” Sticky has advanced when before he was on a lower rung of the ladder than Fred. We see that it is a sort of time warp where, in Fred’s case and not Al’s, the soldier returning home is simply outclassed by those who never left.
2. Brotherhood and hope are the constants in this film. For example we have Homer, afraid of being rejected by Wilma despite his adaption. He is only able to overcome this fear throughout the movie with help from Al and Fred his “brothers” in this manner of speaking. Next up is Fred and his obvious longing for Peggy as well as being successful. In the beginning this drive is to be happy to make his marriage a storybook marriage. Going out, being a civilian, adapting from his life as a soldier and having his wife stay home and not work. Until his lifestyle is unsustainable, at which point he has to cope with taking a job he had before leaving for the war years ago and be under an employee formerly under him. It is hope to be happy, to have a marriage that works and a successful job, and systematically he achieves this despite the hardships. Then finally we have Al who supremely demonstrates brotherhood by the simple act of giving a loan out to a soldier that had no collateral and being reprimanded for such.
I think that one moment in the film that depicts demobilization and reintegration is when Fred returns home to his wife and old job. At first, he is adamant about not working at his old job that he had before the war and believes that his contribution to the air force would be able to supply him with a better job. He is immediately proved otherwise however when after months of searching, he remains jobless. His ideals and hopes to live a successful life after retuning home from the war are instantly crushed and turned into a cold hard reality for him. His wife makes no attempt to be understanding or passionate towards him and the only time that she is is when he wears his uniform and pretends as if he is still entrapped in the war. She fantasizes this image of him and cannot accept anything else. This is extremely difficult for Fred to cope with because all he desires is to live a normal life in society with little memories of the war.
I believe that the overall mood of the film fluctuates. It is very inconsistent and whenever there is a glimpse of happiness or hope it is immediately crushed and diminished with the after effect of war. For instance, when Al comes home to see his family after many years serving in the war he is at first nervous, glad, and somewhat hesitant. Once his family recognizes it is him they are all relieved and utterly happy that he has returned home safely. However, it is moments later when Al realizes how much everyone has changed, especially his children. At first he is overwhelmed and shocked and does not comprehend the situation. Things are too different for him and it makes him uneasy. This is a direct result of the war and how long he has been away from home. It is almost as if he becomes hostile toward the situation and therefore feels the need to go out into town to ease his mind by getting drunk. The mood transforms from being happy to scared and then back to happy again.
One part in the film that I really enjoyed in terms of the lighting and directing is at the end when Homer is getting married. The camera is angled so that the audience may see Fred’s head looking directly at Peggy the entire ceremony and especially when the homer and his wife take their vows. In doing this, I believe that it shows the true passion, love, and commitment that Fred and Peggy feel for one another. And at the end when Homer kisses his bride, everyone is concentrated on them, while Fred walks over to Peggy and kisses her as if it had been their wedding and their vows. I thought that this was such a special moment in the film, not only in the sense that Fred is alas together with Peggy, but in the way in which it reveals hope, security, and possibility despite the effects of war.
1) All three of the characters have their own completely different struggles reintegrating into society. While on the surface it might seem that Homer would have the most difficult time, and he does indeed have very severe case, it seems to me that because of his disability people expect him to need a lot of time and are much more sympathetic and patient with him. While the issue of having to do everything without hands for the rest of his life will provide physical hurtles for him to surmount, Frank and Al still have to reintegrate into society and have much less sympathy from everyone around them who thinks if they are having a hard time that it is something wrong with them. Even Al’s very understanding and loving wife is quite impatient with him and is frustrated by his distance. Al’s boss, while he does agree to give him a vacation and time to readjust he then instantly hands him a briefcase full of files and paperwork for him to read during his vacation to get caught up on work. The man who Frank’s wife is cheating on him with makes some comment about how with all the work out there Frank must be slow to not have found a good paying job yet. Because they don’t have a visible emblem of the changes they underwent during the war they receive little to no sympathy.
2) The main feeling of the movie was hope. Al and his wife are thrilled with each other and Al is thriving at work, Hank is marrying a women who loves and accepts him, Frank has gotten out of his awful relationship, started a job and is going to be with Peggy. It seems like everything is just tying together perfectly. This also speaks toward the general feeling of the nation. The sense of patriotism is strong, as can be seen when Frank punches the customer who is bad talking the government, since the whole country has just pulled through hard times together and come out stronger for it. While the movie does depict struggles throughout the movie, the pervading mood comes from how each and every one of them rises up and moves onward to their happy ending.
3) The one little film trick that I thought was really cool and interesting (but can’t really say how. or even if it did, benefit the plot or themes), is the scene in the bathroom with the two girls how the whole picture flips around almost like the mirror just twists around the room and then it films strait forward at the girls reflections for the rest of the scene. I really liked the drunk scenes with Al. The flashing signs and the switching of camera angles helped to portray the fact that he was thoroughly trashed.
1) The trouble of demobilization and reintegration can be seen when the all three men first return home. All three of them are at first reluctant to return to their families. The time that they have spent away has created a tenable rift that separates them. Fearing to bridge this gap, both Homer and Al try to convince Fred to go to get some drinks and delay the reunion. Once the three meet their families this feeling is only reinforced. Homer’s lack of hands makes his mother cry and draws awkward stares from the others. Al is shocked to realize that he does not know his family. His children have aged a few years and developed their own personalities, his wife is having dinner with people he has never heard of. Fred has to deal with learning that he he as well does not know his wife. His entire interaction with her has been him spending money on her and his appeal as a man in
2) The overall mood of the film is perseverance. All the characters are forced to struggle to overcome their obstacles. Homer most clearly follows this theme through his fight to maintain normality after losing his hands. Despite being greatly handicapped he goes through training to learn to use his hooks. He has become so adept that he can carry his own luggage and unbutton his shirts. Every time someone attempts to light his cigarettes he shrugs them off and lights matches himself. He overcomes his final step when he finally rejects the idea that he is inferior to other men and allows Wilma to express her love for him.
3) Close-ups were used quite a few times in the movie. During very emotional moments in the film dialogue will stop for a few moments and the camera will go to a head on view of the character. This lets the audience see the effects of emotion on the actor as opposed to interpreting it from the dialogue. One of the characters that this was implemented most for was Peggie. When her father first comes into the room the camera centers straight onto her face and the tears in her eyes can be seen. Later when Fred kisses her the camera once again has a view from the front showing her expressions. These scenes show the character as a deep and caring person. If she were not shown as an honestly emotional person she would simply be looked at as a home wrecker and not a star-crossed lover.
Obviously Homer’s loss of his hands in the war is a major example of the challenge he faces reintegrating when he gets home. He’s very frustrated and stubborn and just assumes that Wilma won’t want him anymore. He has trouble understanding that she still loves him without his hands. Also, Al turns to alcohol throughout the film to deal with the reintegration back into his home life. In the very beginning all three men are not at all content with just sitting at home and all go out for too many drinks. There’s a scene when Peggy and Fred are talking in the car and Fred says he will definitely not be satisfied just working scooping ice cream and will need more excitement than that.
I think the overall mood of the film is that the war deeply affects the emotions, actions, and expectations of the three men. It ends with all the loose ends being tied up at the end of the movie with their relationships, but it took a lot of time for them to get used to life at home. The movie shows that when the men get home from war (even if they have people who love them waiting for them) they’ve changed and are very affected. One moment that really captures the mood of the film is when Fred is having his nightmare in Peggy’s bed. Although during the day Fred is pleasant and has fun drinking, his nightmares show how the war has damaged him.
I think the scene where Homer and Wilma were in the garage while he was shooting really showed what a hard time Homer was having with his injury. The music really built up to where Homer hit his breaking point and threw his arms straight through the windows. He was so frustrated that people weren’t treating him the same as they used to.
1. One moment in the film that really depicts for me the challenges of being brought back from the war is the scene when Homer is standing in the shed, fixing something, and his girlfriend comes in to talk to him. He is short with her, unable to look her in the eye, and when she reminds him of his promise to marry her when he returned from the war, he becomes very edgy. Homer turns, noticing the children looking in at him, and he runs to the window, then proceeds to thrust his hooks through the glass, scaring his sister and her neighborhood friends so bad that his sister begins crying. What this truly illuminated for me was the image of the “war hero” versus the man behind the image. Homer was the only man in that movie to come back physically disfigured, and the loss of his hands was a constant reminder for him of how much of a toll the war truly took on him. This is the true challenge of bringing a soldier back to civilian life; a certain part of him will always be out there, fighting, and Homer will never truly overcome, not only the loss of his hands, but also the loss of his dignity.
2. I would say that the atmosphere of this film is a juxtaposition of the hope and promise most people had at the end of the war, and the horrifying reality of returning to civilian life after live combat. It is by no means an uplifting film, but its message I would say is not a depressing one, either. Throughout most of the film, many civilians mention the war as a hopeful thing, that now the country will have promise and progress into the future, but the veterans know better. When Fred goes into the supermarket and is asked to take a job at a salary not even a quarter what he made in the military, he scoffs at the opportunity, thinking it beneath him, now that he has army experience. It turns out that he is not qualified for anything better, and it upsets him that he will have to scrape by on a grocer’s wages when he gave so much to America in service. This, I would say, captures the mood of the movie quite well: the world may seem prosperous and equal to the civilians, but the returning vets understand the cruel truth of the world, that there almost never is justice and that even when one returns home, they bring the war with them.
3. Homer is the deepest character in the movie, by my reasoning. Most of his character development is enhanced by the music that accompanies the dramatic scenes he is in. The scene with his girlfriend and the smashing of the window was paired up with a swelling of rapid, intense music, to put the viewer in the mindset of the character and force us to understand the pressure Homer is feeling. The lighting in most scenes with dramatic tension adds to the suspense as well. When the filmmaker wants us to feel angry or upset with one of the characters, we see that the balance of light and shadow is thrown askew. This is most evident during the arguments between Fred and his wife. Conversely, when Fred and Peggy dance together, or are close to one another, their features are accentuated only by a soft background luminescence.
One example of the struggles to reintergrate was the post tramatic stress Freddy was having in the form of nightmares. Freddy has the dream of seeing one of his comrads trapped in a burning plane and the image still haunted him while he was at home. He is fully aware that this is a reaccuring dream. It is brushed aside in the movie but i’m sure it is something that effected many soldiers that came back from the war. Therapy wasn’t really suppiled to many soldiers that came back from the war, and were just forced to deal with the horrors of war they experienced overseas. I’m sure there were many man suffering with post tramatic stress and depression with no real outlet but family and friends who probably wouldn’t understand. Even Vietnam vets who had more access to therapy were forever scarred with what they had seen (A lot has to do with the age they were drafted). Fred dealt with it better than most im sure, since the movie ran as if finding a job was more important than his sanity.
The mood of was hopeful. It seemed to have a strong focus on the people around the 3 guys that came back and how they dealt with the changes it caused. (Homer’s family shocked by Homer’s injuries than later getting used to it; Al’s co-workers dealing with Al’s new compassion for war vets coming back; Fred’s wife impatience with him not finding a job). Eeveryone except for Fred’s wife were able to deal with the changes and support them in their evolution.
1. Though there are many moments in the film that depict the everyday struggles returning soldiers face, the moment that stuck out the most to me was Fred’s difficulty finding a job. When he was in the army, he was high in the ranks and he didn’t have to try hard to earn the respect of others. He also had a steady paycheck. But when he comes home, he comes to find he does not receive the same amount of respect that had once come to easily to him. He wanted his old job back and has to try very hard to convince his old boss for a job, any job. He ends up working as a soda jerk, something he is very overqualified for. It is clearly seen that for Fred, and many soldiers returning home, finding a job is difficult and there is a lot of competition. A woman even remarks that “no one is safe with all these service men back.” Another woman says something along the lines of “it’s easy to get a job with all those ribbons on their chests,” which is untrue. People who have no been in service really have no clue the hardships and struggles these returning vets go through and they think everything comes easy. Fred is trying desperately it seems to get back to as normal a life as possible. He gets a job, he stops wearing his uniform in exchange for civilian clothes. I feel that Fred will always be known and recognized as a soldier which is evident when he puts on a normal suit for dinner and Marie demands that he change. She practically begs him to wear his uniform out and persists, even when Fred says no at first. Once he finally gave in, Marie said “you look like yourself again.” This shows that Fred is identified as a soldier and always will, despite his efforts to lead a normal life.
2. The overall theme of this film is the ability to adapt to change. This feeling is most clearly conveyed through the character of Homer. Though he seems comfortable with his disability and knows what he is doing with the claws, deep down he is insecure about them. When people first see the claws, they have a reaction. It’s a different and weird thing and it takes some time to get used to. But Homer seems overly obsessive about proving himself, that he can do things by himself and he gets defensive every time someone offers to help him out. By the end of the movie however, he is finally truthful with Wilma and realizes that no one is judging him or thinks he can’t do things for himself. He is his own worst critic and even refers to himself as a baby. But he finally learns that Wilma loves him just the same as she always did, and really begins to love himself. Homer and Wilma finally get married and that moment marks that Homer has finally adapted to his new lifestyle and stopped thinking he always had to go out of his way to prove himself.
A moment from the film that depicts one of the challenges of demobilization and reintegration is the instant Homer’s mother hands him his glass of champagne she pours for him, as she lets go just before Homer gets a firm grasp on it, which causes the glass to slip right through Homer’s “hooks,†which I assume were named after Captain Hook and other stereotypical pirates. I feel that this term is sort of derogatory, and that one should think of a better term for his two new appendages. The moment Homer drops his drink threw him right over the edge so to speak. This leads him to go out drinking for the night, while he tells his family that he is merely going to take a little walk and get some fresh air. While out that night, Homer says to Butch, the piano-player: “Oh, why can’t they leave a guy alone?†when informed that his family is looking for him, as they truly care about him and are concerned about his well being. Homer follows this up by saying, “Well, they keep starin’ at these hooks, or they keep starin’ away from them.†Butch tries to console him by asking him to “[g]ive it time…So, cheer up, huh?†The very instant Homer dropped his drink so flagrantly on the carpet, nearly ruining it, is yet another punch in the gut that means he is in for one hell of a reintegration period, which is going to be much longer than he has previously hoped. However, once he and his family had both accept his hooks as his new hands, it is still very difficult for Homer as he feels so damn emasculated with those two unaesthetic, sometimes frightening, hindrances to a normal lifestyle. I feel that just the image alone of his two hooks can attest to the horrors of war. Homer leaves his home the very soon after he drops his drink because he cannot bear to accept the fact that his family saw for themselves that he is not invincible and that he is forever-scarred from the war. Homer, like any other man, wants to be his family’s hero, but now thanks to these hooks of his, his family is forced to take care of him. Homer even describes himself as a baby to Millie (Wilma) near the end of the film. He says that if the wind blows the door shut and there is nobody around, he is helpless. It is so very sad, as this terrible situation is only happening because the war took place. I feel that, underneath the exterior of this film, there is a deeper meaning, one that spells out the strong opinions that World War II raped some of “The Best Years of Our Lives.â€
I feel as though the overall mood of this film, underneath the happy ending, is a dim, very gloomy and depressing aura that foreshadows a future filled with only more sort-of senseless wars, as the newspaper reads in the “selling Americanism†scene where the strange hat-wearing man enters the bar, causing trouble and leads to Fred losing his job after punching the man. This stranger expresses his anti-WWII sentiments by telling Homer that “You’ve got plenty of guts…It’s a shame to see a guy have to sacrifice himself for nothing.†The stranger made it seem as if Homer were already dead, and that every U.S. casualty was in vain. Fred and Homer were NOT about to take that. The stranger holds a newspaper in his hands that reads something to the effect of, the senators are already planning for WWIII, and that WWII was a mistake and done to make the rich richer and such, while he tells Homer and Fred to “Just face the facts…That’s the unpleasant truth; the sooner you get wise to it, the better.†The sly scenes such as this one, along with the fairly often depressing and even ominous music accompanied with much darker lighting that seemed to arise whenever Al would have one-on-ones with someone, or think about the horrible things the war brought with it, cause me to believe that the often gloomy mood for this film has to do with the fact that too many people were just way too contented and comfortable with drinking every night after the war to forget about what happened, whereas what these people should have been doing was making changes to their lives and getting involved in politics and things to stop a very possible WWIII in the future. I think the film functions as a wakeup call to us Americans, and I love that about this film, because one could view it either way, very pessimistic and even very optimistic. It is a very realistic film that throws one into a seemingly fairly accurate reintegration process. However, I disliked how there were no African-Americans in the film (that I can recall). So, obviously as today, people are so much more equal, this film cannot be viewed today as something to go by, but I do feel that this film zeitgeist of the generation of post-WWII America, truly defining this age of the U.S.’s dim yet hopeful past.
A strong scene depicting challenges of demobilization and reintegration is Homer and Wilma’s conversation in his family’s kitchen at night. Despite Fred’s advice, Homer has decided to continue avoiding Wilma. Just before descending to the kitchen, he’s had to inform his father that he’s going to the kitchen and that he’ll tell his dad when he’s ready to come to bed. This has reminded us of the freedom he feels he’s lost and the life of dependency to which he’s resigned himself. This is the backdrop for his attitude during his following conversation with Wilma, who’s come to ask him whether she should believe her family’s thinking that Homer wants to get rid of her, and that she should go away and forget about him. Homer has both mental and physical difficulties returning to civilian life; his prosthetics are a more literal and visual depiction of the returning soldier’s more often only psychological struggle. Many feel a dissonance between who they were before the war and who they are now – Homer’s difference is out there for all to see and comment upon. He tells Wilma that she should go – he wants Wilma to live a “normal” life in the way he no longer can. He’s plagued not just by the physical reminder that he is not the same man he was, but by the fact that his loved ones will see that as well.
This same scene captures the mood of hope the movie depicts in the aftermath of war. We often hear about courage displayed in combat. In this scene, however, we see courage in the face of day-to-day struggles. Wilma willingly accepts Homer, even changed physically and mentally as he is, as the man she loved and still loves, and she accepts all the difficulties that will come along with being with him. Such a sentiment of love and courage is a moving example of hope in spite of struggle that becomes this film’s theme.
The wedding scene used an interesting choice of camera work to show the coming together of Peggy and Fred. The shot shows all three couples of the movie – Homer and Wilma sharing the first kiss of their marriage,Milly and Al together, watching the marriage, and Peggy and Fred almost in the corner of the shot, watching one another from across the room. When they kiss, it really is in the corner of the shot, despite the fact that much of the movie has been building up to their reunion. It is a touching and effective shot, however. Their joyful kiss is set alongside the happiness of the newly wedded couple being congratulated by friends and family, including Milly and Al, the “veteran” couple married for twenty years and having gone through and survived their share of hardship. It shows what the future holds in store for Peggy and Fred, realistically showing that everything isn’t happily ever after and smooth sailing, that they too will have trials – but also showing the hope that these are possible to overcome.
1. Each character struggled in their own way to reintegrate back into society but I saw Fred having the most trouble out of the three men. Both Al and Homer had steady families, wives, or girlfriends to return to and receive support from but that was not the case with Fred. Fred’s wife clearly did not love him for the man that he was and wanted no part of him once he took his uniform off and returned to civilian life. It was a blow to Fred’s ego when he returned from the Air Force where he was a captain and now had to again take up his old job at the pharmacy which he swore he would never go back to. It becomes apparent that Fred is disgruntled with life when he uppercuts a customer through a glass case for the customer stating his opinion about the war.
2. While viewing the film I noticed two dominating moods and they were perserverance and hope for change. I already mentioned Fred’s situation how he was struggling severely upon returning home from the war but at no point in the film did Fred simply give up on life. Even when his wife was belittling him and telling him she wanted a divorce Fred appeared unshaken and continued on with life perservering throughout each day. The conclusion of the film rewarded Fred’s perserverance and in turn he wound up becoming romantically linked with Peggy. A scene that captured the hope for change mood the best was when Homer’s fiance Wilma (?) came over late one night. Homer then invited his fiance upstairs for her to witness firsthand what he has to go through just to goto bed at night. Wilma was unshaken by this process and vowed to stick by Homer thus providing the viewer with a hope for change or hope for the future.
3. Music was prevalent throughout the movie and it was an indicator as to what the viewer should be feeling or how the viewer should be feeling for a specific character. On the plane ride home when the three men were looking out over their town and pointing out landmarks the music evoked hope and an exciting new post-war life ahead. In a different situation like when Homer was removing his hooks for hands the music would become somber and evoke sorrow for Homer. Another moment involving Homer and the music was when he was shooting in the garage and Wilma came to visit him. His young niece Lou Ella, and her friends were loitering outside the barn and Homer lashed out, breaking the windows with his hooks in an effort to scare Lou Ella and her friends. The music tensed up at this moment and warned the viewer of conflict.
1.One moment in the film that dealt with the challenges of demobilization and reintegration was the job hunt for the main characters. This moment really stood out to me because it showed you how helpless the returning soldiers feel when they are taken out of the war and put into an office setting. One feeling they all share from the war, which actually gets them into trouble is brotherhood. For example, when Al tries to give the bank loan to the ex seabee he gets a lot of grief from his superiors, for making a risky loan and Al justifies his decision by saying that he could tell that the man could be counted on in battle. In the same sense Fred Derry gets into trouble at the drug store he works at. When a man insults the war effort and those involved to Homer, Homer cant do anything, Fred gets his back and punches the man out, resulting in the loss of his job.
2.I would say that the overall feeling of the film was tense and unsettling. When Homer arrives home and is sitting in his living room with all of his family, these feelings are obvious and outright. His father tries to hide his hands from Homer so as not to remind him that he has no hands. I think this moment is significant because the people closest to Homer have no idea how to act around him anymore, and feel very awkward themselves, which results in a very tense return home.
3.For me, the music was by far the most noticable aspect of film form that affected the movie. I noticed that when the characters were alone dark monotone music played in the backround. This happened several times to Fred in his wife’s apartment when she was not there. For Homer it happens when he is brooding in the shed and the small children come to make fun of him. And for Al it happens the night after the drinking when he wakes up alone in his bed and cant seem to figure out if it was real or not. All these scene’s are meant to show how alone the characters actually feel due to their prolonged separation from home and trauma abroad.
1. Homer is a major part of the movie and many of the emotions it brings up. He is a proud veteran before his return to his family and he has not yet realized how his injury will affect his life at home. When he is finally home things are harder than he expects. He is treated different by his family, they try to take care of him and baby him. (though often they must) They don’t want him to feel bad that he has no hands and they do. though things work out well for him in the end it is clear his life will be changed forever
2. The mood of the move I think is unrealistic. The story reminds me of a fairtail. By the end of the film things have worked out and Homer is all “back to normal.” Wilma readily accepts her man back immidiately ignoring his differences. As saintly as any woman might be I think it unlikely to not at least have any time to adjust to his differences. Homers mental state by the end seems a little unrealistic too. He seems to have gotten over the fact that he is different. That doesn’t really happen. He has no hands, that sticks with you for a long time often making a big mess of any relationships you have. the feeling of hope presented in the film feels like a happy propaganda message to me and I found it hard to believe.
3. The part of the film I liked the best is the lighiting often used to illuminate Homers face. During particularly trying scenes for him they make sure to make his face clear so we can see the struggle going on inside him as well. I feel it makes an importaint distiction between the two struggles (internal and external) that Homer has to deal with.
1. In the scene where Fred returns to the old drugstore and meets the new manager, he is given a reality check. His many ribbons of valor don’t seem to mean a thing when he tries to find work. He explains to the manager that his only experience in the military was to drop bombs and nothing else. Because of his lack of necessary experience, instead of being promoted from soda jerk, he is demoted and is forced to work under his old assistant. This is a clear example of demobilization and reintegration. Although Fred had experienced and learned from so much in the military and unfortunately comes to find that it is basically useless in civilian life. Since his family made such a big deal about his ribbons and his accomplishments in the military, he had expected that finding work would not be that difficult. He most certainly expected more from his homecoming than he actually received.
2. The general mood of the movie is a feeling of hope and yearning. When the three first meet at Butch’s, they act as though they’ve known each other for years. As they introduce their families to each other, they are speaking extremely fast. I believe this was to skip awkward moments because they wanted to much to just be genuinely happy being back home. They also drink. They drink until they are plastered and incoherent. This was also a way of trying to force happiness right away, through all the pain and sadness they had been through.
3. When Homer is lying awake in bed, the lighting is very strange. Although it is supposed to be nighttime, there is much light shining on his face. Normally, one would call it moonlight, but i believe it to be an undertone of Homer as a character. The darkness represents the changes in each soldier since they were last home and the light represents how Homer’s changes are more obvious than the rest. Because of his more obvious external changes, his emotions and thoughts are more easily read in his eyes than his military friends. This forces Homer to confront things earlier on and forces him to feel all the emotions of a returning soldier all at once. This can be seen as a weakness, but it is in fact, a test of inner strength.
1. One scene that I thought really captured the difficulty of reintegration was the scene in which the three men inadvertently meet at Butch’s place during their first night back. I think that this scene covers the difficulty of return very well. All three men return to face a world that they do not fully know or understand, caught up in their own plight and unsure of what to make of anything. All three turn to alcohol as an escape from the difficulties, and end up sharing in this escape together. Important in the scene is the fact that as soon as they all realize that they are in the same place, they energetically greet each other and decide to unite their groups. They are back in their comfort zone, surrounded by brothers in arms. This small gathering represents a great escape from “normal life,” allowing the three to push off the realities of reintegration.
2. As people have been saying, the end of the movie is a hopeful one, showing that veterans truly can succeed and enjoy a rather normal life after fighting. But I think this is an oversimplification of the mood of the movie, as I think the mood/tone is rather dark and unfortunate. Al drinks himself to death, Homer pities himself to the point where he cannot enjoy anything, and Fred is stuck in a thoroughly unhappy marriage with no legitimate prospects for escape. Yes, all three of these situations are at least partially bettered, allowing the viewer to feel hope for real soldiers in similar situations, but the negativity attached to reintegration that fills almost all of the movie is too much for that hopeful ending to overcome. As a couple people have pointed out, the ending is a little unrealistic, and although this ending shows hope, it isn’t legitimate to just look to the unrealistic ending for the mood of the film.
3. I think one important part of the editing and filming of this movie was the fact that the angles of filming constantly showed Homer’s hooks. The director really uses these hooks, zooming in on them and allowing the to be ever-present. This allows a very specific aspect of veterans, their injuries, to be a major focal point and symbol of everything else that could be wrong with veterans. Having a visual for the one problem, especially one that we are forced to confront so often, allows the relatively dark tone of the movie to shine through more brightly, while also setting us up for a greater turnaround.
While watching this film I noticed that there are several scenes that depict the challenges of demobilization and reintegration. One part of reintegration was returning to families and loved ones, and I think we see how hard it was to return home very clearly when Homer, Fred, and Al return home. You notice each of the men are extremely nervous to return and keep making excuses like “grab a beer before we go home” and things like that to delay their returns. When Homer is dropped off you can see how Fred and Al feel for him, and we also see how Homer’s family is horrified by his hooks. Then When Fred and Al see their families, although they do not have any physical changes you can see it is just as hard for them to return because Al missed out on his children growing up and Fred is returning to a dumb of a house and cannot even find his wife whom he was so excited to see. These scenes show how the soldiers had these images in their heads of the life they used to live and how even if that picture was so clear everything in their previous lives had been completely changed. These men had been dreaming day and night to go back to what they used to know but when they get there its not how they remembered which must have been a further shock on their emotional states.
The overall mood of the movie is very emotional and I think a lot of this emotion is portrayed through the brother hood type feel seen in the returning soldiers. Although these men have only just met they show a strong connection with one another, possibly even stronger than that shared with their families and friends. We see a glimpse of this when Homer returns home and Fred and Al feel distressed for him because they know that with not only emotional trauma but also with physical trauma it will be especially hard for him to reintegrate. Later on in the film we see just how strong this brother hood is in a scene when Fred is working as a soda jerk and Homer comes to say hi. Not only was it hard for these men to return home to their families, a second hardship was to return to the public which, as these men learned, had seen a different side of the war. When a complete stranger acknowledges Homer as a veteran and then explains to him how the war was a waste of time and the soldiers shouldn’t feel special because they amount to nothing, Fred jumps up to defend Homer and all soldiers in general. Even though it costs him his job and what seems like his only hope of making a life for himself, Fred does not hesitate to stand up for his brother, his friend, and what he knows is right. I also thought this movie showed a lot of positive thinking. Although Homer looks the worst off of all the men he constantly shows a positive upbeat attitude which I thought was interesting. Clearly all of the men are trying to act normal and go back to their old lives but Homer is now disabled and cannot really do that, yet he still tries. I think it’s funny how Homer tells everyone hes taking piano lessons and everyone thinks hes joking, but he actually has been doing just that and eventually learns how to play a song. I think this was a great moment in the movie because all the men are struggling to fit in and be normal and it shows that if they try then can go back to being happy.
Something I noticed in a lot of scenes in the movie was a soft screen effect. Most of the movie uses a lot of natural lighting with a kind of the suns coming up/it’s a new day type of feel but then in any scene where someone falls in love, someone is really happy, there is a pretty girl, or anything of that sort you see the soft screen effect. I think it gives a lot of contrast from the rest of the movie which is shot with a lot of shadows and darker lighting. Also in a lot of scenes there are really close up face shots which emphasizes the drama occurring at that point.
1. This film does an excellent job of showing how difficult and shocking it can be to return home after a World War. The three main protagonists are veterans coming home from WWII and realizing how they will never be the same. The war has changed them and redefined them as people. All three have been affected emotionally and psychologically, and poor Homer has also been impacted physically, losing both of his hands. Their return shows them just how difficult it can be to reintegrate from the battlefields of the Pacific and back into small-town America. Fred faces some serious challenges when he goes home and tries to put his life back together. Coming back from WWII, Fred is proud of his service and the skills he acquired in the military. As a veteran, he is praised and respected by many. Feeling like an older, more mature man, Fred believes he will be able to find a better job upon his return. Unfortunately, before the war all Fred did was work in a soda shop, and he has not been educated to do much else. Fred seems to think that being a veteran should entitle him to a better job. Instead, Fred harshly realizes that just because he was an honorable soldier, it will not get him too far in the real world. The manager at his old soda shop even tells him he does not have enough skill to do any upper level work, and he gives Fred a job working at the bottom. Fred ends up just where he started before the war, except now relations between him and his wife are much worse. Fred shows how these men came back from war looking to go back to their old ways of life, and to hopefully even be better off, but often found that the war did nothing but cause emotional scars and leave them right where they started.
2. Although the ending shows great hope for the future, I felt that the overall mood of the film was quite somber. All three soldiers return home as broken men. They have seen terrible atrocities that will stay with them forever, and have permanently changed who they are as people. It is sad to see them come home and realize how everything has changed. Homer has no hands and feels like no one will ever accept him again. It eats away at him and causes him to avoid his old girlfriend. Fred wakes up at night screaming from nightmares. Stevenson says he does not recognize his family, and he drowns his pain in alcohol. It is very depressing and gloomy to see how profoundly terrible and affect the war had on these men. One specifically sad scene comes when Stevenson gives a loan out to another veteran. The veteran says he has no collateral. He has given his life for the past few years to the war and his country. When he has returned, he finds he owns nothing. All he wants to do is start a farm. Stevenson is sympathetic, so he gives him the loan even though it is risky. It is a kind gesture, but Stevenson’s boss only apprehends him and tells him to stop making such foolish risks for the bank. It is quite a negative experience for Stevenson, and he relays this while drunk and a dinner party for his job. He makes a speech suggesting that his bank is being cruel in not helping the men who fought for their country. Stevenson has seen that coming home from the war is like coming back to an entirely new place. The war stays in him and his fellow GI’s minds, but the world around them is already trying to move on. Although many sad scenes happen throughout the film, it does end on an optimistic note. In the end the three soldiers have worked out many of their issues. They have started to come to terms with their experiences and they are all hopeful for their futures.
3. I though the cinematography stood out in this film. There were many longs shots, and every scene seemed to take its time. The camera also often focused in on people’s faces, to show their true emotions at the time. This technique helped to add emotional impact to Homer’s predicament. After losing his hands, he feels no one will ever accept him. He tries his best to do everything himself. He can light cigarettes, drink from glasses, and open doors. Yet one thing he still needs help with is taking off his new hook-hands before bed. In the first scene we see this, his father helps him get ready for bed. The scene is filmed to show the process just as it is happening, and the camera helps to show how helpless and emasculated Homer feels by his amputations. The camera cuts off, however, before the audience can truly see how awful his lost limbs really look. Towards the end, this process is shown again, except this time he is showing his girlfriend how terrible and sad he looks. This time, the camera shows his bare arms, proving to himself and the audience just how serious his loss really is. This time, however, Homer finds love and acceptance from his girlfriend who says she loves him no matter how he looks.
One moment in the film that depicts a challenge that faces American society after WWII is the scene in butches bar in the beginning when butch asks Homer why he wasn’t at home, but instead out drinking. Homer has been maimed in the war and feels that people aren’t treating him normal. His quote to butch is “All I want is to be treated normal.†The challenge of dealing and helping veterans who have been maimed in war is similar to the themes that Bill Mauldin wrote about how the GI’s don’t want to be treated as exceptional, the war was simply a job for many of them they don’t want to be treated like super heroes. I think that this idea of not wanting to be treated as exceptional fits right in with Homer. He feels uncomfortable because he didn’t do anything to deserve getting the hooks, but other people feel uncomfortable about them. The hooks are a symbol of the unwanted mutual discomfort that exists after the war.
I think that the overall mood of the film is rather depressing, but it has a good ending. One scene that encapsulates the entire emotional journey of the film is when Fred finds the old abandoned B-17 bombers and sits up in the bombardier’s seat and then is interrupted by the salvage crews. I think that this scene does several important things symbolically that encapsulate the mood of the whole movie. First the music is extremely dark and almost painful to listen too. When the camera looks at the 4 engines of the bomber that aren’t there I almost thought about the soul of the airplane being taken away and the similarities of the status of the airplane and to Fred’s emotional status. As a modern viewer I expected Fred to die in that scene, like the airplane dies in the junk yard. I expected the film to end in a horrible tragedy but instead it ends with Fred being rescued by a salvage man who is building houses. The symbolism of Fred becoming a salvage man who takes the surplus of the war and makes something positive out of it puts a positive spin on what the director wants us to think of the war and how the country will move on after it.
I want to comment more on the music of that scene with the airplane. I think that the tone and abrasiveness brings the audience into the feelings of Fred sitting inside the airplane.