tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post5473735717785274356..comments2024-03-24T21:42:48.278-04:00Comments on Another Old Movie Blog: Wyler's Moments of SilenceJacqueline T. Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-62965254904618541262007-09-24T17:46:00.000-04:002007-09-24T17:46:00.000-04:00Thanks for your comment, Brian, and your excellent...Thanks for your comment, Brian, and your excellent analysis. You're right, that is another great scene where Wyler uses silence to show more of what is there. <BR/><BR/>I wrote an extended four-part series on "Best Years" back in March, mainly I suppose because I can't get enough of that movie. But other things are left unresolved as well, as you mentioned. The last line "We'll have to work, get kicked around," seems to indicate their future is by no means secure or guaranteed to be happy. The subplots are, as you say, an open question.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-16371124571267131822007-09-24T15:26:00.000-04:002007-09-24T15:26:00.000-04:00Excellent post! Another moment like this from the...Excellent post! Another moment like this from <I>the Best Years of Our Lives</I> (which I happily rewatched in preparation for this Blog-a-Thon) comes after Fredric March's Al Stephenson gets a talking-to from his boss after approving a loan to a former Seabee with "no collateral". The boss remains positive and flattering in his reprimand, letting Al know that he's truly quite concerned about his "risky" practices, but is trying to be understanding. But when Al leaves the room, Wyler holds on the boss, showing his smile turn into a severe frown. <BR/><BR/>Interestingly, of all the major threads in the film, the issue of Al's workplace is the one that never gets resolved, perhaps because it's the thread that can't really BE resolved, in the typical Hollywood way with a kiss or a wedding, or at all, really. When the film ends, we don't really know how Al is going to reconcile his boss's mandate with his desires to help ex-servicemen that he feels in his gut he can trust. He makes an impassioned, drunken speech about it at a social gathering, but we never again hear about the issue. <BR/><BR/>It seems fitting that this thread was left unresolved. America didn't really know which way it was going to go at the time either. Leaving a question open invites the audience to imagine their own ideal conclusion, and perhaps even work toward it.Brian Darrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693169310367670898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-39309654924852596682007-09-24T07:48:00.000-04:002007-09-24T07:48:00.000-04:00Thanks for stopping by, Thom. Another part in tha...Thanks for stopping by, Thom. Another part in that movie is of course the air raid shelter scene where the Miniver family huddles for some minutes without dialogue, just the sound of bombs and the kids screaming. Quite stirring. Unusual for the day when movies tended to be very talky.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-84208654422106539352007-09-24T01:30:00.000-04:002007-09-24T01:30:00.000-04:00This post is very timely for me. I just watched M...This post is very timely for me. I just watched Mrs. Miniver and noticed Wyler's use of sound in a sequence wherein Mrs. Miniver and Carol wait in a car during an air raid. The dialogue stops for a long moment then the shriek of an approaching bomb that we never see gets louder and louder until we're sure it's going to hit them. Very effective. After reading your post I'm going to look for these moments in other Wyler pictures.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com