83. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
directed by William Wyler
Only a few years after World War II, a war that saw not only the defeat of Adolph Hitler, but the invigoration of the American economy, director William Wyler made a film that had the audacity to suggest that perhaps the war wasn’t as great an event as it seemed for all involved. The story of three veterans dealing with their lingering physical, mental, and professional demons after returning from war is heartbreaking. In a country that seemed to simply want to move on, The Best Years of Our Lives illustrated that, for some, the real problems started the moment the war ended.