Que se Faça Luz

Let There Be Light (1946)

*** (out of 4)

John Huston's third and final documentary for the U.S. Army was another controversial one, which was originally banned for over thirty years as it didn't get shown to the public until 1980. It's easy to see why the film was banned because had people watched this at the end of WW2 it's doubtful very many would want to enlist. The film centers on a group of men who are psychologically scared from their time in the war. One man can't talk, one can't walk and various other psychological problems occur. A psychiatrist is used to try and cure the men as they go through a program at the Mason General Hospital in Long Island. Walter Huston does a nice job narrating the story but for the most part the patients and the doctor are the ones talking. The documentary is a very interesting one because it gives us a view of American soldiers coming back from WW2. On that ground alone this film is worth checking out but Huston does his typical nice work and really digs in deep into the material. I'm not sure how well the practice used here would hold up today but the theories being discussed are interesting to hear about. This early look at "battle shock" is certainly a nice history lesson that fans of the director will want to check out.

This must be one of the most shocking movies I have ever seen. Well actually it's more like a documentary than a movie. It shows American soldiers in a hospital, after coming home from World War II. Some of them can't speak, some can but it's impossible to hear what they're saying, others can't walk. Some shiver uncontrollably, some cry. We also see the hypnotist curing patients, and like magic they're able to walk again, or talk or whatever their problem was. This film was banned for 35 years because the American government thought it was unsuitable for the American people (and I understand why, this is the most disturbing thing I've seen since the sliced eye in Un Chien Andalou), and it was shown for the first time at the Cannes festival in '81.

Disturbing documentary that nonetheless raises a number of questions. My guess is that the film was produced for general circulation, to allay civilian fears of emotional trauma among returning vets. If so, that's certainly a laudable intent. For, as the documentary shows, many could be rehabilitated and returned to civilian life, despite the emotional wounds of war. In fact, the film conveys an optimistic tone throughout, as though eventual recovery is certain. That, plus the prologue assertion that no scene was staged, adds up to a generally reassuring note for anyone watching. After all, prospective employers need reassurance as well as family, while the last scene is as joyously uplifting as any Hollywood commercial contrivance.

As laudable as that intent is, I'm still left wondering how representative the film is of what we would now term "post-traumatic stress syndrome". For example, we know the scenes weren't staged, but we don't know how much editing went into the final cut. Nothing is said about editing in the prologue, and savvy viewers know how important editing is to creating desired effect. Then too, I'm wondering whether there was pre-sorting of vets according to severity such that we only viewed the mildest, most remedial, cases. For example, the one session of hypnosis and regression appears a quick and easy cure. It's good that some cases are open to such efficient methods, but, again, how representative is this one case. Moreover, as another reviewer points out, nothing is said about possibility of relapse, even among the mild cases.

My point is that we shouldn't draw general conclusions about this terrible affliction from one documentary that may have been geared toward another purpose. The fact that the army withheld release for 30 years shows how wary they became to exposing the public to even this most optimistic rendering of the problem. Those early scenes of afflicted men are simply too wrenchingly real to be forgotten, and should serve as a reminder the next time our politicians start beating the now incessant drum of war. Perhaps that's why the film was withheld for so long.

I saw this film for the first time and was not surprised to learn afterwords that it was suppressed for over 30 years after being completed. I understand that the Army commissioned John Huston to make it. I have no idea what the Army authorities expected the result to be but what the got was something truly extraordinary. Nevertheless, the idea of mentally-disturbed veterans being treated by psychiatrists must have been considered a pretty sensitive subject during the immediate post-WW-II period.

Although the term "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" did not exist in the 1940s, the syndrome certainly did. In World War I it was referred to as "Shell Shock" and in World War II it was called "Battle Fatigue" or "Combat Fatigue". Put another way, the subject of this film is the men whom General George Patton would have treated by slapping. Fortunately, however, the treatment received by the soldiers depicted in this film is psychotherapy combined with hypnosis and sodium pentothal. The results are truly remarkable.

I can empathize with this film because I know that my own father returned from WW-II suffering from what was later called "PTSD". Although his symptoms were not as extreme as the soldiers depicted in this film, I know that he was shipped home before the end of the war because the doctors had declared him no longer fit for combat. I know that, after witnessing hundreds of men killed in battle, he went into shock after seeing a woman hit by a car while en route home, and came to in the hospital three days later. I know that, soon after returning home, he left town because he felt guilty about having survived the war, and he couldn't bear to see the wives, sisters and parents of people that he knew wouldn't be coming back. I know that, despite having flown numerous combat missions during the war, he couldn't bring himself to fly in an airplane for years afterwords.

Like the soldiers depicted in the film, my father eventually managed to get on with his life in a productive manner. However, I don't think he ever really did entirely get over what he experienced during the war. I don't imagine the soldiers in the film did, either.

It was very fitting that I chose today of all days to watch this short film, as today is Memorial Day here in the US--the day we remember and celebrate our veterans. That's because the short film "Let There Be Light" is about combat-related mental illnesses--such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (a label only recently coined). Sadly, after John Huston made this marvelous film, it was pulled--as the government apparently thought it was too much. In other words, since they sponsored the project, they could withhold it from distribution--and they did because, I assume, it acknowledged that there is serious mental damage caused by war (duh!). Why they would think that way is beyond me--the film really is a great tribute to the men who sacrificed and endured so much during WWII.

The film is set at a VA hospital and their psychiatric ward. The story appears to involve real patients--many of whose progress the film follows through their course of treatment. Using a variety of techniques you'd use today (such as group therapy) and those you wouldn't (chemical hypnosis has fallen out of vogue), the film gives a lot of hope to survivors and their families--perhaps too much hope, as the film makes it appear as if the problems can easily be treated and the long-term effects aren't discussed. Still, I loved the film for being so daring and for being confident enough with the subject matter to offer little narration (by the director's famous father, Walter Huston)--and just let folks speak for themselves. A fascinating and touching little film.

By the way, there are a couple interesting things to look for in the film. The Rorschach cards you see are both REAL ones--although the manufacturer has stipulated they cannot be reproduced or shown on film or photos (though you can easily find them on the internet today). I also was surprised to see black and white servicemen together in the hospital--and I hoped they did treat everyone in non-segregated wards at the time. It was also nice to see that the one black g.i. featured in the film was incredibly bright and well-spoken--and nothing like a negative stereotype.