Let There Be Light

John Huston’s was the first film to focus on the traumatic experiences of soldiers returning from war. Shot in 1946, it is the second part of a trilogy about the Second World War commissioned by the U.S. government. We follow a number of veterans undergoing treatment in a psychiatric hospital – from their arrival and first sessions with a psychiatrist all the way up to the day they are discharged. Almost all of the men are deeply traumatized. One of them appears to be paralyzed, another has a bad stutter and yet another has no recollection of what happened to him. Various treatments are used, including drug-induced hypnosis, group therapy and occupational therapy. The men gradually gain greater control of their lives, enabling them to take steps to return to society and their families. Although the dramatic music and voice-over are typical of their time, the film offers a realistic and revealing perspective on what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The film wasn’t screened in public for many decades, this to protect the privacy of the featured soldiers and to avoid a supposed demotivating effect on the military.