Life Exalted

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2000)

One of the best movies. Despite its three hours I didn't push the fast forward button once. Very intelligent, compassionate drama about the hardships faced by war veterans. The subject wasn't glamorous, but the manner in which it was presented makes it memorable. I have never felt so sorry when a movie ended. I wanted it to go on and on. There were hardly any flaws, no lapse in taste or judgment. A beautiful woman abandons her husband because he cannot make enough money. The most poignant moment was when a former bomber pilot now working as a lowly salesman visits a junkyard in which hundreds of planes are being recycled. The contrast between his former glory and current ordinariness is heart-breaking. There was a good dose of preaching, but the film is so well-mannered one delights in it. (1989 diary entry).
"Communist propaganda" was never so appealing. Ayn Rand branded it that, God knows why.