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Poster for Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light

1946 · 58 min

A sober, humane black-and-white record of damaged men slowly finding words again; quiet, clinical, and quietly devastating.

Directed by
John Huston
Genres
Documentary, War
Starring
Walter Huston
Overview
The final entry in a trilogy of films produced for the U.S. government by John Huston. Some returning combat veterans suffer scars that are more psychological than physical. This film follows patients and staff during their treatment. It deals with what would now be called PTSD, but at the time was categorised as psychoneurosis or shell-shock. Government officials deemed this 1946 film counterproductive to postwar efforts; it was not shown publicly until 1981.

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Free in the UK
  • Tubi TV
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
John Huston
Genres
Documentary, War
Starring
Walter Huston
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • earneststrength 3 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • trauma
  • war
  • healing
  • isolation
  • identity
Places
  • hospital
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • documentary
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror2
Humour1
Realism10
Romance0
Tension4
Darkness6
Complexity4
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

Free
  • Tubi TV

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
documentary, war
Directed by
John Huston
Written by
Charles Kaufman, John Huston
Starring
Walter Huston
Music
Dimitri Tiomkin
Runtime
58 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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