opsbooks Review of Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light (1980)

Compelling and uplifting documentary, beautifully photographed.

[10/10 · 24 April 2003]

Demobbed solders with mental problems are admitted to a hospital; the camera films them from their induction through to their eventual 'cure' and final departure back into mainstream America. This compelling and uplifting documentary, beautifully photographed, was banned for over 30 years. The US war department in its wisdom apparently insisted that the content be translated into a feature film, the name of which escapes me. Whether or not the events before the camera were staged or not, there can be no doubt as to the integrity of director John Huston in letting the characters 'write' their story. Although rarely seen, this documentary is well covered in a 1990s documentary, JOHN HUSTON: WAR STORIES.