Like Leni Riefenstahl’s better-known Triumph of the Will, this is a war film commissioned by the director’s government. Unlike Riefenstahl, though, John Houston make a film the government didn’t care for, and Let There Be Light was suppressed for several decades. Its portrayal of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was ahead of its time and deemed to be counter-productive to future recruiting.
There are several films about celebrities on the Arts & Faith Documentaries list, but overall votes opted for fare that depicted common people, sometimes in exceptional circumstances and sometimes simply celebrating their ordinariness. Every person’s story is spiritually significant even if his or her name is not enshrined in textbooks and newsreels. — Kenneth R. Morefield (2023).
Arts & Faith Lists
2023 Top 25 Spiritually Significant Documentaries — #23