From Here to Eternity

In this Oscar-winning film, director Fred Zinnemann portrays everyday life on a Hawaiian army base before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Far from a celebratory narrative, its characters have deep personality flaws and engage in alcoholism, adultery, violence, and prostitution. Their search for connection and meaning reveal the impersonal bureaucracy and injustice within the U.S. army. This path-breaking film not only offered a jaundiced view of American military during the Cold War but introduced new themes and attitudes in American cinema. In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."