Sixty years ago, William Wyler won an Oscar for his direction of “The Best Years of Our Lives,” which also won Best Picture and Best Screenplay (by Robert E. Sherwood). It was widely regarded as giving a voice to the interests and concerns of the American veterans returning from World War II — including those who, like one of its stars (Harold Russell), had come home maimed and disabled.

Watching it today, you may be struck by how desperately its veterans — including poor Mr. Russell, who lost both his hands in an accident — want to be reintegrated into society, to pick up the lives they left before the war with as few changes as possible. The word “normal” resounds throughout the film as if it described some beautiful dream.