Great Film overall

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Richard Backus portrays the prodigal son, returning home, in this PBS version of Ernest Hemingway's short story.It is tragic because, while there are no visible physical injuries, the soldier has been irreparably damaged psychologically. As this was to be World War I, the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder was not yet known, although many young men were suffering from it.Nancy Marchand (A familiar face from TV's "Lou Grant" series, in the 1970's) portrays the mother, wishing for her son to return to work, for everything to remain status quo. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be an attainable goal, for this soldier is now alienated and depersonalized; questioning his very existence.This is an excellent short film, which used to be made available to high school students: Reminiscent of many Vietnam era stories ("Coming Home", "The War at Home", and many others) this is a very good short film not to be missed.