A Matter of Life and Death

Written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, A Matter of Life and Death is the story of an airman who survives death as he falls for an American radio operator while angels are trying to get him to the other side. Set during World War II, the film is an exploration into a man facing and cheating death while trying to continue his life without compromise. Starring David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesay, Marius Goring, and Raymond Massey. A Matter of Life and Death is an extraordinarily rich film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

The film is about a man who had just survived a near-death experience as his bomber plane crashed where he jumped off his plane without a parachute. While he was on his plane, he communicates with an American radio operator where the two fall for each other as they eventually meet and become a couple. For the people in Heaven, they realize the man was supposed to die as they send an angel (Marius Goring) to meet with the man to tell him he’s supposed to be in Heaven. The angel gives the man time while Dr. Frank Reeves (Roger Livesay) examines the man as he would defend him in a trial to see if this man should stay alive or be sent to Heaven. It’s a film about life and death as well as the power of love where the people from above are to see if this man in Peter Carter (David Niven) should stay alive to fall in love with the American woman June (Kim Hunter).

The film’s screenplay explores the world of life and the afterlife where Peter Carter has accidentally cheated death where angels and those in the afterlife question should Peter Carter fulfill what has been expected him in life or should he continue to go on living? Yet, the people in Heaven didn’t expect for Peter and June to fall for each other in a moment like this as they send this French aristocratic angel to talk with Peter about what he should do. Dr. Frank Reeves listens to Peter talking about his meeting with the angels as he believes there is more to something that is beyond anything. Yet, he would play a crucial role into defending Peter in front of the people of the afterlife as he has to face a jury that despise the British led by its American prosecutor Abraham Farlan (Raymond Massey). What would happen in the third act is a trial for the life of a man as Peter would also face a judge and jury to see if he deserves to stay alive.

The direction of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is definitely out of this world in terms of what they presented. Notably as they go for two very different approaches to life on Earth and the afterlife where the former is presented in gorgeous Technicolor and the latter is presented in black-and-white. The direction is often filled with a sense of style from the sense of danger that is presented in the opening moments of the film where Peter is flying his bomber plane as he talks to June. A lot of the scenes set on Earth do have some degree of style in some of its location shots as well as a scene of Dr. Reeves looking out at the town through a magnifying table. Other stylish shots in the film are the conversations between Peter and the angel where everything around them stops while the people who aren’t Peter or the angel stay still.

The scenes set in Heaven are very stylized in the set pieces that is created where there are things the dead have to do once they arrive in Heaven. There is a sense of control that occurs while the trial scene itself is filled with some wide shots to establish the scope of the case in hand. There is also the staircase scenes that is presented in black-and-white but also in color to establish the link between the two worlds. The third act is about the two worlds colliding to set the fate for Peter Carter as where some big decisions occur as well as the idea of life itself. Overall, Powell and Pressburger create a magnificent story about life and the power of love.

Cinematographer Jack Cardiff does exquisite work with the film‘s beautiful photography from the wonderful look of the scenes in Heaven shot in black-and-white with some amazing lighting schemes to the lush Technicolor look of the scenes on Earth from the look of the British countryside to some of the interiors in the film as Cardiff‘s work is a major highlight of the film. Editor Reginald Mills does excellent work with the film‘s editing with the use of abrupt cuts to play out some of the strange things that are happening around Peter to the use of freeze-frames and other stylish cuts to help give the film a brisk pace. Production designer Alfred Junge does amazing work with the set pieces from the look of the staircase to the look of Heaven itself as it is a work of beauty.

Costume designer Hein Heckroth does wonderful work with the costumes to play up some of its coloring in the scenes on Earth while keeping things simple and stylish for the scenes in Heaven. The special effects work by Douglas Woolsey and Henry Harris is terrific for its use of optical effects to create some look of the universe as well as the backgrounds for the staircase scenes. Sound recorder C.C. Stevens does nice work with the sound to create sound effects for the film‘s opening sequence of Peter‘s plane crumbling as well as some intimate moments between characters as well as the scenes where sound isn‘t used. The film’s music by Allan Gray is superb for its lush orchestral score to play out the drama and some of its humor through some sweeping string arrangements and a few bombastic moments in the percussions.

The film’s cast is brilliant as it features some small appearances from Richard Attenborough as an English pilot who arrives to Heaven, Abraham Sofaer as Heaven’s judge and the surgeon performing surgery for Peter, Robert Coote as Peter’s deceased co-pilot Bob Trubshawe, and Kathleen Byron as the head angel who greets the dead to Heaven. Raymond Massey is excellent as Abraham Farlan who believes that Peter should die and be sent to Heaven while Marius Goring is marvelous as the very charming French aristocrat who has become an angel as he tries to get Peter to Heaven while realizing the severity of the situation. Roger Livesay is superb as Dr. Frank Reeves as a man who believes Peter’s stories as he tries to help him in every way while finding himself in a situation of his own where he can play a crucial role in Peter’s trial.

Kim Hunter is remarkable as June as an American woman who falls for Peter through their radio conversation while trying to wonder what is wrong with him as she turns to Dr. Reeves for help. David Niven is fantastic as Peter Carter as a man who had just experienced a near-death experience as well as love as he realizes his fate is in the hands of people beyond him as he tries to comprehend the idea of life itself.

A Matter of Life and Death is an incredible film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Armed with a great ensemble cast that includes David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesay, Raymond Massey, and Marius Goring as well as Jack Cardiff’s rapturous cinematography. It’s a film that explores the idea of life itself as well as how a man can put his own life in the hands of other to see if he should live. It’s also a film about the power of love and how strong it can be for a man’s fate. In the end, A Matter of Life and Death is a tremendous film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Powell/Pressburger Films: The Spy is Black - (The Lion Has Wings) - Contraband - (An Airman’s Letter to His Mother) - 49th Parallel - One of Our Aircraft is Missing - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - (The Volunteer) - A Canterbury Tale - I Know Where I‘m Going! - Black Narcissus - The Red Shoes - The Small Black Room - (Gone to Earth) - The Tales of Hoffman - (Oh… Rosalinda!!!) - (The Battle of the River Plate) - Ill Met by Moonlight - Peeping Tom - (They’re a Weird Mob) - (Age of Consent) - (The Boy Who Turned Yellow)

© thevoid99 2013

I Know Where I'm Going!

Written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, I Know Where I’m Going! is the story of a woman traveling to the Scottish Hebrides to marry a tycoon only for things to go wrong as she meets a naval officer in the island. The film is a romantic-comedy of sorts of how a woman tries to go for one thing only for things not go the way she had planned. Starring Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesay, Pamela Brown, and Finlay Currie. I Know Where I’m Going! is an incredible film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

The film is essentially a love story of sorts of a woman whose life has always gone her own way is about to marry a tycoon as she travels to Scotland to marry him at an island. Due to awful weather and raging tides that will prevent her to get to the island, the woman is forced to stay at a small Scottish town where she meets a naval officer who lives in the island as he is descended from a family who has a nearby castle that he never enters believing it’s cursed. Despite her time at this small village, the woman is determined to reach the island at any cost believing it’s destiny as she is forced to come to terms with her feelings for the naval officer and everything else in her life.

The screenplay by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger explores a woman has everything going her way in life as the film opens with an amazing opening credits sequence of Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) growing up as a child as she gets what she wants and is very ambitious. By marrying a tycoon, she will have everything she has ever wanted as she believed she’s earned it as it will fulfill her destiny. By the time she arrives Isle of Mull which is nearby the island of Kiloran, she expects to immediately be on board to the island but bad weather prevents it from happening. There, Joan has to stay on the island until the weather dies down as she befriends the naval officer Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesay) who is the Laird of Kiloran. MacNeil is a man who loves the Isle of Mull as he insists that Joan should stay but Joan’s stubborn behavior would lead to some trouble as she is also starting to fall for MacNeil.

The direction of Powell and Pressburger is very engaging for the way it explores a woman’s desire to fulfill her destiny and the circumstances she has to endure. While a lot of the shots are quite simple in its presentation, there is an element of style in the way some scenes are shot as well as the film’s opening sequence where the opening credits are placed on various things. Yet, there are an array of images that are quite stylish such as the use of layered dissolves in a dream sequence for Joan while the film also contains some very simplistic moments to cover the Scottish landscape and the small town of Mull. The direction is also intense for a very big moment in the third act where MacNeil tries to stop Joan from reaching the island as he and another man are on the boat with Joan where its as a catalyst for what Joan is facing. Though the ending is sort of predictable of what is expected in a romantic story, it works to convey the journey both MacNeil and Joan have endured. Overall, Powell and Pressburger create a captivating yet mesmerizing film about destiny and how to adjust to different circumstances.

Cinematographer Erwin Hiller does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography as he creates some gorgeous shots of the Scottish locations in the daytime as well as more low-key lighting schemes in some of the film‘s nighttime interior settings. Editor John Seabourne Jr. does terrific work with the editing from the use of layered dissolves in the dream sequence to some of the more intense editing in the film’s climax. Production designer Alfred Junge does wonderful work with some of the film‘s set pieces such as the home Joan stays in to the dance hall where Joan and MacNeil watch a celebration.

Sound recorder C.C. Stevens does amazing work with the sound to capture the intensity of the winds as well as the noise of the waves during that terrible weather. The film’s music by Allan Gray is superb for its lush orchestral score to play out some of the melodrama and lighter moments while the rest of the music features an array of traditional Scottish folk music.

The casting by Pat MacDonnell and Adele Raymond is brilliant as it features a wonderful collection of actors including an early appearance from Petula Clark as a young girl Joan meets, Captain C.W.R. Knight as a falconer friend of MacNeil, Catherine Lacey as a talkative local who shows Joan around a large manor, Murdo Morrison as a young boatman named Kenny, and Margot Fitzsimons as Kenny’s girlfriend Bridie. Finlay Currie is terrific as an experienced boatman in Ruairidh Mhor as a man who tells Joan that crossing the sea to the island is a good idea due to the weather. Pamela Brown is wonderful as MacNeil’s friend Catriona as a woman who knows about MacNeil’s attraction towards Joan as well as the things that Joan wants.

Finally, there’s the duo of Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesay as they both give remarkable performances in their respective roles as Joan Webster and Torquil MacNeil. Hiller displays a great sense of determination to a woman who is unaware of how the world plays into things as she finds herself unable to maintain control of her situation. Livesay is more reserved in his role as a naval officer dealing with his family curse as he is full of charm and warmth while also being quite upfront about what Joan is trying to do. The two have amazing chemistry as their scenes together is definitely a highlight of the film.

I Know Where I’m Going! is a marvelous film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger that features splendid performances from Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesay. It’s a film that reveals how some things don’t go the way one intends only for something else to happen where it would end up being even better. It’s also a very engaging romantic film that have a sense of conventional storytelling but takes its time to find ways to not go into formula. In the end, I Know Where It’s Going! is a phenomenal film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Powell/Pressburger Films: The Spy is Black - (The Lion Has Wings) - Contraband - (An Airman’s Letter to His Mother) - 49th Parallel - One of Our Aircraft is Missing - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - (The Volunteer) - A Canterbury Tale - A Matter of Life and Death - Black Narcissus - The Red Shoes - The Small Black Room - (Gone to Earth) - The Tales of Hoffman - (Oh… Rosalinda!!!) - (The Battle of the River Plate) - Ill Met by Moonlight - Peeping Tom - (They’re a Weird Mob) - (Age of Consent) - (The Boy Who Turned Yellow)

© thevoid99 2013

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Written, produced, and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is the story of a man who looks back at his life while dwelling on those he met along the way. The film explores a man’s life through three wars as he fights for honor while finding love and friendship that would shape his outlook on war and service. Starring Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, and Anton Walbrook. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is an extraordinary film from the team of Powell and Pressburger.

It’s the middle of the second World War as a training exercise as a young lieutenant named Spud Wilson (James McKechnie) goes after a female officer to capture aging general named Clive Wynn-Candy (Roger Livesey). During a scuffle, Clive recalls his days as a soldier back in 1902 where he had fought the Boer War. During a leave to Berlin, he meets a woman named Edith (Deborah Kerr) as he takes her to a popular café. At the café, Clive deals with a man named Kaunitz (David Ward) who had been spreading anti-British propaganda leading to a scuffle between the two over Edith. The incident reaches authorities as they decide to settle a matter by having Clive engage into a duel with a German officer named Theodor Kretschmar-Schuldorff (Anton Walbrook).

While the duel left Clive and Theodor with minor wounds, the two become friends as Theodor falls for Edith. With Clive returning to England, he goes into a hunting expedition before joining first World War where he’s a general leading troops to war. With a corporal named Murdoch (John Laurie) as his assistant, Clive learns that the war is over as he believes that the right team won as they defeated the Germans without using unsportsmanlike methods to fight. During a stop at convent, Clive sees a young woman named Barbara (Deborah Kerr) whom he falls for and later marries. After the war, Clive tries to re-establish contact with Theodor although Theodor snubs him at a POW camp after the Armistice. Theodor accepts Clive’s invitation for dinner in England where Clive and British officers try to make Theodor feel easy about what they will do for Germany.

Years pass where Clive is forced to retire in 1935 while Theodor seeks refuge to England four years later following the start of World War II. Clive helps out Theodor as the two old friends reunite where Clive introduces Theodor to his driver Angela (Deborah Kerr) who bears a resemblance to both Edith and Barbara. While Clive was able to get back to active service, a chance for him to speak about his own methods of war to the BBC was cancelled as he learns that he’s forced to retire again. With the suggestions of Theodor, Murdoch, and Angela, Clive heads the Home Guard department in his hopes to restore honor in the rules of engagement.

The film is a look into a man’s life in service as his ideas about honors of war are tested by three different wars in the span of 40 years. Yet, it’s also a film where the ideas of war change through different times and methods as this one man is being challenged by everything around him. During this long journey, he would meet a German officer whom he would become his friend despite being opposing sides. He would also meet three different women in different times as they each bear similar resemblances to each other. Through these people and wars that he would encounter, he still wants to maintain some honor in the belief that war can be won in gentlemanly ways. Still, he would have to ponder about whether he still matters to the world of military service that he’s been devoted to.

The screenplay by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger is a wonderful study of character as well as the fallacy of war from the perspective of officers in opposing side. While both Clive and Theodor each have different ideas of war, both would face some form of disillusionment. The latter of which becomes lost following the arrival of Nazism as he seeks to find refuge in one of the most devastating monologues ever given. While the film is mostly dramatic, there is a lot of humor in the dialogue about military service and social things as the screenplay is truly witty with an air of satire and fantastic dialogue.

The direction of Powell and Pressburger is truly mesmerizing in the way they present the film as more than just a man’s journey through 4 decades and three different wars. Featuring montages told through newspaper articles and the game that Clive Wynn-Candy has killed when he’s not in war. The film doesn’t make itself into something that could’ve been far more sprawling despite its 163-minute running time. Instead, Powell and Pressburger chooses a more intimate approach to the story while opening the film right near the end as it focuses on a training exercise to capture an aging Clive.

In one take where the old Clive is battling a young officer in a pool, the camera moves onto that pool where a young Clive steps out. There’s a truly magical element to what Powell and Pressburger did while they create amazing compositions that are truly hypnotic to look at. Notably the scene where Clive and Theodor first meet at a duel where the camera remains still into the preparation and then cuts into a shot from above as the two men square off for a brief moment. The approach to framing and the way they allow the camera move gives the film a very entrancing tone to it while knowing when to use humor in a light-hearted manner as well as the dramatic moments without being over the top. Overall, the duo of Powell and Pressburger create a truly outstanding film about a man’s life of military service.

The cinematography of Georges Perinal is phenomenal for the Technicolor look of the film from the gorgeous yet lush colors of many of the film‘s interiors and exterior settings. Particularly in some dramatic moments where the colors play up to the emotion of the film as it is truly some amazing work in the Technicolor film stock that was used in the 1940s. Editor John Seabourne Sr. does an excellent job with the editing in giving the film a methodical pace to play up with its humor and drama as well as utilizing fade-outs for its transitions and rhythmic cuts for the montages in the film.

Production designer Alfred Junge does an extraordinary job with the set pieces created from the Berlin café to the posh home of Clive that he lives in the later years of his life which exemplify the different periods in the film. Costume designer Joseph Bato does a superb job with the costumes from the frilly dresses wore in the 1900s to the evolution of the British uniforms which adds to the film‘s Technicolor look. The sound work of C.C. Stevens and Desmond Dew is brilliant for the way it captures the intimacy of the duel scene as well as raucous world of the Berlin café. The music score by Allan Gray is a true delight for its sweeping yet upbeat orchestral pieces along with more somber, swelling arrangements that play up to the drama as well as adaptations of the music of the early 1900s and military music pieces.

The film’s ensemble cast is truly terrific as it features appearances from Roland Culver as Clive’s Boer War superior Colonel Betteridge, David Hutcheson as Clive’s friend Hoppy, David Ward as the British-insulting German Kaunitz, Jane McMillican as Nurse Erna, Muriel Aked as Clive’s aunt Margaret, John Laurie as Clive’s very loyal assistant Murdoch, and James McKechnie as the youthful yet energetic lieutenant Spud Wilson who tries to capture the aging Clive for a training exercise.

Deborah Kerr gives a truly spectacular performance in three different roles of women who would shape the life of Clive Wynn-Candy. For the role of Edith, Kerr sports a very stylized yet prim approach to an English teacher that becomes Clive’s companion only to fall for Theodor. In Barbara, there is a more low-key innocence to the role as she becomes a woman who stands by Clive. In the role of Angela aka Johnny, Kerr brings an enthusiastic energy as a young officer who helps out Clive while being a friend for the aging Theodor as it’s definitely one of Kerr’s great performances.

Anton Walbrook is fantastic as the German officer Theodor Kretschmar-Schuldorff who would become Clive’s best friend despite not seeing him very much. Walbrook brings charm to a man that shares Clive’s feelings about honor in combat only to become more disillusioned in the changing times as Walbrook has this very heartbreaking scene describing loss. Finally, there’s Roger Livesey as Clive Wynn-Candy as Livesey gives a marvelous performance as a man that reflects on the journey of his life. While having to put on all sorts of makeup and such to portray a man in the span of 4 different decades, Livesey lives up to the challenge by showing a man with great enthusiasm only to struggle with his usefulness as it’s definitely Livesey at his best.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a sensational yet enchanting film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Featuring a remarkable cast led by Roger Livesey, Anton Walbrook, and Deborah Kerr plus the dazzling Technicolor cinematography of Georges Perinal. It is definitely one of the best studies of war and service ever told. Notably from the duo of Powell and Pressburger as the film stands as one of their great achievements. In the end, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a captivating yet exotic film from the duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Powell-Pressburger Films: The Spy in Black - (The Lion Has Wings) - Contraband - (An Airman’s Letter to His Mother) - 49th Parallel - One of Our Aircraft is Missing - (The Volunteer) - A Canterbury Tale - I Know Where I’m Going! - A Matter of Life and Death - Black Narcissus - The Red Shoes - The Small Back Room - (Gone to Earth) - The Tale of Hoffmann - (Oh… Rosalinda!!!) - (The Battle of the River Plate) - Ill Met by Moonlight - Peeping Tom - (They’re a Weird Mob) - (Age of Consent) - (The Boy Who Turned Yellow)

© thevoid99 2012