A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Country: GB
Technical: col 104m
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: David Niven, Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring, Raymond Massey
Synopsis:
A crashing bomber pilot falls in love over the radio on his way down before bailing out without a parachute... He survives and an emissary from Heaven comes to reclaim him.
Review:
There follows a struggle at once surgical and metaphysical to save his life and love, and it is in this equivocation that the film stands out as the stylish product of its production team. It is, however, more than simply a lot subtler than its contemporaries in the afterlife genre that bloomed in the war years; it is also a richer and more imaginative affirmation of life, learning and good old Blighty than audiences could possibly have wished for, put together with a humour and intelligence so often absent from its kind to this day.
Country: GB
Technical: col 104m
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: David Niven, Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring, Raymond Massey
Synopsis:
A crashing bomber pilot falls in love over the radio on his way down before bailing out without a parachute... He survives and an emissary from Heaven comes to reclaim him.
Review:
There follows a struggle at once surgical and metaphysical to save his life and love, and it is in this equivocation that the film stands out as the stylish product of its production team. It is, however, more than simply a lot subtler than its contemporaries in the afterlife genre that bloomed in the war years; it is also a richer and more imaginative affirmation of life, learning and good old Blighty than audiences could possibly have wished for, put together with a humour and intelligence so often absent from its kind to this day.
Country: GB
Technical: col 104m
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: David Niven, Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring, Raymond Massey
Synopsis:
A crashing bomber pilot falls in love over the radio on his way down before bailing out without a parachute... He survives and an emissary from Heaven comes to reclaim him.
Review:
There follows a struggle at once surgical and metaphysical to save his life and love, and it is in this equivocation that the film stands out as the stylish product of its production team. It is, however, more than simply a lot subtler than its contemporaries in the afterlife genre that bloomed in the war years; it is also a richer and more imaginative affirmation of life, learning and good old Blighty than audiences could possibly have wished for, put together with a humour and intelligence so often absent from its kind to this day.