It's from a gentler age - chivalry wasn't yet on its deathbed and patriotism wasn't a sin. Niven returned from Hollywood to take part in the war, and he made a number of films to support the home front - this being one of them.
Powell and Pressburger were insanely ambitious for the time on what they wanted to put on the screen and more often than not it worked. Audiences found themselves looking at a kind of filmmaking they hadn't seen before and A Matter Of Life And Death is a prime example of that. They sneakily made ordinary people like art.
the cinematography, the shot of the eye closing over the lamp, the music, technicolour v black and white, the man against the system - all made this a good film
Finally saw this last night. Like many Powell/Pressburger films, it’s a miracle of vision and ambition. It’s a hopeful movie, anchored by superb work from David Niven, Kim Hunter, and especially Roger Livesey, magnificent in every moment as the doctor/advocate.
Honestly, watching A Matter of Life and Death in 2023 still feels as if it's from the future. It's completely mind-boggling that it was released in 1946.
6:40 - Maybe one of the most moving endings to a film I've ever seen, all the film craft elements combining in perfect harmony. The way Kim Hunter is lit and framed in close-up is positively angelic. You believe she was the cause of a cosmos-shaking struggle over the laws of life and death. I also cry thinking about the dual significance of the line "we won," which would have hit a 1946 London crowd very differently. Yes, it refers literally to Peter's trial, but it also refers to the notion that all the sacrifices made in WWII were right and good, when not everyone believed consistently that the war effort was worth it. In the face of a staggering loss of life, love perseveres. It's the most light and colorful film, and yet it implicitly still suggests the hellish nature of war via the negative example of love at first listen. The romance between Niven and Hunter is as powerful as the darkness over which it triumphs.
I just finished watching this a few hours ago, after also seeing The Red Shoes for the first time last night. Both were absolutely transforming. I can safely say with the greatest assurance that A Matter of Life and Death is my all time favorite film. I've never seen anything like it. Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell had extremely beautiful minds and I'm so excited to check out The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and Black Narcissus.
I love this interview - one genius of his art lauding another genius from a different era - and becoming friends. Although they are such different filmmakers you can see the light touch and humour common to both - and always a great story and fantastic backdrop.
A truly great film that warrants being seen over and over again. I still well up at the 'You're Peter' line. AMOLAD is up there with Colonel Blimp as my favourite P & P movies
My father could have been Peter except he was from Seattle. He was a bombardier and after one mission, they made it back to England in their B-17 and got lost in the fog, round and round, until the plane finally ran out of gas and...pilot finally said "Abandon ship!" or whatever he would say. They all started jumping but one guy froze in fear, and my Pops and another guy threw him out of the plane. All survived. It made the local papers. Official Air Corps report: "PLANE COMPLETE DESTRUCTION."
I am so chuffed Martin Scorsese enjoys this movie. One of my earliest favourites. The scene on the beach is captivating, shattered by the low flying DH Mosquito. Such a marvellous movie, still with a positive message for all time.
Lovely! It's amazing how many of my favorite films are Michael Powell films. A Matter of Life and Death, 49th Parallel, I Know Where I'm going, Black Narcissus, The Elusive Pimpernel. I just re-watched 49th Parallel and A Matter of Life and Death earlier today. And finding out that those films are all Powell and Pressburger films. I mean, I always thought of them as Michael Powell films.
