A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death
D: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Marius Goring
R: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Release: 1946
Durată: 1 h 39 min
Gen: Fantasy

In 1943, English directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger founded The Arches, a film production company that had its own rules. They were not going to obey anyone but themselves and assume responsibility for anything they were about to do.

Their first Archers film was A Matter of Life and Death, a fantasy set in World War II. The film begins with the main character, Peter Carter, an aviator, wanting to bail out without a parachute. He informs June, a radio operator, of his intentions and jumps. The thing is, he doesn’t die; instead, he finds himself on a beach near the place where June lives. They meet and instantly fall in love: I was actually surprised by how fast they started calling each other “darling”.

The bad news is, up there in Heaven they’re waiting for him, so he must die. The French conductor who had to take care of Carter’s death comes back on Earth to tell Carter what’s going on, but he doesn’t want to die now because he’s fallen in love.

This was the time when the Technicolor camera was introduced and color films were very popular, but opposed to what many would have expected, life in Heaven is black and white and Earth is in color. And in the words of the brilliant conductor, “One is starved for technicolor up there”.

These two great directors wouldn’t have had these amazing scenes if it weren’t for the best cameraman in the world: Jack Cardiff. This man knew had the most innovative techniques in terms of special effects. The following three reviews, including this one, will be in honor of their work and of the great changes they managed to bring to the film industry.

“Any resemblance to any other world known or unknown is purely coincidental.”

Nota: 10

By Andreea Tancof