1946 Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
When a young airman miraculously survives bailing out of his aeroplane without a parachute, he falls in love with an American radio operator. But the officials in the other world realise their mistake, and despatch an angel to collect him.
The December Challenge: Film #100
What is life without love?
This is a question at the heart of Powell and Pressburger’s classic, A Matter of Life and Death: a movie I adore unreservedly and the only fitting choice for my 100th film of the December Challenge.
It seems to me that your first introduction to the work of The Archers often ends up becoming a lifelong favourite. Their films, particularly those made between ‘43-’48, are magical and transformative experiences that open your eyes to a whole new world of cinema you never even knew existed. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that your first taste is always going to be the sweetest and most enduring. Whilst A Matter of Life and Death…
I LOVED this!
With a wonderful opening that's eerily reminiscent of Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life from the same year, but far superior in both execution and elocution, and a central conceit that may have been influenced by Alexander Hall’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan, but turned on its head, A Matter of Life and Death is simply charming.
There’s something about that particular time where it’s ok for true love to blossom in the space of minutes over the wireless. We believe it. Completely. When by chance, and I’m so glad that chance always works for the better in these types of films, our soon to be lovers meet, against all odds on heaven and earth, you know this…
I had seen this back in the day when I was a young pup under the title of "Stairway To Heaven" and loved it! David Niven and Kim Hunter were wonderful together as the star crossed lovers!
A marvelously charming and whimsical tale that was a real treat to watch!
My one and only gripe was the totally unnecessary and quite frankly unwanted heavy handed spiel about this American versus British garbage! Barring that little misstep it's still a winner in my book!
Film was recommended by Viktor Prentovski via my Movie Request Hotline List! Thank You Viktor for recommending it, it was a real blast from the past!
Part of The Archers Season - 1942 to 1957
If I had been smart, I would have prepared myself for this review by finding an online thesaurus and finding all the synonyms for 'wonderful' that I could possibly could.
I didn't do that, though, because I was too busy watching this film. It was a completely different experience watching this today compared to when I first saw it as a 19 year old. Back then my film tastes were not particularly defined (in fact, they're still not) and I was just watching anything that was on and that I fancied the look of. I didn't know anything about A Matter Of Life And Death when it came on Channel 4…
Film #21 of Project 40
”A weak mind isn't strong enough to hurt itself. Stupidity has saved many a man from going mad.”
The eternal power of true love. That seems to be a very clichéd statement, something that has been repeated so many times in cinema, soap operas and teenage romance novels that has lost its meaning and power. But long before all these heartless romantic fiesta that surrounds us these days two visionary, incredible and modernistic artists created something which even by today’s standards and after all the technological and structural advancements of cinema looks avant-garde, profound and technically breathtaking. A Matter of Life and Death is a movie full of fine thematic, anatomical and technical details meaning…
In Heaven technicolor is limited, on the big screen it's forever though.
I had heard great things about his, but it's all a bit too stagey and 'old timey acting' for my liking, especially from Niven. Perhaps it's just that cut glass accent.
What an interesting film. It takes on the grim subject of the afterlife and handles it with such a playful tone. It does not take itself seriously nearly at all. While basically spending the whole film making fun of itself, the movie also finds a fair amount of beauty in its gorgeous Tecnicolor and in some of the dialogue. The first scene between the main characters is one of film's greatest moments. As a man in a failing fighter plane calls ground support to make sure a goodbye message is delivered to his mother, the two leads fall in love.
A Matter of Life and Death is one of the most likeable films I've seen in a while. From the opening sequence to the ending, the film makes you invested and interested in what happens. Michael Power and Emeric Pressburger are two directors I admire a lot, especially their masterwork The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a film I love highly, but this one tops it as my favorite of their films together. I would almost call this impeccable, but there's one factor that could have been better; the romance. I felt like it was a bit under developmented, but then again, it is really hard to see where the scenes/romance should be added to the film. Pacing,…
Absolutely gorgeous, a masterpiece, and my new favorite from the Archers. What a beautiful use of Technicolor, and made all the more brilliant and moving with the juxtaposition of the kaleidoscopic vividness of the real world with the textured B&W of the "other world." A powerful case for love as the driving force of life, it's a war film, a courtroom drama, a romance, and a supernatural thriller wrapped up into one. Ponderous, meditative (sometimes to a fault in the climactic philosophical battle), but never less than engaging, it's a testament to the power of the Archers' craft on all levels of filmmaking -- and a pinnacle of classic film. Some of the sets are insane in this, the storytelling…
Composed like a silent film, with Lang's visual sensibilities coming to mind, but with some of the most inventive use of colour in any live action feature. Powell and Pressburger seems to be like Kurosawa, as they make their best works in colour, and a certain degree of experimentation makes Life and Death far and away their most accomplished work, ad easily my favourite piece of cinema to come out of Britain
Powell and Pressburger's Drag Me to Heaven
What did we do to deserve P&P? "Director" is a reductive word for what these magnificent men accomplished film after film—homeboys were magicians. They were 20th century Renaissance artists; the big screen, their tempera and fresco.
Hyperbolic? Probably. But only because A Matter of Life and Death—probably their finest collaboration—is the kind of master class in moviemaking that inspires childlike wonder and teenlike hyperbole. They imagined Heaven and then realized it: a grand escalator ascending into the clouds, unending racks of wings waiting to be passed out to the recently deceased, a courtroom in the cosmos populated by every soul to ever walk our earth. They imagined a whirlwind romance born in the…
David Nevin is so good in this. If am correct this is the film that made him a big star. I love how it changes from black-and-white to color and back again
Jason Bullok 999 films
A list of Edgar Wright's favorite 1000 Movies per his list on Mubi on July 27th, 2016.
twitter.com/edgarwright/status/758339515421433856 mubi.com/lists/edgar-wrights-favorite-movies
Peter Stanley 1,199 films
All the films from all the editions, including those subsequently removed, presently totalling 1199. An easy way of seeing how…
Dave Vis 250 films
The Letterboxd Top 250 movies, based on the average weighted rating of all Letterboxd users. I chose to remove all…
