A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Movie review
From Time Out London
You’d never guess, until perhaps the final, magnificent ‘trial’ scene, that Powell and Pressburger’s post-war film grew out of the Ministry of Information’s desire for a film celebrating British-American relations. RAF pilot Peter Carter (David Niven, below) falls in love with Boston-born radio operator June (Kim Carter) at an unfortunate moment: just as he’s plunging to the ground in a burning plane. It’s after he hits the ground that the conceit kicks in: colour disappears and we’re in a black-and-white heaven, where clerks are waiting for Peter – only he got lost in typically English fog and has met up with June and fallen in love. What to do? Especially when a village doctor is prepared to fight Peter’s case at the highest levels of justice. When the camera pulls back from the celestial court towards the end to reveal an audience of thousands – most of them combatants – Powell and Pressburger apply the weight of six years of war to this loopy love story.Author: Dave Calhoun
Time Out London Issue 1988, Sept 25 - October 1
User reviews of this film
-
- kel said...
- Posted on Sep 26 2007 03:51 A classic movie that gets better each time you watch it! David Niven was one of the greatest and under rated actors. The french heavenly messenger is a laugh a minute. They don't make them like this anymore
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Producer: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Raymond Massey, Marius Goring, Robert Coote, Abraham Sofaer, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough, Bonar Colleano full cast
Duration: 104 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Bridesmaid revisited
Anne Hathaway crashes more than a wedding in Rachel Getting Married.
Old-school house
Even in the age of the multiplex, a few old movie theaters continue to thrive in NYC.
Keeping the faith
Hope abounds in Spike Lee’s latest—as it does in the director himself.
Going the distance
TONY toughs out the Toronto International Film Festival, blow by blow.
Race you to the top
Tyler Perry doesn’t need critics—and may not need new audiences.
Spanish intuition
Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall flirt away an Iberian summer in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.




What do you think?
Post your review now