A Matter of Life and Death

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, UK, 1946, ? minutes

Squadron Leader Peter Carter isn't having much luck: flying back from a bombing raid on Germany, his planes shot to shreds, all but one of his crew have bailed out, and the one that's left is dead. Still, Carter (played with great enthusiasm and the stiffest of upper lips by David Niven) isn't too bothered, and is prepared to meet his maker. Talking to an American RAF radio operator called June, he outlines his precarious situation and tells her that he's going to jump -- which can only mean one thing, as his parachute is as broken as his plane is.

But it'd be a pretty short film if it all ended there. Due to a small administrative error in the 'other world' Carter doesn't meet his maker in the jump from the plane, and instead wakes up in the surf. By amazing coincidence he meets, and very rapidly falls in love with, June. But the 'other world' wants him to be 'conducted' from Earth, so they can sort their books out. Carter persuades them that since the error was entirely theirs, and that he's now involved with somebody on earth, they can't possibly 'conduct' him without a trial. Will he be allowed to remain on Earth?

Visually A Matter of Life and Death is stunning. The 'other world' is presented in black-and-white, and Earth is presented in vibrant Technicolor, shot by Jack Cardiff, who worked frequently with Powell and Pressburger, and there's some really imaginative work here. What other movie gives you a point-of-view shot from within somebody's eye? The production design also deserved a mention. The scenes set in the 'other world' are set on a grand scale, and still impress today. The route used to conduct people to the other world is a giant escalator, and they build one 20 feet wide and over 100 steps long for the film.

Although in places A Matter of Life and Death seems rather quaint, and it is certainly a film of it's time, it has such charm that it's impossible not to be swayed by it, and the manic enthusiasm of the leads. Definitely one to go and see.

Review by Jonathan Caryl
Written for th EUFS Programme Spring 2001