Original (in Norwegian) at
http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/film/tfk/v94/omtaler/0220-MatterOfLife.html
Translation of original
Norwegian review
by
Kate Lambert
A Matter of Life and Death
A Matter of Life and Death
UK, 1946
Directed by / script by
Michael Powell / Emeric Pressburger
With
David Niven, Kim Hunter, Richard Attenborough and others
104 min
35mm, colour, in English with Norwegian subtitles
Distributed by
Norwegian Federation of Film Societies, NFK
We are in England in the Second World War. Pilot Peter Carter is on his
way home from a bombing raid over Germany in a burning plane. Peter spends
what he believes will be the last minutes of his life talking about love
and poetry over the radio to American radio operator June. Then he has to
jump - without a parachute - directly over the English Channel.
To Peter's great astonishment he realises not only is he still alive but
he has been washed up on a beach not far from his airbase. This "miracle"
proves to be a blunder on the part of the conductor who was sent to take
Peter to "the other world". Peter Carter should in fact have died that morning
but his conductor failed to find him due to thick fog over England.
The extra time Peter gains due to this "heavenly mix-up" he spends falling
in love with June. And when the conductor eventually catches up with him
and points out that he is already entered in the register up there, Peter
is far from willing to accompany him.
The main event in the film thus becomes the depiction of Peter's battle
to remain among the living, which reaches its climax in a grandiose court
case in Heaven in which Peter has to argue why he should be allowed to change
his destiny and continue to live.
A Matter of Life and Death is a story of a great love which overcomes
everything in its path. By the standards of today's media society the story
may sometimes seem banal and full of childish innocence but it has several
layers of meaning and offers a number of interesting interpretations. The
film was in fact commissioned by the British government, of all people.
After the Second World War the global power balance had shifted considerably.
Despite the countries having been allies, relations between the crumbling
British Empire and the new superpower of the US were far from ideal. In
this context the well-known, respected, conservative and sophisticated directors
Powell and Pressburger were commissioned to create a film which would help
to improve this relationship.
Not everyone was pleased about the rather unconventional way the pair went
about the assignment. The film is full of references to other works of art
and contemporary British politics. This in itself is nothing new for Powell
and Pressburger, whose films must be considered to be highly allegorical.
One of the ways in which the relationship with the US is portrayed is through
the choice of Abraham Farlan, the first American to be shot by an English
bullet in the American War of Independence, as counsel for the prosecution
in Peter's court case. This leads to attention being paid to the injustices
the British have committed against peoples all over the world.
The depiction of the differences between life on Earth and life after death
aroused a great deal of controversy on the film's release. The image of
Heaven - here a centralised, planned and bureaucratic society - struck at
the heart of the debate on the reconstruction of Britain after the war,
not to mention corresponding to the picture people had of the Soviet Union.
The relationship between Heaven and Earth can be seen as a comparison of
European methods of government with Heaven standing for the Southern European,
law-based model where it doesn't matter what you do as long as you obey
the law. On Earth, however, it is the Anglo-Saxon/Nordic ideal which prevails
with its liberalism, democracy and individualism. Here interaction is not
characterised by authoritarianism but by open, generous friendship as evinced
by the lovers June and Peter.
But Powell and Pressburger have more to say. The battle between life and
death is both a physical and an intellectual one. This pragmatic approach
whereby problems should always be seen from every angle is something which
recurs in all Powell's films. It goes with the typical (?) British attitude
of constantly remaining balanced, or moderate, in ones life and work. This
virtue can be seen in the complex character of Peter. He may be a bombing
pilot but he has studied history, plays chess and writes poetry - although
not too modern in style.
The men behind the film, Powell and Pressburger, were legendary in their
time under the nickname "The Archers". They produced a number of films,
reaching their artistic and commercial peak in the late 1940s. Their most
famous work includes films such as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. Powell continued
to make films after The Archers split up and in 1960 produced the ill-received
Peeping Tom (TFK 1990), a psychological thriller which has since
confirmed the great impact Powell had on subsequent filmmakers.
One of Powell and Pressburger's particular trademarks is mixing popular
culture and the avant garde. The same balance I have highlighted above can
be found in the other "Archers" productions, in which imagination and art
are compared with the rationality and realism of life. While their films
are geared towards an educated audience, their stories have always appealed
to a broader public and all have been major successes.
Gk
Network group 20/1/1994, www@nvg.ntnu.nofeoup
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