A Matter Of Life And Death
By: Ian Christie
Having been miles behind everybody else, I finally got round to buying
the BFI AMOLAD book, and had a good read. It offered a very different
slant on the film which I really enjoyed - especially the mid-century
interest in metaphysics (I did have to have a second pass through some
of these bits to grasp the content!). The whole
American/Britain/Soviet Union Cold War scenario was another slant I
hadn't thought of. The dreaded Robsons and their sad views even get a
mention as well.
I was fascinated by the possible sources for parts of the film,
especially the vivid hallucinations from "A journey around my skull"
and the fried onions article in the medical journal. I'll be looking
these up at work - one of the few perks for a librarian!
I was also please that Ian picked up a few cultural references I had
noticed as well - namely the J.B. Priestly hints, and the hint of
Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" when the tear drop on the rose is
presented at the trial.
Just a shame the book wasn't longer. If Ian had to severely prune the
original text, will we get to see what was left out?
Also, Ian mentioned an AMOLAD re-make was thought of the 1980s - did
this get pass the idea stage? If so who was going to be in it, and was
it going to be set during the last war?
[I think it was just that the remake rights were sold (to Columbia)
but he says "nothing ever came of this".]
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