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A Matter of Life and Death
Film Description AKA Stairway to Heaven. A World war II airman, shot down but accidentally missed by Death, falls in love while his right to live is debated in a heavenly courtroom. Stunning in its set design and fertile visual imagination,Powell and Pressburger's audacious romantic fantasy again eclipses the often uninspired British film tradition. JD
Film Information
DVD Extras Behind The Scenes Commentary;
Technical Details
Film Media7 Stills
Reviews & ArticlesShare your thoughts and opinions - write a review
Review by GRAHAM BARUGH on 27th April 2000 TO MY MIND THIS IS THE BEST FILM OF THE LAST CENTURY,PRESSBUGER AND POWELL, WERE LIGHT YEARS, AHEAD OF EVERYONE ELSE.
Review by Sharon T on 20th May 2003 Seen for the first time in black and white on a 12\" screen on American tv in
Review by Don Henson on 1st September 2000 This film has everything – romance, comedy, drama, and fantasy – all rolled up into a package to delight audiences of any age. Michael Powell believed that film was an artifice that made poetry out of life. Even the most hardened realist would find it hard not to be drawn into the poetic world of, ‘A Matter of Life and Death’. The film is rich in texture and has complex multi-stranded themes that repay repeated viewings. It was made to a commission to cement Anglo-American relations and at the hands of Powell and Pressburger, it became a hymn to the individual against the system and took a gentle swipe at the vision of a grey bureaucratic post-war world that was looming in sight. The basic plot is simple: a British airman bales out of his burning plane and survives the fall without a parachute, falls in love with an American girl. The other world sends a messenger to bring him to where he should have been had he died. A doctor fights for the airman’s life while a court case is played out in Heaven to decide his fate. For sheer imagination it was, and remains, unparalleled in British cinema. Its’ special effects make you gasp in admiration (unlike today’s which often act more on the eardrums than the emotions), and its’ themes of love, responsibility and the individual still have resonance today. This film is a must for all romantics and anyone who wants to admire film craft at its’ best
Article - "The Life and Spirit of Michael Powell"
by Ray Durgnat
Powell's bestknown films are spectacular, sensual, fanciful. The others are quiet, retiring, almost secretive. Even, disappointing; until odd details tease your mind, and gradually the simplicity reveals its depths.
Article - "Screening the Island : British Cinema"
by Liam Lowry
In 1933, Alexander Korda’s gleefully saucy, The Private Life of Henry VIII made a huge international impact. Starring the sublime Charles Laughton, and launching the career of Merle Oberon, it announced the arrival of a cinema uniquely different from European ... View article in full
Collections & ListsThis film is part of the following Film Collections
Including: A Fish Called Wanda, A Matter of Life and Death , A Room With A View, Blow-up, Brazil, Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945), Brighton Rock, Caravaggio, Dont Look Now, Get Carter.
Including: A Matter of Life and Death , An Affair To Remember, An American In Paris, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945), Carousel, Casablanca, Doctor Zhivago, Full Moon In Paris, Gone With The Wind.
This film is part of the following Customer Film Lists
All-Time favourites by Neil Lawrence
BFI Top 100 British Films by MovieMail In 1999 the British Film Institute surveyed 1000 people involved in UK film and television to create the BFI Top 100 British films made in the 20th century. Here is the result - each film here stands up to repeat viewings, and shows the incredible contribution Britain has made to cinema.
Movie Weekness by Idris Babur Reliving a year full of inspired film watching.
MovieMail Top 100 Best-Sellers of All-Time by MovieMail This is your list: the 100 films you've bought the most of in the 10 years of MovieMail's existence. There are some surprise entries and some glaring omissions – but it’s all true, and, frankly, you’ve got very good taste! It’s such a good list that we're going to make it a permanent fixture on our website and to celebrate the launch we’ve slashed many of the prices on these wonderful films. Enjoy!
Some Great Movies to see before you die! by Cliff Haylett this was only going to be ten films but where to stop!
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Seven Samurai
The Red Shoes (Powell & Pressburger, 1948)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
La Regle du Jeu
Breathless (Godard, 1959)
