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Life And Death of Colonel Blimp, The / A Matter Of Life And Death [1943]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Two masterpieces of British cinema are paired here--Powell and Pressburger's first Technicolor triumph, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and their even more ambitious A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Both pictures are transcendent examples of the filmmakers' craft, and remain models of great cinema long after their original wartime propaganda brief has expired.

Based on a famously satirical cartoon strip that mocked outmoded attitudes of fair play at a time of "total war", Blimp subsequently became notorious as the film Churchill tried to have banned. Because the War Office objected to the screenplay, they refused to allow P&P's first choice for the role, Laurence Olivier, and the duo cast unknown stage actor Roger Livesey in his place. It is Livesey's sympathetic performance that transforms Clive "Sugar" Candy from an object of satire to one of warm affection, effectively reversing the film's intended message about old-fashioned decency versus wartime pragmatism. Anton Walbrook is a profound presence in a role that mirrored the actor's own plight as a German in Britain, while Deborah Kerr is a living leitmotif in the film, playing no fewer than three distinct but deliberately related roles.

Briefed by the Ministry of Information to make a film that would foster Anglo-American relations in the post-war period, the duo, known as "the Archers", came up with A Matter of Life and Death, an extravagant and extraordinary fantasy in which David Niven's downed pilot must justify his continuing existence to a heavenly panel because he has made the mistake of falling in love with an American girl (Kim Hunter) when he really should have been dead. National stereotypes are lampooned as the angelic judges squabble over his fate. In a neat reversal of expectations, the heaven sequences are black and white, while earth is seen in Technicolor. Daring cinematography mixes monochrome and colour, incorporates time-lapse images, and even toys with background "time freezes" 50 years before The Matrix. Roger Livesey and Raymond Massey lead the fine supporting cast.

On the DVD: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and A Matter of Life and Death are presented in reasonably sharp 4:3 ratio with good mono sound. Blimp comes with a 25-minute documentary feature that tells us nothing revelatory about making the film, but has good new interviews with cinematographer Jack Cardiff (then an apprentice) and eloquent admirer Stephen Fry. Text biographies and stills are also included. Life and Death has no extras. --Mark Walker


Fascinating movie!
Review date: 2008-09-23 Rating: 10 out of 10


PLEASE NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS FOR 'A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH' ONLY:


This film has a fabulous opening sequence, and a lovely opening scene featuring David Niven as 'Peter Carter' and Kim Hunter as 'June'.

This is a fascinating movie with an interesting topic, and as so many have said before; this is a film way ahead of its time. The fact that this was filmed using both black and white and colour adds to the 'Special Effects'.

'Peter Carter' gets a second chance at life and love when he has to jump from a crashing Aeroplane during the War.

Marius Goring stars in one of his most 'colourful' roles as the 'Conductor 71' character. Also stars Raymond Massey.

An entertaining movie.



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Reviews


Superb Powell and Pressburger classic films in glorious colour (and black and white)
Review date: 2008-05-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

Firstly if you want these or you're into Powell and Pressburger films buy the "Powell and Pressburger Collection" 9 DVD box, which includes these films with all the skimpy extras, for the same price as this pair alone at current bargain prices.

Secondly, as in most Powell and Pressburger films of this era, the colour is absolutely beautiful and the picture quality exemplary with no sparklies or damage evident (apart from the black and white sequences in "A Matter of Life and Death"). The sound, however, lets both down, being hissy and crackly at anything like a decent volume and more so in quiet passages.

The film and story of "Blimp" is brilliant, basically taking in the life of one man, Clive Candy (the superb Roger Livesey in one of his few starring roles), (the Colonel Blimp of the title) concentrating on his wartime soldiering and progression up the ranks from a hot-headed young man to a rotund old man whose failure to adjust from the "officer and gentlemen play by the rules" era renders him redundant in the army's eyes (and in which he's latterly employed as an founding Home Guard training officer). Talking of Home Guard, who should turn up as his batman but John "We're doomed I tell ye, doomed" Laurie in a sort of forerunner of his "Dad's Army" role

The film begins where it ends, with Candy as a fat old man in the Turkish baths, who in a magic little early scene, having been insulted by a young officer like he used to be, reminisces, going into the baths as an old man and emerging as a young one, from which the body of the films flows.

Apparently GB Prime Minister Winston Churchill (a real life fat, old Colonel Blimp himself) hated the film and it's release was nearly prevented by the British authorities on the ground that it portrayed British soldiers in a bad light (or perhaps just because Churchill saw it as ridiculing him and his kind).

Gay actor Anton Walbrook stays firmly in the closet to provide the opposing love interest for the beautiful Deborah Kerr, who has a Candy-related role in each of the major time-pieces of the film. He is forced into a duel of honour sword fight with Candy early on after the latter insulted half the German nation. The pair become good friends, bumping into each other again in their future lives.

"Life and Death" should appeal to almost everyone. David Niven is Squadron Leader Peter Carter, World War 2 pilot and sole survivor in a doomed Lancaster bomber returning across the English Channel in dense fog. He bails out of his plane without a a parachute.

The Conductor, whose job it is to take the dead Carter to heaven, misses him in the fog. Carter was speaking to American radio operator June (Kim Hunter) who works in Operations in GB and the two have fallen in love. He's got her address and is washed ashore a few hundred yards from her house. When he comes around she just happens to be cycling by on her way home from work!

The Conductor doesn't give up and, despite his mistake, tries to get Carter to go to Heaven. Carter doesn't want to go and wins a right of appeal. From there on, Heaven is black and white and Earth colour. Sets and special effects are phenomenal for the time.

A pair of magic and beautiful films indeed which, because of when they're set, will never date.


Extremely good buy
Review date: 2007-09-06 Rating: 10 out of 10

I'm not sure which film is better, more touching or more in tune with Britain in the 1942-6 period than these two absolute gems.

'A Matter of Life and Death' pits the dashing David Niven against death: he falls to earth in his warplane during WW2, his plane wrecked beyond repair, and the girl on the radio tells him not to worry...he falls in love only to find he's dead. Someone up in heaven has made an error, and only with the help of an angel (reminiscent of 'It's Wonderful Life') can he sort out whether or not love will prevail...it's called 'Stairway to Heaven' in the USA, which gives you a clue as to one of the more mmeorable sequences, accompanied by suitably unnerving music...

'Blimp' is an absolute masterpiece, with Roger livesey's best performance against the dazzling Deborah Kerr, both of them pulled through forty years of Empire and the realisation that the war against Hitler is life or death - it could almost have been given the same title as the Niven film.

A DVD in which both films display why Michael Powell and emeric Pressburger are two of the most enduring British film-makers of all time.


Why Britain won the war
Review date: 2006-12-30 Rating: 10 out of 10

Shot in colour in the middle of WW2 this film tells the allegorical story of Clive Candy, a fat old buffer lounging in a Turkish bath who's roused by a young buck in uniform telling him he's under arrest. 'But war starts at midnight, yer silly fool' says Clive. The film swings back 40 years to show us why Clive has a large handlebar moustache and why he never married. Clive is a symbol for what mid-war Britain was trying to steer away from: the notion that war has rules. War doesn't start at midnight. It starts when it starts and you must do what you have to do to win it. Produced during a period when Britain was running low on funds and only America was propping it up, you can see the desperation between each 35mm frame and the tale is very moving and one of the best Powell/Pressburger films ever made. It is a classic: do not be put off by its length (well over 2 hours). It is a beautiful film to watch if you love 20th C history and especially if you happen to be British. As you can tell, I love it, and I do hope that's come through in my review although sometimes when you like something so much you get a bit carried away...

Life & Death
Review date: 2006-09-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

The life story of a fictional gentleman-soldier who endures disappointment in both love and war - and yet survives with his warmth and humanity intact. Certainly one of the best films of this period in UK cinema - humane, complex with stunning cinematography, and sensitive, emotive performances. A must-see.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Bob Roberts
Abraham Sofaer
Kathleen Byron
Joan Maude
Anton Walbrook

Creators:
Anton Walbrook (Primary Contributor)
Bob Roberts (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: ITV DVD
Manufacturer: ITV DVD
EAN: 5037115047038
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-03-17
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 285 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1943
Language: English (Original Language)

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