A Matter of Life and Death (1946) - film review

During WWII, an RAF fighter pilot Peter Carter is returning to England after a raid over Germany when his plane is hit.  Realising his has no parachute, he sends one last radio message, which is received by a young American radio operator, June, before bailing out to certain death.  Miraculously, he survives and wakes up to find himself on a beach in the south of England, where he meets June and falls in love with her.  Soon after, Peter receives a visitation from a heavenly emissary, who tells him that he should really have died and that he must now give up his life.  When Peter objects, the mysterious emissary insists that he must submit to a celestial trial to decide whether he should be permitted to go on living…

One of the undisputed masterpieces of British cinema, A Matter of Life and Death was just one of the many accomplishments to come out of the fruitful partnership of the writer-director team Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

The film was made at a time of great international tension just after World War II, and also great relief and reflection for the British, and all this is reflected in the film.  The famous trial scene at the end of the film was clearly intended to smooth the water between the Americans and the British, whilst the distinct lack of bombastic moralising and nationalistic jingoism captures perfectly the British post-war mood.

Although some of the dialogue has a tendency to go over the top and now sounds mildly ridiculous, the film is a near-faultless cinematic achievement.  The ambitious sets of the celestial world are particularly memorable, especially the imposing heavenly stairway (from which the film’s American title was derived).  The acting is no less impressive, with the film featuring some of the best of British and American talent (including David Niven and Raymond Massey).

Perhaps what makes this a masterpiece is the sheer depth of imagination and creativity which Powell and Pressburger bring to it, which involved some courageous risk taking.  The decision to shoot the Heavenly scenes in black and white and the Earthly scenes in colour may have been controversial but it works brilliantly.  The fact that we never quite know whether what we seen on the screen is taking place in Peter Carter’s mind or in reality is also a stroke of genius – the narrative hints at the former but the audience is led to the other conclusion, and this ambiguity is partly responsible for the film’s engaging humanity.

From the point of view of sheer entertainment value, the film has a great deal to offer, from the daring and imaginative plot, the rich crop of hilarious one-liners, and the larger than life characters (particularly the outrageously camp Conductor Number 71, brilliantly portrayed by Marius “I lost my ‘ead” Goring).  All this, and the film’s artistic brilliance, will ensure that A Matter of Life and Death remains an endlessly popular classic.

© James Travers 2002

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