Favourite Films 1

Along the way, in no particular order and, of course, liable to added to or amended depending on new releases, day of the week, the side of bed I got out of etc. are my all-time film favourites with a little bit about why I like them. Because I could go on and on (and on) about them, rather than produce a 'Top Five' in one go, I'll just add more from time-to-time. Let's begin...

1. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
This film, released in 1943, is a producion of The Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) who wrote, produced and directed it. It stars Roger Livesey as Clive Wynn-Candy VC, Deborah Kerr in a triple role as the object of Wynn-Candy's affection (to varying degrees) over the course of his life and Anton Walbrook as Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, a German who Wynn-Candy meets as a adversary in a duel but goes on to be his life-long friend. The story is told, for the most part, in flashback with the start and the end of the film set in the present (1943) and the bulk of the film telling us how Wynn-Candy became the man he is.

It is ostensibly a film about one man's life: from a young, decorated officer of the Boer War who goes on, via the First and Second Wars to be seen as something of a crusty old stick-in-the mud, a man whose sense of honour and decency is no longer valid to be fighting a war against the Nazis, a foe that does not recognise the honour code he still clings to. So, it is a film about the rights and wrongs of holding fast to 'absolute' moral values in a world that has changed dramatically. In effect, the tactics of the Nazis has meant that for some characters in the film, the gloves have come off and there is a need to fight back just as dirtily. But is the this 'the British way'? Should we 'lower' ourselves to their level? It is a question that is still relevant in the face of terror attacks today.

Equally, it is a brave film that, in 1943, chose to portray a sympathetic German character whilst, at the same time, having to keep up morale. Theo starts as Clive's enemy, becomes his friend, shuns him in the wake of Germany's defeat in the First War but is reconciled with Clive when the Nazis come to power in Germany. Theo's rejection of Clive's friendship after the First War seems to echo the resentment felt by Germany as the victors handed down punative reparations that added insult to wounded national pride. However, Theo rejects the 'restore pride at any cost' route taken by the Nazis just as Clive cannot contemplate waging war without 'rules'. In fact, it is Theo who tries to convince Clive that the only way the Nazis will be stopped is by ditching any notion of an 'honourable war'.

As Stephen Fry and others have said, it is a film that looks at "what it means to be English". Clive Wynn-Candy, far from being a dusty relic of a bygone age, is shown to be the man he is because of his experiences and his genuine decency has arisen from his training, his life and his sense of duty. Clive is the history of Britain embodied in one man's life. Add to this gorgeous colour photography and great acting by the leads and I think it results in a film to delight on several levels.

2. A Matter of Life and Death
Another Powell-Pressburger gem (I thought I'd get them out of the way first!). David Niven plays Peter Carter, the pilot of a crippled bomber returning to base after a bombing run in Germany. All his crew are dead and he has no parachute. In the last few minutes before he takes his chances by bailing into the sea (and almost certain death), he talks to June, a US radio-operator based in Britain. Jokingly, he promises to meet up with her when he 'lands'. Against all the odds, he wakes up on a beach having been washed ashore. Somehow, he is alive! Peter meets up with June and they fall in love. However, Conductor 71 (Marius Goring) arrives from the afterlife to tell Peter that he should have died and he (the Conductor), is here to 'collect' him. Peter argues that he cannot go as he has fallen in love and it is not his fault that he was missed for 'collection'. Conductor 71 agrees that Peter should be allowed to argue his case in the afterlife to determine if he lives or dies. Upon revealing these 'visions' to June, she, in turn, tells them to a friend, Dr Reeves (Roger Livesey again) who interprets them as symptoms of a brain injury sustained when he bailed from the stricken bomber. A battle for Peter's continued existence ensues both on Earth (on the operating table as he undergoes brain surgery) and in the afterlife as he argues his case for contiuing to live. Which is 'real'?

There is so much to love about this film. On the one hand it is a brilliantly romantic love story and probably just the sort of escapism that audiences wanted to see in the all-too-real aftermath of the Second World War. David Niven is suitably dashing and terribly British while Kim Hunter as June is a beautiful all-Americal gal and, together, they make a lovely couple. However, there was a little more to the film than just a love story (wouldn't you know!). It was originally suggested that the film might be a vehicle to help smooth Anglo-American relations which had been strained somewhat through the thousands of US service personnel that had been stationed in the UK in the months leading up to D-Day and beyond. There were many stories of US servicemen marrying British women (GI Brides), so Powell and Pressburger reverse this and have the American girl fall for the British boy. In order that Peter's case for continued life is given the harshest possible examination in the court in the afterlife, the 'prosecuting' counsel is an Americal revolutionary killed at that hand of the Brits who tries to argue that no daughter of the Revolution could ever love a Brit. The evidence to prove otherwise is...I won't say - you'll have to watch the film!

It is also remarkable for a couple more things. Firstly, having the newish area of medicine/surgery - neurosurgery - as a central theme. This either 'explains' the visions Peter has or, if we go with the more magical 'reality' (remember, no explanation is ever given for how Peter survived falling from the aircraft), allows an Earthly resolution to the fact of Peter's brain injury. Certainly, there are references to particular things in the film that point to a brain injury (Peter imagines smells which can be a symptom of the injury he has) and care was taken that the medical 'facts' used in the film were correct. Secondly, and my favourite, the afterlife in AMOLAD is in black & white! This is in direct contrast to The Wizard of Oz, where reality is in black & white, while fantasy (Oz) is in eye-popping colour. To me, this kind of makes sense: we live in a world of colour, so 'unreality' should be different and the most straightforward change is to remove the colour. It makes the trial scenes all the better for it, too!

So, there we are: two films by the same auteurs (Powell & Pressburger), both featuring 'Life and Death' in the title and both more than worthy of your immediate attention.