A Matter of Life and Death

The theatrical stylisation of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger sometimes deflected their thematic purpose, but in this dazzling fantasy they succeed in marrying the two elements to perfection. David Niven stars as an RAF pilot who has a conversation with American servicewoman Kim Hunter as his plane is going down. After his miraculous survival, the two meet and fall in love but he is then told he was meant to die and must defend himself in heaven. Although the film was intended to celebrate the Anglo-American alliance that had prevailed in the Second World War, the Archers production company instead delivered a barbed allegory that called into question not only the strength of the ties between the Allies, but also Britain's continued status as a world power. Few in officialdom rejoiced when it was selected for the first Royal Command Performance, but its political outspokenness, visual audacity and mannered playing now make it one of the most fondly recalled of all British movies.