A Matter of Life and Death (1946) PART 12

★★★★★ (All Movie Guide):

Also known as Stairway to Heaven, A Matter of Life and Death is the remarkable British fantasy film that became the surprise hit of 1946. David Niven stars as Peter Carter, a World War II RAF pilot who is forced to bail out of his crippled plane without a parachute. He wakes up to find he has landed on Earth utterly unharmed...which wasn't supposed to happen according to the rules of Heaven. A celestial court argues over whether or not to claim Carter's life or to let him survive to wed his American sweetheart (Kim Hunter). During an operation, in which Carter hovers between life and death, he dreams that his spirit is on trial, with God (Abraham Sofaer) as judge and Carter's recently deceased best friend (Roger Livesey) as defense counsel. The film tries to have it both ways by suggesting that the heavenly scenes are all a product of Carter's imagination, but the audience knows better. Among the curious but effective artistic choices in A Matter of Life and Death was the decision to film the earthbound scenes in Technicolor and the Heaven sequences in black-and-white. The film was a product of the adventuresome team known as "The Archers": Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• matter
• of
• life
• and
• death
• david
• niven
• kim
• hunter
• powell
• pressburger
• raymond
• massey
• 1946

[Raelspark]

Look closely at the extras. There are no Germans or Japanese in Heaven. Where do you think they are? ???

[littleiceage]

@Raelspark Good point.

[Raelspark]

@chartreise

Didn't mean to be "cruel". I was not speaking in general, and not about civilians. But definitely the German + Japanese soldiers, from the point of view of a film made by the Allies, don't deserve to be in Heaven. As for the soldiers who ARE seen in the heavenly court room --- they died for freedom

[chartreise]

@Raelspark Secondly - if there are no Germans or Japanese amongst the extras, this in most likely because there were none to hand, or because it would not be fitting to include them in a British film made at the end of WWII. Perhaps this is what you meant - but the implication was that you believe Germans and Japanese do not deserve to go to Heaven. You can believe what you want, but to judge an entire race for the actions of few (actions that other nations have also perpetrated) is cruel.

[chartreise]

@Raelspark Firstly - the other world in A Matter of Life and Death is just that; another world. It is most emphatically not Heaven, or else it would have been named Heaven (yes, it was titled as such; but in the American version). It is the afterlife, and it does not exclude any person. You'll note that there are many soldiers in the court, each of whom would have killed other human beings in their time; if there had been any kind of judgement in this world, would this not have excluded them?

[CaptainMarvel08]

A cinematic masterpiece - Massey's high intensity is enjoyable to take in. Thank you for posting this gem.

[hifijohn]

@8:38 what would they think of rap music????

[GusF]

Interesting little factoid: David Niven and Raymond Massey both died on July 29, 1983.

[nostromoau]

@djscotty1111 There are similar paused-time sequences in 'les visiteurs du soir' which you may care to check out. In that movie I got the impression it was used to signify some kind of telepathic communication or even sorcery but in any case the whole idea is very interesting.

[djscotty1111]

This movie makes me think of a possible theory ,a comparison to seconds in a minute, minutes in hours, hours in days and days in months and then years, It must be similar to increments in space and time, like frequency adjustments. Life ? in different Dimensions, Science Fiction or could it be proven Fact ? Einstein ?... anyone ?