UK 104m Dir: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Key Cast: David Niven and Kim Hunter
Original Screenplay
This is a film that never quite does what you would expect, never does the obvious thing.
The film opens with RAF pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) speaking to American radio operator June (Kim Hunter) from a damaged airship. It's breathtakingly romantic, better than the vast majority of 'meet-cutes' put to screen. It's also laden with doom as Peter knows the plane is damaged and there is no way he can survive. This makes the sequence utterly heartbreaking at the same time as being lovely.
But then it turns out that Peter did survive after all and he quickly finds June and their love affair builds from there. You almost expect them to realise that their brief radio conversation didn't accurately give them an impression of the other person but no, that's for lesser films to do. This is a film that believes in love and Niven and Hunter totally convince in portraying the relationship.
The problem is that Peter should have died but the 'conductor' who was supposed to bring him to Heaven lost him in the English fog. Heaven, though they never rarely directly call it that, is really interesting here. It feels very static with everyone remaining at the same age and wearing the clothes they were wearing when they died. It also appears in sepia whilst the real world appears in technicolor. The sets are spectacular, especially the giant escalator lined with famous people from history.
Interestingly, nearly all the statues are of historical figures who were thought to have epilepsy (at least by historians in 1946). Peter meets the conductor and sends an appeal to Heaven to be allowed to stay on Earth. Dr. Reeves (Roger Livesey) believes these are actually visions brought on by a brain injury and schedules Peter for brain surgery. The film never explains which is real and throws curveballs to suggest different things. The actor playing the neurosurgeon also plays the judge in Heaven. A book borrowed by an angel seems to suddenly appear in real life. There are arguments for both causes of Peter's experience being valid.
The film culminates in Peter's case being heard by a court in Heaven. It once again doesn't quite do what you would expect and most of the case involves the two sides arguing about whether the USA or UK is better- the prosecutor is Abraham Farlan who hates the British because he was the first casualty in the American Revolutionary War.
This section actually comes from the fact that the British government asked filmmakers Pressburger and Powell to work on improving UK and US relations. The British public's view of the US was that it had joined in the war far too late and with American soldiers stationed in the UK and perceived to be seducing British women there was a famous phrase to describe them: 'overpaid, oversexed and over here'. The film chooses to analyze the relationship between the two countries with surprising depth, even if it feels a bit at odds with the other themes of the film.
A fascinating fantasy that is hugely romantic and surely gave some solace to a nation that was grieving loved ones lost in the war.
Comments
Post a Comment