I love this film. My father flew bombers in the RAF during WWII and told me the sequence at the beginning was the most realistic representation of a damaged aeroplane in flight he had seen in film. Having said that this is not a war film, it is a charming tale of love, friendship, life and, of course, death. David Niven is his usual convincing self but he doesn't dominate the film in which he stars. (Though it must have been his influence that caused one character to be named Trubshaw.) Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, and the excellent Raymond Massey make this a rounded film with their portrayals of developed characters. It is beautifully filmed, Kim Hunter's bicycle ride along the beach somehow enchants me. It is a good tale well told and acted. I highly recommend it.

Everyone knows I love David Niven. Stairway to Heaven is one of the worst movies he's ever made-even worse than the one where his military mission is to rescue a cow. No, I'm not kidding; that was the plot to Island Rescue. Not only is this movie terrible, but Marius Goring's character is downright creepy and Allan Gray's music will make you think you're going insane. The premise was very interesting, and the opening scene made me want to cry. David Niven is a pilot in WW2. His co-pilot has been killed and he's talking over the intercom to Kim Hunter, an American volunteer in the air force. He knows he's going to die because his plane is damaged and he's given his parachute away so another soldier can bail out. He talks to Kim, asks her questions about herself, and tells her he loves her seconds before jumping out of his airplane and facing his death. Get out your Kleenexes, right?Well, due to a clerical error by Marius Goring, Niven isn't transported to the afterlife. He's washed ashore without a scratch, conveniently finds Kim Hunter and truly falls in love with her. The people upstairs aren't happy with the mistake and send Goring down to Earth to bring Niven back up. Niven protests and demands the opportunity to argue his case and win his life back. I know it sounds fascinating, and you'll be very tempted to watch it, but it isn't nearly as good as it sounds. David Niven, although the lead, has less screen time than Roger Livesey, the second lead. Goring is frightening and is more believable to be a representative from Hell than Heaven. The plot takes twists and turns that are boring and somewhat upsetting, and the long-awaited trial uses arguments that don't make any sense. There's only one type of person who will want to watch this movie: the artsy film student. Remember in The Wizard of Oz, when the magical world turns to color? In this movie, it's the opposite. Real life is in Technicolor, and the afterlife is in black-and-white. The color switches are just the beginning to the technological productions in the film. There's a gigantic 106-step "stairway to Heaven" that moves like an escalator, a huge camera obscura in Roger Livesey's office so he can look down on the entire town, and a very innovative shot that shows the inside of David Niven's eyelids as he goes to sleep. Also, whenever Goring visits Earth, he freezes time so no one else can see him besides Niven. I don't know how they filmed those scenes in 1946, but it's pretty incredible. Once, a table tennis match is stopped, and the ball is frozen in mid-air!Weigh the good against the bad and decide for yourself if you want to sit through this film. If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would have turned the movie off after the first scene.DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not your friend. There are several scenes where the camera tilts and swirls, or the foreground of the shot moves in the opposite direction of the background, and it might make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

This is one of my top two films without doubt. Curiously the other (The Devil and Daniel Webster) also features a jury of the dead: read into that what you will. It is brilliantly shot. The colour is vivid, lurid and generously used. The black and white in heaven is strikingly lit and shaded; the art deco feel of heaven is inspired. The shot of the heavenly receptionist framed by the shining clock is one of my favourite ever.Michael Powell is one of the greatest directors ever. Not a moment of celluloid is wasted, nor an opportunity missed. David Niven has his best role ever, Marius Goring as comic foil is wonderful, Roger Livesey is authoritarian... I could go on.The plot (without spoiling it) treads a very careful line between David Niven being a fugitive from the afterlife, and a man suffering hallucinations. So fine that on repeated watching, I still don't know which I think I am minded to favour. Finally, I am a big, ugly emotionless man, who has never shed a tear at a funeral in my life, but the first five minutes of this film when David Niven is still alive makes me cry without fail. Which has to be worth something.

'A Matter of Life and Death' is the 3rd Powell-Pressburger film that I have seen after 'Black Narcissus' and 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'. It is again a fantastic film which blends elements of fantasy, social commentary and romance in the most enigmatic way and gave me further evidence as to why this filmmaking duo is so universally respected and needless to say that I loved the film.While watching the film, I think it is impossible to not think about 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Similar to those this film uses fantasy elements in abundance which makes it feel like a fairy tale and its tone also like them has a constant innocence and charm that is impossible to avoid. Pressburger's script uses elements of fantasy to infuse a sense of optimism for the viewers at the time of its release which was 1946 when Britain and the rest of the world was still recovering from the devastating consequences of WW2. In this sense I find a thematic similarity between this film and Kurosawa's 'Rashomon'. Although Rashomon's plot and Kurosawa's style was gritty and serious while Powell's direction and Pressburger's script is enveloped in fantasy and charm, but the message in both the films in the end was to make the viewer believe in the salient aspects of humanity and especially in case of 'A Matter of Life and Death' Pressburger advocates the power of love to survive and forget the past in times of great distress after the war. I interpreted this film to be about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD and this film shows how the trauma of war though capable of driving someone insane, can still be overcome by loving someone else and getting loved in return. Like 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp', this film also has a pro-British nationalistic subtext. The tension between USA and Britain is a big issue which gets dealt with in the latter portion of the film and this is the only aspect that I didn't completely love. I understand what the filmmakers were trying which was to give hope for better relations in the future between these two nations and also to advocate the shelving of past prejudices against England, but it felt a bit too on the nose and I thought the treatment was a bit too overt. The England/USA aspect had already been commented upon in a subtle way in the rest of the film through the love between June, the American woman and Peter, the Englishman. Michael Powell's direction is again fantastic. The film has humanism written all over it. It looks beautiful like the other Powell- Pressburger films that I have seen. The vibrant colours and the awe- inspiring shots contrast the fantasy of the 'other world' with the reality of this world. The camera movements, the high- concept visual imagery, the editing, the special effects and all the technical aspects of the film are pretty much flawless.Another flawless aspect of the film is the acting from each and everyone. David Niven is charming to the fullest with his smart line delivery, Kim Hunter makes it impossible to make the viewer not fall in love with her character due to the sheer cuteness and adorableness that she exudes on screen. Roger Livesey who was brilliant as the figurative Colonel Blimp comes back and again delivers a confident, assured performance adding gravitas and weight to each line and each scene he is a part of. Lastly I have to mention Marius Goring who plays the colourful character of Conductor 71. He is devilishly funny, incredibly flamboyant, very likable and I couldn't take my eyes off him when on screen.So 'A Matter of Life and Death' is another great film that I have become familiar with from Powell-Pressburger's oeuvre. Although this film charmed me to the fullest and really impressed me, I still think 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' is my favourite Powell- Pressburger film as of now. But that can easily change once I watch 'The Red Shoes'.