220. A Matter of Life and Death

Definitely in the "should have seen it" camp, rather than "didn't know I should have seen it", this is one of those Sunday afternoon classics that's on quite a bit but I'd never managed to catch. David Niven (always brilliant) plays the RAF pilot who's due to die over the Channel but somehow the powers that be fail to drag him off to heaven and he survives. They realise their mistake a few hours later but in the mean time he's fallen in love with a radio operator and wants to appeal his death.

Or maybe not. I'll try again. David Niven (always brilliant) plays an RAF pilot who, after crashing his plane in the Channel, gets diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumour. This causes him to hallucinate various conversations with a French fop who claims to be his guide to the after life. Initially skeptical, as the tumour develops he starts to believe this absurd story and has to decide on who to represent him in the trial.

The film is fantastic, of course. Perfectly played, well scripted, intelligent, with some brilliant ideas. It has enough romance to give the film heart but not so much as to make it sickly. There are some great random moments, such as the naked boy on the beach (why?). The heavenly scenes (in black and white, a clever flipping of the Wizard of Oz conceit) are imaginative and funny (and you even catch a glimpse of Richard Attenborough up there) and the earthbound scenes are comfortingly British in a Dad's Army sort of way.

If there is a false note in the film, it's probably the final act. Niven's case gets heard by a celestial court which, rather bizarrely, briefly turns into an Americans vs British slanging match. It's clearly trying to make some comment on Anglo-American relations at the time but it feels a bit tacked on. As if Powell and Pressburger had a great little fantasy romance ready to shoot but the government wanted to inject some of their post-war foreign policy into the mix. I'm quibbling, though.

Despite the above, the question I'm asking myself is: did I love it? I think I have to say no. I admire it, but I didn't get that feeling of awe or excitement from it. It's undoubtedly a well-made film but in the end it just didn't capture my imagination as much as plenty of lesser films have. Perhaps it's a little dated, perhaps it's a little familiar, I'm not really sure. Maybe it needs a second viewing, but it might be a while before I get round to it.