Synopsis
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) is the British fantasy romance from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Pilot Peter Carter's plane is in flames, his parachute is gone, and in his final minutes he radios an American operator named June — then leaps into the fog and, against all odds, survives.
David Niven plays Peter; Kim Hunter is the woman he fell for over a single broadcast. The catch: heaven made a clerical blunder. A celestial messenger lost track of him in the thick Channel mist and arrives too late to collect the soul that was due. By then Peter has met June in the flesh, and he refuses to go quietly. He demands an appeal, and a heavenly court convenes to weigh whether he has earned the right to stay and to love.
The film is famous for flipping the rules: scenes on Earth glow in Technicolor while the afterlife unfolds in stark monochrome. Jack Cardiff, one of cinema's great cinematographers, was behind the camera. It's a rare picture where a debate over life and death turns on quiet wit and tenderness instead of grand speeches. Stream A Matter of Life and Death (1946) online on iFILM.
Starring
Comments 0