Jackson Ball presents his five essential Powell and Pressburger films…
The history of cinema isn’t short of great filmmaking duos. The Coen brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and the Wachowskis are just a few examples of partnerships behind the camera. However, there have been few duos that have influenced the film industry quite like Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
Having met in 1935, the pair would go on to make over twenty films together, almost all of which saw them sharing the writing, producing and directing credits. Much of Powell and Pressburger’s work went underappreciated in its time, but would end up inspiring a whole generation of filmmakers later on (avid fans include Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola).
Here are a handful of their most significant contributions to cinematic history…
5. The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
Based on a classic French Opera, The Tales of Hoffman displays Powell and Pressburger’s filmmaking prowess when it comes to complex, non-linear narratives. The plot involves Hoffmann retelling three stories about his past loves: a robot, a terminally-ill woman and a whore. It may sound crazy to those who’ve not seen the film, but this a real emotional rollercoaster of a movie. The filmmaking duo tackles a difficult source material and turns it into a free-flowing and entertaining master-class storytelling.
4. Black Narcissus (1947)
Showing their thirst for exciting and varied source material, Powell and Pressburger adapted Black Narcissus from the Rumer Godden novel of the same name. The drama focuses on the trials and tribulations of a young nun (played by Deborah Kerr, a regular collaborator of the filmmakers), living an isolated convent in the Himalayas. With a premise like that, the film could have easily descended into soap opera-like mediocrity, but in Powell and Pressburger’s hands it became a classic psychological spectacle.
3. The Red Shoes (1948)
Based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy-tale, The Red Shoes is the story of a young dancer, who must face the conflicting interests of her career and love life. The film is a forerunner to the climatic ballet dance scenes in many MGM musicals that followed (Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon). It is perhaps Powell and Pressburger’s most polished effort of filmmaking, and has been stated as a hugely influential film to a lot of particularly technical-minded directors (Martin Scorsese has named it one of his all-time favourites).
2. A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
This is a film that displays Powell and Pressburger’s technical abilities as much as their story-telling prowess. The film tells the unique story of a WWII pilot who manages to cheat death and meet the love of his life, only for ‘death’ to decide he’s not happy being cheated. What ensues is a thrilling courtroom drama that takes place in heaven, as the pilot must appeal for the right to carry on living. To bring to life this romantic fantasy, Powell and Pressburger opted to make the scenes in heaven black and white; a story-telling technique made famous by The Wizard of Oz. In today’s world of cinema, where many argue that the visual effects are the movie, it’s a case of refreshing nostalgia to look back at films like A Matter of Life and Death: films that push the boundaries of visual effects, but only to serve the purpose of the story.
1. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
If any other filmmakers of the time had been approached by Winston Churchill, and asked to produce a pro-British propaganda movie, that is exactly what would have happened. It’s a testament to Powell and Pressburger’s bravery and creativity that they responded with the subversive and self-critiquing masterpiece: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Turning a mirror onto Britain’s pompous and bumbling upper-class, Blimp is as analytical as it is entertaining. The film follows the life of a single military man from the Boer War through to WWII; from youth through to old age (a staggering achievement that owes a great deal to Roger Livesey’s mesmerising performance). Powell and Pressburger take what should have been a simple propaganda, and turn into an unforgettable epic that deals with war, love, friendship, age and pride. No wonder Churchill hated it.
Agree? Disagree? As always we’d love to hear your comments…
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Originally published July 11, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
