A Matter of Life and Death (1946) – Beyond
Running time: 104 mins
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Directed by: Michael Powell
Release Date: 10/11/2024
Starring: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Marius Goring, Raymond Massey, Abraham Sofaer, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough, Bonar Colleano, Joan Maude, Robert Atkins, Bob Roberts, Edwin Max, Betty Potter
When a young RAF pilot cheats death after bailing out of his aeroplane without a parachute, he falls in love with an American radio operator. Realising their mistake, officials from ‘the other world’ send an angel to collect him and bring him before a a celestial court to argue for his life. First conceived as an attempt to foster improvement in Anglo-American relationships after World War II, Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death emerged as timeless romantic fantasy, and has become synonymous with the directors’ wit, heart and technical ingenuity. Screening as part of BEYOND: A film season exploring how the afterlife is portrayed in cinema. The afterlife is truly unknowable. There’s no one definitive answer to ‘this is what is is’ or ‘this is what is looks like’. BEYOND will examine how filmmakers and art departments go about visualising this unknowable idea, celebrating the creativity and craft required to bring the afterlife to life. Find out more about the season on Instagram at @beyond.filmseason Curated by Archie Marshall. Presented in partnership with the National Film and Television School.
There are currently no performance scheduled for this event
