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A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven)

1946

Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Raymond Massey ...

6.9

2,549

Drama. Romance. Fantasy. Comedy Returning to England from a bombing run in May 1945, flyer Peter Carter's plane is damaged and his parachute ripped to shreds. He has his crew bail out safely, but figures it is curtains for himself. He gets on the radio, and talks to June, a young American woman working for the USAAF, and they are quite moved by each other's voices. Then he jumps, preferring this to burning up with his plane. He wakes up in the surf. It was his time to ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"One of the most audacious films ever made - in its grandiose vision, and in the cozy English way it's expressed (...) The story, as it develops, is both awesome and intimate (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr The New York Times	"Compositional elements seem to have been chosen with fanatical care (...) 'A Matter of Life and Death' seems to overflow with ideas"	POS
United Kingdom	David Parkinson Radio Times	"Its political outspokenness, visual audacity and mannered playing now make it one of the most fondly recalled of all British movies (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Dave Calhoun Time Out	"Powell and Pressburger apply the weight of six years of war to this loopy love story (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Noel Murray AV Club	"'Life And Death' is about Powell playing with cinema by goofing around with freeze-frames and avant-garde interludes in the interest of creating an onscreen reality more vivid than life itself."	POS
United States	Aaron Cutler Slant	"[It] is almost too good to write about (...) The cameraman also helped 'A Matter of Life and Death' become one of the most moving movies ever made."	POS
United Kingdom	Brian Dillon The Guardian	"Its strangeness makes it a masterpiece (...) The most seductive element in the film’s magical relay between heaven and Earth is its treatment of colour."	POS
United Kingdom	Emma Cochrane Empire	"A film of its time but with Universal appeal (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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