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Project Detail

A Matter of Life and Death

Synopsis

A magical tale from the twin geniuses Powell and Pressburger, made up of equal parts true love and metaphysics. "This is the universe," our narrator declares over a darkly twinkling cosmos. "Big isn’t it?" And with that perfect line, so begins one of the most unforgettable experiences in British film, with David Niven’s Second World War pilot Peter Carter falling to earth only to be found by June (Kim Hunter), a young American radio operator. In other hands, what follows could have been a simple wartime romance. Instead, it unfolds into an exquisitely comic celestial courtroom drama, with the guardians of the heavenly ‘next world’ staging a trial to decide if Peter should be summoned into the afterlife. Audaciously gliding between monochrome and Technicolor, this is a strange and lovely masterpiece. (LFF brochure)
Restored in 4K by Sony Pictures Entertainment
Official Selection BFI London FIlm Festival 2017 - Love Strand - 4K Restoration World premiere

Details

Year
1946
Type of project
Features
Running time
104 mins
Director
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Producer
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Editor
Reginald Mills
Screenwriter
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Director of Photography
Jack Cardiff
Production Designer
Alfred Junge
Composer
Allan Gray
Principal cast
David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough
Film Title
AKA Stairway to Heaven (US)

Genre

Drama

Categories

Fiction

Production Status

Complete

Sales Company

Park Circus

15 Woodside Crescent
Glasgow
G3 7UL

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