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 film: 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
Music: Allan Gray
Principal cast: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough
Film Title: AKA Stairway to Heaven (US)

Genre

Drama

Production Status

Complete

Sales Company

Park Circus

15 Woodside Crescent
Glasgow
G3 7UL

Visit Website

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments