Ian Christie's Commentary for "A Matter of Life and Death"

[TimR]

I would highly recommend the new Sony DVD of A Matter of Life and Death, not only because of the film itself but because of the excellent commentary provided by Prof. Ian Christie.



I have watched the film about twice a week since buying it in January and about half the time I have listened to it with the Christie commentary. He provides plenty of detail about the making of the film, which I always enjoy, but he also provides thoughtful and highly detailed interpretation of the intent of Powell and Pressburger. He strongly emphasizes the allegory of Anglo-American relations from the specifically English perspective and I think it's fascinating.



Also, Christie is respectful of the film makers and the audience; he does not emphasize himself, which happens at times. Altogether very well done.

[cornershop15]

I haven't heard of Ian Christie for a long time. As well as reviewing movies on TV for The Daily Express, I also remember him introducing The Film Club on BBC2 about 20 years ago. Derek Malcolm was the main presenter. I must get that DVD but it's annoying when the one I already have becomes a 'lesser' product. Glad Ian's still around.



Congratulations on your 1,000th post by the way.

[Steve Crook]

name='TimR']I would highly recommend the new Sony DVD of A Matter of Life and Death, not only because of the film itself but because of the excellent commentary provided by Prof. Ian Christie.



I have watched the film about twice a week since buying it in January and about half the time I have listened to it with the Christie commentary. He provides plenty of detail about the making of the film, which I always enjoy, but he also provides thoughtful and highly detailed interpretation of the intent of Powell and Pressburger. He strongly emphasizes the allegory of Anglo-American relations from the specifically English perspective and I think it's fascinating.



Also, Christie is respectful of the film makers and the audience; he does not emphasize himself, which happens at times. Altogether very well done.

Ian's long been a champion of the works of Powell & Pressburger (amongst others - he also champions the work of Scorsese, Gilliam and various Soviet film-makers). He organised one of the first major retrospectives of their work at the NFT back in 1978 when he was working at the BFI. He published "Powell, Pressburger and Others" to accompany that retrospective.



In 1985 he published "Arrows of Desire: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger", a much more in-depth look at their films. That 1985 edition is a coffee-table sized book and is full of wonderful quality, large photos as well as his great writing. He re-published that one in 1994 as a paperback which is still well worth having, but I prefer the first one.



In 1994 he edited a book about The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp which includes the full script and by clever use of brackets he shows the difference between the first draft of the script and the final version so that you can see the changes that were made, often during filming. That book also includes all the memos between Churchill and the War Office showing how they tried (and failed) to get the film stopped.



In 2000 he published a book about A Matter of Life and Death in the BFI Film Classics series. In that he looks at some of the stranger aspects of the film, particularly the comparisons to an Elizabethan masque.



In 2005, with Andrew Moor, he edited "The Cinema of Michael Powell: International Perspectives on an English Filmmaker", a collection of 15 essays about the films of Powell (& Pressburger). In that same year, Andrew (an ex student of Ian's) published "Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema of Magic Spaces".



Ian also did commentary tracks on the BFI's and on Milestone's DVD of The Edge of the World and Criterion's DVDs of A Canterbury Tale, I Know Where I'm Going! and The Red Shoes and on Optimum's DVD of Peeping Tom.



He's also often instigated or been involved in various other documentaries and interviews about Powell & Pressburger as well as giving public lectures and presenting papers at conferences.



He's now Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck’s School of History of Art, Film and Visual Media at the University of London. He's got a small cinema there and he organises screenings and talks, and of course his students get fully indoctrinated



He's a great lecturer and one of the all-round good guys in this world.



Steve

[Hugo]

"As well as reviewing movies ......... for The Daily Express. . . "



The Ian Christie who was film critic of the Daily Express for 25 years was a completely different person from Prof. Ian Christie the subject of this thread

[batman]

The Daily Express Ian Christie is also a fine jazz clarinet player.

[cornershop15]

name='Hugo']"As well as reviewing movies ......... for The Daily Express. . . "



The Ian Christie who was film critic of the Daily Express for 25 years was a completely different person from Prof. Ian Christie the subject of this thread

I'm sorry Hugo, didn't realise. Quite a coincidence to have two film critics called Ian Christie.

[TimR]

name='cornershop15']I'm sorry Hugo, didn't realise. Quite a coincidence to have two film critics called Ian Christie.

Perfectly undertsandable mistake.



The DVD is well worth getting, but I don't know whether it is available in the UK.

[TimR]

name='Steve Crook']Ian's long been a champion of the works of Powell & Pressburger (amongst others - he also champions the work of Scorsese, Gilliam and various Soviet film-makers). He organised one of the first major retrospectives of their work at the NFT back in 1978 when he was working at the BFI. He published "Powell, Pressburger and Others" to accompany that retrospective.



In 1985 he published "Arrows of Desire: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger", a much more in-depth look at their films. That 1985 edition is a coffee-table sized book and is full of wonderful quality, large photos as well as his great writing. He re-published that one in 1994 as a paperback which is still well worth having, but I prefer the first one.



In 1994 he edited a book about The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp which includes the full script and by clever use of brackets he shows the difference between the first draft of the script and the final version so that you can see the changes that were made, often during filming. That book also includes all the memos between Churchill and the War Office showing how they tried (and failed) to get the film stopped.



In 2000 he published a book about A Matter of Life and Death in the BFI Film Classics series. In that he looks at some of the stranger aspects of the film, particularly the comparisons to an Elizabethan masque.



In 2005, with Andrew Moor, he edited "The Cinema of Michael Powell: International Perspectives on an English Filmmaker", a collection of 15 essays about the films of Powell (& Pressburger). In that same year, Andrew (an ex student of Ian's) published "Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema of Magic Spaces".



Ian also did commentary tracks on the BFI's and on Milestone's DVD of The Edge of the World and Criterion's DVDs of A Canterbury Tale, I Know Where I'm Going! and The Red Shoes and on Optimum's DVD of Peeping Tom.



He's also often instigated or been involved in various other documentaries and interviews about Powell & Pressburger as well as giving public lectures and presenting papers at conferences.



He's now Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck’s School of History of Art, Film and Visual Media at the University of London. He's got a small cinema there and he organises screenings and talks, and of course his students get fully indoctrinated

I read Arrows of Desire and will be looking for the others.

He's a great lecturer and one of the all-round good guys in this world.

That definitely comes through. The commentary is like having a fascinating conversation with an expert who is more interested in the topic and the listener than in himself.

[Steve Crook]

name='TimR']The DVD is well worth getting, but I don't know whether it is available in the UK.

Well I've got it

We can buy DVDs from the States, there's quite a good mail service between the two countries now, and we can play them on our equipment here because most of us can easily get around that nonsensical region coding



Your mentioning it made me realise that I hadn't watched it for a few weeks. So I watched it again.

It still works. It still moves me to tears every time I see it



I had the subtitles on this time, there are some lovely gaffes in them



Steve

[Peter Greenhill]

I met him in the queue at the John Barry signing at HMV Oxford Street in April 1998. He was getting his LP of the 'Robin and Marian' score signed. Seemed a very nice man, A big John Barry fan and very knowledgable about the cinema.

[Edward G]

Tim R and Steve,

Many thanks for all your information on Ian Christie, not someone I previously knew anything about, and the details on AMOLAD. I will definitely seek out this new version. Was waiting for a DVD re-issue of this title with decent added content and this sounds like it.

Cheers, Edward G.

[TimR]

name='Steve Crook']Well I've got it

We can buy DVDs from the States, there's quite a good mail service between the two countries now, and we can play them on our equipment here because most of us can easily get around that nonsensical region coding

Well, yes - a multi-region DVD player will take care of that.

Your mentioning it made me realise that I hadn't watched it for a few weeks. So I watched it again.

It still works. It still moves me to tears every time I see it

I have come to love it since purchasing the DVD. Until now we only had a poor-quality video copied from television. The clarity and the brilliant color make a great difference. This a rare film that becomes more powerful and impressive each time it is viewed. Well, you know that - but I have just discovered it.

I had the subtitles on this time, there are some lovely gaffes in them

Gaffes? That's interesting.

[TimR]

name='Edward G']Tim R and Steve,

Many thanks for all your information on Ian Christie, not someone I previously knew anything about, and the details on AMOLAD. I will definitely seek out this new version. Was waiting for a DVD re-issue of this title with decent added content and this sounds like it.

Cheers, Edward G.

I have been interested to see that it is apparently popular here.



I bought it through a book store that sells DVDs. I give them as much of my business as possible because they are in competition with amazon, like so many small businesses. When I picked up my order I was told that there were other orders for it - and this is for a 1946 film that has never been released on DVD in this country, and had originally been released under a different title. I then heard that a friend had bought it that week in another part of the US.



Encouraging.

[TimR]

name='Peter Greenhill']I met him in the queue at the John Barry signing at HMV Oxford Street in April 1998. He was getting his LP of the 'Robin and Marian' score signed. Seemed a very nice man, A big John Barry fan and very knowledgable about the cinema.

He really knows his field.



There are many fascinating small details that are included: Robert Coote's friendship with David Niven; the choosing of Kim Hunter for the role; Alfred Junge's dislike of the Coke machine and the influence of German expressionism on the set design - these are just a few among dozens.



Almost all of this new to me.

[Steve Crook]

name='TimR']Gaffes? That's interesting.

I often see gaffes in subtitles. Usually with real names, people and places, where the subtitler doesn't know the name and guesses incorrectly.



In the subtitles on the Sony DVD of AMOLAD they constantly refer to the surgeon doing the operation as "Dr Liza" (or possibly "Dr. Lisa"). Despite his being very male



He's not named in the credits, they only list him as "The Judge", but other sources, like the 1946 book, give his name as Dr Leiser. I suppose it's sort-of understandable. "Lisa" (or "Liza") can be pronounced Lie-sir as well as Lee-sir.





But my favourite in the subtitles on a P&P film remains the one in the Criterion DVD on Black Narcissus. It's where Clodagh is explaining her background to Mr Dean. She says that she comes from a small place called Enniskelly (c.f. Eniskillen, County Fermanagh). But the 'd' at the end of "called" must have lingered a bit so it's subtitled as "a small place called Dennis Kelly



Steve