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Originally Posted by Steve Crook
"I do not usually think of Powell as a director of epics"
Have you seen The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp?
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No! It is on my list of films to see. It is difficult to tell what sort of film it is - Comedy? Drama? Historical film? I will put it at the top of my list now.
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When I say Hitch is dismissed, I just meant as a British director. Most people I know here consider his early work British but his later films are very American.
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Yes, I see. I always think of his early films as quintessentially British - like the first
The Man Who Knew Too Much. But there are few films as thoroughly American as
To Catch a Thief and
North by Northwest.
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Michael Powell certainly can't be accused of not calling attention to himself. But despite that, he went through a long period when he wasn't allowed to make any films and then he was as good as forgotten by the vast majority of critics, academics and the public. Luckily he was still alive to see the beginnings of a resurgence of interest in his work. A resurgence that has grown hugely over the last 10-15 years.
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I am learning quite a bit. Why was he not able to make films? Financial reasons?
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You're right to mention Carol Reed. He should be considered in the same class as Powell & Lean.
And don't get me wrong, just because I hugely admire & promote the work of Powell (& Pressburger of course) that doesn't mean that I don't like the work of Lean, Reed, Hitchcock and the others.
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Certainly - understood.
Powell and Pressburger have a fascination for me because they are (to me) uniqely British in tone and content. The conversations between the characters would never take place in the same way in an American film: the use of nuance and subtle facial expressions are unique. At the same time, their films are filled with vivid characters and dramatic plots. That combination: the subtlety, the often beautiful location filming and the lively plot developments do not have any comparison in Amercan films. As a result, I can enjoy watching
The Red Shoes even though it's not really my sort of film - because it is a fascinating production.
I think many Americans felt the same way; that film was a great (and unexpected) success here.
The use of color in their films is unique as well. I don't know why that is: perhaps the light in Britain? No films look like
Black Narcissus or
A Matter of Life and Death.
(Oh - gosh - I have gotten way off topic here. This is supposed to be about "Blithe Spirit"! Apologies...
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18-09-2007, 07:38 PM
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