A Matter Of Life And Death

completely original, very enjoyable and clever, with both substance and style (very different remake 'Heaven Can Wait' also strangely enjoyable)

A wonderfully charming film that belies it 1946 year of release. There are elements of modern cinema here and I am sure it was greeted favourably as much by David Niven fans as by future film producers who, on watching this film, would have thought, '...I can do anything, I can dream big'. This is a big production and despite the diversity of its subject-matter- Death, Love over Death, The British Empire, I do not comprehend how they managed to squeeze it all into 104 minutes. David Niven is the ghost of every fine English gent who stares stoically into the face of death while the beautiful Kim Hunter reminds us that glamour can co-exist with a World War 2 radio operator's uniform. There are certainly also Wizard of Oz motifs in here yet I think the Stairway to Heaven and Kafka-esque court scene are unbeatable. A trial as much between Niven and the keepers of heaven as between Britain versus the rest-of-the-world. A wonderfully pompous (very much with plums in mouth), Bob Trubshawe keeps a straight bat for the English Legal Defence Team. I am just astounded that a film with a cavalcade of themes could have been dreamt of and created so convincingly in 1946? Weren't we broke? This could possibly be the grandfather or all big-production fantasy films (I unashamedly include Inception in that list) although it is unlikely to have been thought of that way as it was created in order to improve British-American relations.

ok so I have decided in my infinite wisdom to review every single film i have ever seen on love film... Currently still on the letter 'A' (don't ask) So this one is a bit special... It's true there are some flaws namely the Doctor's untimely death and the self indulgent prose during the trial... but these aside I love the way movie plays with religion and racial equality and ultimately it has a wonderful message...

This is not really completely entertainment as there are long philosophical sections on life and love. David Niven is memorable, but the court case at the end starts to drag a bit.