Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4301 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-09-14
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review

Briefed by the Ministry of Information to make a film that would foster Anglo-American relations in the post-war period, innovative filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, came up with A Matter Of Life And Death--an extravagant and extraordinary fantasy in which David Niven stars as a downed pilot who must justify his continuing existence to a heavenly panel of judges, because he has made the mistake of falling in love with an American girl (Kim Hunter) when he really should have been dead. National stereotypes are lampooned as the angelic judges squabble over his fate. In a neat reversal of expectations, the Heaven sequences are black and white, while Earth is seen in techni-colour. Daring cinematography mixes monochrome and colour, incorporates time-lapse images, and even toys with background 'time freezes' 50 years before "The Matrix". Roger Livesey and Raymond Massey lead the fine supporting cast, in what is one of the undoubted jewels of British cinema.

On the DVD: A Matter of Life and Death is presented in reasonably sharp 4:3 ratio with decent mono sound. Aside from English hard-of-hearing subtitles there are no extras. --Mark Walker

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Mono English
Dolby Digital Mono
Behind The Scenes Commentary
Interactive Menu
Biographies
Scene Access

Synopsis

In the 1946 film A Matter Of Life And Death, David Niven stars as RAF bomber pilot Peter Carter. With his crew either dead or parachuted out, his craft in flames and falling fast, Carter bails out without a chute. His miraculous survival allows him to pursue a fortuitous romance with a radio operator, with whom he shared what he thought were his last words. Agents in Heaven, however, soon discover that a mistake was made and a celestial trial threatens to revoke Carter's new lease on life.

Customer Reviews

The greatest British film ever made
For most of the past century, after a promising start, British film-making struggled (and failed) to match the achievement of Hollywood; with its vastly greater funding and world-wide appeal, but in the 1940's Michael Powell and his collaborator, Emeric Pressburger made a series of films, through their production company The Archers, to rival the best anywhere. A matter of life and death or AMOLAD as afficionados call it, is the best.
It was produced ostensibly as an Anglo-American propaganda exercise at a time of world war, but transcends the limitations of this magnificently. Due to a lack of available colour film stock the scenes set "on earth" were shot in colour and those "in the next world" were filmed in black and white; the reverse of what many would expect.
At one level it's a love story between David Niven's British airman, shot down over the channel, and Kim Hunter's American wireless operator, but it examines life and death, time and space, nationality and even the meaning of life itself in its own engaging way. I first saw the film as a schoolboy and still love it thirty odd years later. Simply magical.

Powell & Pressburgers Best Film.
Written, prduced & directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger this film combines great charm and surrealism in this fantasy drama. Set in 1945 David Niven plays the best roll of his career, as Peter Carter a pilot who has to bale out of his crippled Lancaster Bomber without a parachute. Before baling out he makes radio contact with June (Kim Hunter) the last voice he expects to hear. In his last moments the couple who have never met form a bond. Miraculously he survives the fall, landing in the sea, being washed up on the beach close to where June lives. The couple meet and fall in love. Peter Carter should have died that night but due to a thick fog he was missed by his heavenly escort (Maurice Goring). Heaven must balance the books and Goring is sent to get him. Peter Carter is forced to appeal to a heavenly court for his right to live through his doctor friend (Roger Livesay). Both Goring & Livesay are superb. The special effects are brilliant for their day though at times the lack of them is rather quaint. For example when Maurice Goring announces that he has stopped time and 'everything is perfectly still' the rhodedendrums gently sway in the breeze next to his head. The use of both black & white, and Technicolor is imaginative and the heavinly scenes are quite surreal. The film can be viewed on different levels and it is not hard to see why a film made in 1946 so closely after World War 2 dealing with life, death and the after life should have been so popular. Firmly a product of its time this film in my opinion is one of the 20th century's best films and fully deserves a 5 star rating.

Still highly entertaining film.
David Niven stars as Peter, a squadron leader during World War II whose plane is about to crash after being hit by the enemy. All of his crew are dead. The radio controller from the airbase is a young American, June, who tries to persuade Peter to bail out before it is too late. Peter intends to do that but unfortunately he has no parachute. Still, deciding it's a better way to die, he jumps.
No one is more surprised than him when he awakes on a beach having been washed ashore close to his airbase. He meets June and it's love at first sight. However, Peter wasn't supposed to survive the crash but the 'angel' sent to meet him got lost in the fog and missed the 'appointment'. Now this being wants Peter to give up life and return with him to heaven. Peter refuses on the basis of his love for June and decides to appeal against his fate, something that hasn't been seen before, and a trial in Heaven follows.
In a reversal from most films of this type, the scenes in Heaven are shot in black and white whilst the Earthly scenes are shot in wonderfully vivid colour. This is a film that has stood the test of time and is as good to watch today as it has ever been, proof that special effects and a frenetic pace do not beat a good, well acted story. Wonderful stuff.