In Dan
Brown's most recent book an atheist states religion had to be invented because
humanity needs to believe in an organized system and not just random chaos in
life. The 1946 film A Matter of Life and Death by British filmmakers
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger not only imagines an organized system for
the afterlife, but one so organized it has bureaucrats and a court of appeal. I
generally lean more towards atheism, yet I found this film to be utterly
charming, beautiful and visually striking.
If the idea of an
afterlife makes you laugh, you can still enjoy the movie as a beautiful work of
art. What’s more, it’s free art since it is available in the public domain at
archive.org. It was an interesting discovery for me as I was unfamiliar with
the work of the two directors and only knew two of the actors in the entire
cast. The concept of the story though is something that gives me a great deal
of thought.
The word heaven is
never explicitly used, but rather the term “another world”. In fact the
filmmakers apparently had a bit of fun with the concept by starting the movie
with a foreword that said the story takes place both in the world we know and
one that exists only in the mind of young airman whose life and imagination
have been violently shaped by war. This is followed by: “Any resemblance to any
other world known or unknown is purely coincidental”. I bet it is.
The airman in question
is Peter Carter (David Niven) who looks exactly how audiences imagined dashing members
of the Royal Air Force looked like in 1945. Despite being in a bomber airplane
that is quickly losing altitude, he has a well-kept mustache, is clean-shaven,
and of course is keeping a stiff upper lip. Peter can’t salvage the plane, has
no parachute and the rest of his crew are dead so he has made the decision to
jump out of the burning plane. Before that he has time to reach June (Kim
Hunter), an American radio operator working in England during the war. Within
the span of a few minutes Peter tells her to give his dying message to his
mother and sisters, and they fall in love. Life moves quickly in war times.
Of course the two should
never have a reason to meet since no one jumps out of an airplane with no
parachute gets to tell the tale. Wouldn’t you know it, Peter manages to wake up
floating in the ocean near the English coast alive and well. This is where the “other
world” system comes into play because apparently Peter was supposed to die and
only survived because the guide who was supposed to take him to the next world
missed him in the fog. The guide, a former aristocrat who was beheaded during
the French Revolution, explains this to Peter 20 hours after the missed
deadline. However, since by now Peter has met June in person and is even more
in love, he demands a chance to stay on this earthly plane since it is not his
fault that a mistake was made.
From then on two
possibilities emerge. The most likely is that the war has messed up with Peter’s
head and that he is hallucinating this celestial guide and needs surgery, as
suggested by the very kind Dr. Reeves (Robert Livesey). The second is that this
next world is real, and that Peter needs to find a defense council to fight for
his right to stay on Earth for many more years with June. There are clues
spread out throughout the movie supporting both scenarios, but both options are
equally captivating. Obviously, war can mess with people’s heads and I suppose someone
could hallucinate something as intricate as this next world scenario. As for
the trial, it becomes even more entertaining when the guide announces the
prosecutor is an American who was the first casualty during the Revolutionary
War.
There are elements here
that echo Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life from the angel characters
to how unashamedly cheesy this all is. If you don’t know how this story is
going to end, then you have never seen any movie ever. Yet even though I knew
how this was going to end, and even though I have doubts there is another world
or that it is that organized, I really enjoyed the journey. I love a good and
civil debate, and the one between the fiery American prosecutor and Peter’s
defense council is very entertaining. The filmmakers also gave a lot of thought
into designing this other world, which at times reminded of enormous Greek
amphitheatres.
I had never heard of A
Matter of Life and Death until recently but now that I have seen it, I am
surprised it is not as popular as It’s a Wonderful Life since it also merits
repeat viewing. Maybe it would have helped if it had been set during the
holiday season like Capra’s film to make it more seasonal. However it clearly
has influenced other filmmakers over the years: the beginning is a major
influence on the ending of Captain America: The First Avenger.
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