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Documentary

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger

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Martin Scorsese presents this very personal and insightful new feature-length documentary about British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Release Date : 2024-05-10

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : BBC FilmTen Thousand 86Ice Cream FilmsScreen ScotlandSikelia ProductionsAltitude Film Entertainment

Production Country : United KingdomUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Martin Scorsese

Character Name : Self

Original Name : Martin Scorsese

Gender : Male

Michael Powell

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Michael Powell

Gender : Male

Emeric Pressburger

Character Name : Self (archive footage)

Original Name : Emeric Pressburger

Gender : Male

Deborah Kerr

Character Name : (archive footage)

Original Name : Deborah Kerr

Gender : Female

Roger Livesey

Character Name : (archive footage)

Original Name : Roger Livesey

Gender : Male

David Niven

Character Name : (archive footage)

Original Name : David Niven

Gender : Male

Kim Hunter

Character Name : (archive footage)

Original Name : Kim Hunter

Gender : Female

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-05-15

Using some rarely seen interview footage of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and very, very, few industry talking heads, this is a fitting tribute to two men who trail-blazed British cinema in the 1940s and truly inspired the presenter - Martin Scorsese. His pieces to camera are sparingly interspersed into his narration of the astonishingly bold and creative aspiration of these film-makers who made a range of films ranging from lightly comedic romances through the dark times of WWII and their more propagandist elements, to full blown theatrical adaptations using great artistes like Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Robert Sounseville, Ludmilla Tcherina and the usually present Anton Walbrook. In partnership with the additional, often inspired, vision of regular cinematographers like Jack Cardiff and Christopher Challis they used colour, shade, light and most importantly (I think) music to augment some stirring characterisations and potent stories that tackled a plethora of topics that resonated strongly with audiences hitherto unexposed to the sheer grandeur of the experience on the screen before them. The documentary is composed so as to leave virtually all of the heavy lifting to the pair themselves. Scorsese gently, but enthusiastically and insightfully, guides us through their careers without spending much time on their personal lives or other distractions, and that allows us to savour the variety of the Archer's productions, the delicacy of their writing - especially from David Niven, Roger Livesey and Kim Hunter in "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946), and leaves us with a sympathetically and critically crafted appraisal of two cinema geniuses. It's a chronology of sorts, but not just of film making - it tells us a little about the evolving attitudes and tastes of the audiences too.