A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Everyone knows I love David Niven. A Matter of Life and Death is pretty bad—it's even worse than the one where his military mission is to rescue a cow. No, I’m not kidding; that was the plot to Island Rescue. Not only is this movie terrible, but Marius Goring’s character is downright creepy and Allan Gray’s music will make you think you’re going insane.
The premise was very interesting, and the opening scene made me want to cry. David Niven is a pilot in WW2. His co-pilot has been killed and he’s talking over the intercom to Kim Hunter, an American volunteer in the air force. He knows he’s going to die because his plane is damaged and he’s given his parachute away so another soldier can bail out. He talks to Kim, asks her questions about herself, and tells her he loves her seconds before jumping out of his airplane and facing his death. Get out your Kleenexes, right?
Well, due to a clerical error by Marius Goring, Niven isn’t transported to the afterlife. He’s washed ashore without a scratch, conveniently finds Kim Hunter and truly falls in love with her. The people upstairs aren’t happy with the mistake and send Goring down to Earth to bring Niven back up. Niven protests and demands the opportunity to argue his case and win his life back. I know it sounds fascinating, and you’ll be very tempted to watch it, but it isn’t nearly as good as it sounds. David Niven, although the lead, has less screen time than Roger Livesey, the second lead. Goring is frightening and is more believable to be a representative from Hell than Heaven. The plot takes twists and turns that are boring and somewhat upsetting, and the long-awaited trial uses arguments that don’t make any sense.
There’s only one type of person who will want to watch this movie: the artsy film student. Remember in The Wizard of Oz, when the magical world turns to color? In this movie, it’s the opposite. Real life is in Technicolor, and the afterlife is in black-and-white. The color switches are just the beginning to the technological productions in the film. There’s a gigantic 106-step “stairway to Heaven” that moves like an escalator, a huge camera obscura in Roger Livesey’s office so he can look down on the entire town, and a very innovative shot that shows the inside of David Niven’s eyelids as he goes to sleep. Also, whenever Goring visits Earth, he freezes time so no one else can see him besides Niven. I don’t know how they filmed those scenes in 1946, but it’s pretty incredible. Once, a table tennis match is stopped, and the ball is frozen in mid-air!
Weigh the good against the bad and decide for yourself if you want to sit through this film. If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would have turned the movie off after the first scene.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not your friend. There are several scenes where the camera tilts and swirls, or the foreground of the shot moves in the opposite direction of the background, and it might make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More David Niven movies here!
The premise was very interesting, and the opening scene made me want to cry. David Niven is a pilot in WW2. His co-pilot has been killed and he’s talking over the intercom to Kim Hunter, an American volunteer in the air force. He knows he’s going to die because his plane is damaged and he’s given his parachute away so another soldier can bail out. He talks to Kim, asks her questions about herself, and tells her he loves her seconds before jumping out of his airplane and facing his death. Get out your Kleenexes, right?
Well, due to a clerical error by Marius Goring, Niven isn’t transported to the afterlife. He’s washed ashore without a scratch, conveniently finds Kim Hunter and truly falls in love with her. The people upstairs aren’t happy with the mistake and send Goring down to Earth to bring Niven back up. Niven protests and demands the opportunity to argue his case and win his life back. I know it sounds fascinating, and you’ll be very tempted to watch it, but it isn’t nearly as good as it sounds. David Niven, although the lead, has less screen time than Roger Livesey, the second lead. Goring is frightening and is more believable to be a representative from Hell than Heaven. The plot takes twists and turns that are boring and somewhat upsetting, and the long-awaited trial uses arguments that don’t make any sense.
There’s only one type of person who will want to watch this movie: the artsy film student. Remember in The Wizard of Oz, when the magical world turns to color? In this movie, it’s the opposite. Real life is in Technicolor, and the afterlife is in black-and-white. The color switches are just the beginning to the technological productions in the film. There’s a gigantic 106-step “stairway to Heaven” that moves like an escalator, a huge camera obscura in Roger Livesey’s office so he can look down on the entire town, and a very innovative shot that shows the inside of David Niven’s eyelids as he goes to sleep. Also, whenever Goring visits Earth, he freezes time so no one else can see him besides Niven. I don’t know how they filmed those scenes in 1946, but it’s pretty incredible. Once, a table tennis match is stopped, and the ball is frozen in mid-air!
Weigh the good against the bad and decide for yourself if you want to sit through this film. If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would have turned the movie off after the first scene.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not your friend. There are several scenes where the camera tilts and swirls, or the foreground of the shot moves in the opposite direction of the background, and it might make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More David Niven movies here!