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A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Also known as Stairway to Heaven in the US this film from Powell and Pressburger stars David Niven and Kim Hunter. A pilot bails out of his plane over the English channel in the final days of the war, is he dead, alive, concussed, suffering from a brain tumour, does he have survivors guilt or something else?

The execution of this film has some really interesting elements especially in terms of special effects. Mixing between colour and sections in black and white to separate the different planes of existence works well and is no doubt a first in cinema. When it comes to the other worldly sections the special effects to pull of the strange sets like the massive stairway work really well as well given the technical limitations of the period.

As to the plot, it is an interesting set up and no doubt relevant to the time period given the great loss of life during WW2 but does feel a little contrived at times. I would also have liked to see the film hold it's ambiguity a little better and longer as it does tip it's hand a little too early on. When it comes to the treatment of the “other place” the film handles it really well favouring no religion at all and not taking a turn into a thinly veiled sermon like many films on the subject do.

5/5