I think it's possible the film is deliberately anti-numinous; after all, it's a defense of life against heaven.
That would make sense. What I remember feeling is that I couldn't believe its heaven—it wasn't strange enough—whereas its earthly world was full of all sorts of plausible quirks. I'd seen the Archers be so good with the fantastic in so many different forms, it was an unexpected letdown.
Having said that, it's not one of my favorites. I think the romance lets it down (although onscreen m/f romance is almost never something I like, so take it for what it's worth) as does the sudden arrival of international relations as a theme in the last half hour.
It's the film of theirs that feels most like Hollywood. It's the most conventionally romantic. It behaves the most like other people's movies. I had forgotten about the aggressive international relations until you mentioned it, but it's a much clunkier handling of the theme than in A Canterbury Tale: romantic love is the expected way of bridging borders, but I really appreciate when it's woodworking instead. I keep falling back on saying that A Matter of Life and Death isn't weird enough, but it really isn't. It isn't just the Other World. It's the whole atmosphere. Some of it could only have been the Archers, but too much of it could have passed muster at MGM.
Roger Livesey is marvelous, though.
Agreed: I don't think I've ever seen him in anything where he wasn't. I still don't think he'd have been a good Colpeper, but he was a perfect Frank Reeves.
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That would make sense. What I remember feeling is that I couldn't believe its heaven—it wasn't strange enough—whereas its earthly world was full of all sorts of plausible quirks. I'd seen the Archers be so good with the fantastic in so many different forms, it was an unexpected letdown.
Having said that, it's not one of my favorites. I think the romance lets it down (although onscreen m/f romance is almost never something I like, so take it for what it's worth) as does the sudden arrival of international relations as a theme in the last half hour.
It's the film of theirs that feels most like Hollywood. It's the most conventionally romantic. It behaves the most like other people's movies. I had forgotten about the aggressive international relations until you mentioned it, but it's a much clunkier handling of the theme than in A Canterbury Tale: romantic love is the expected way of bridging borders, but I really appreciate when it's woodworking instead. I keep falling back on saying that A Matter of Life and Death isn't weird enough, but it really isn't. It isn't just the Other World. It's the whole atmosphere. Some of it could only have been the Archers, but too much of it could have passed muster at MGM.
Roger Livesey is marvelous, though.
Agreed: I don't think I've ever seen him in anything where he wasn't. I still don't think he'd have been a good Colpeper, but he was a perfect Frank Reeves.