movies 100 theaters

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

martes, 1 de marzo de 2011

160. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Posted on 19:19 by Unknown
Running Time: 163 minutes
Directed By: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Written By: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Main Cast: Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook, Ursula Jeans, John Laurie

POWELL AND PRESSBURGER WEEK: PART 1

Well I figured it'd be a good time to kick off another series dedicated to a certain director (or director's, in this case). I realize that I've been abandoning the earlier films in the book, so decided to focus in on Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, as the majority of their films were made in the 1940s, which is the earliest decade that we have left. First up, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", which I didn't despise, despite early thoughts that I would.

Major General Clive Wynne-Candy (Livesey) is relaxing in a Turkish bath, when he is bombarded on by a group of soldiers. Candy had called a training exercise - "War starts at Midnight" - but the soldiers decided to jump the gun and capture Candy hours earlier. As Candy argues with the officers and they tussle, we begin our journey backwards for a look into the Major General's life. We head all the way back to 1902, when Clive Candy decides, against orders, to go to Berlin to confront a man named Kaunitz for spreading propaganda and saying that the British killed women and children during the Boer War. Upon his arrival he meets with Edith Hunter (Kerr), a friend's acquaintance who alerted him to the propaganda and they go to a cafe where Candy is provoked by Kaunitz and he ends up punching him in the mouth. A duel is scheduled, in which Candy gets his lip nearly severed (which leads to the growing of his epic moustache) and his opponent gets his forehead cut. While recuperating in a nursing home, Candy befriends Schuldorff (Walbrook), his opponent in duel and allows Edith to slip away and marry Schuldorff. He doesn't realize until later that he loved Edith Hunter. From there, Candy's time during World War I and his later years, as he gets married and re-acquaints with Schuldorff, are covered.


POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!

This film was made during the height of World War II and was surely made to speak against the tactics that were being used by the Nazis. It was probably made for reasons that pertained to the current situations, but I didn't view it as such. Instead, I viewed it as a story about the life of a noble man. I guess you could say that if you give me a movie about a man, real or fictional, then I'm interested in how that man evolved. How he may have gone from hotheaded youngster, eager to defend his country from slanderous propaganda to an old man who just yearned to be needed. For me, the best part of "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" was the friendship that Major General Candy had with Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff. The story of their friendship, in my eyes was fantastic. They meet as opposition holding swords and declaring duel, not knowing one another personally, just knowing one anothers politics. They maim one another and as they recuperate they become friends. Years later, Candy finds Schuldorff and is befuddled when he is ignored by his old friend - such a sad scene. The ignorance is eventually explained, they reunite and part ways again and twenty years later, it is German native Schuldorff trying to gain access into England, as he doesn't agree with the Nazi ways of his current Germany. An incredibly touching scene, as Schuldorff chronicles his previous years, the death of his wife and the loss of his sons to the Nazi party.

This wasn't the best thing I've seen thus far and far from it, but I did enjoy parts of it. Like I said, I didn't view this as your typical war movie, but rather a movie about friendship, love and the evolution of a good man. It flowed along quite nicely too at a running time of nearly three hours and I didn't find myself staring at the clock at all. It would come with a mild recommendation from me, but in the end, it wasn't entirely my cup of tea.

RATING: 5.5/10 I know that seems a harsh rating after my praise, but this really wasn't my thing and I hope for better, more intriguing things from the duo of Powell and Pressburger. Next up: "I Know Where I'm Going".

MOVIES WATCHED: 224
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 777

March 1, 2011 7:19pm

Enviar por correo electrónicoEscribe un blogCompartir en XCompartir con Facebook
Posted in Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell | No comments
Entrada más reciente Entrada antigua Inicio

0 comentarios:

Publicar un comentario

Suscribirse a: Enviar comentarios (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • 411. Khaneh siah ast/The House is Black (1963)
    Running Time: 22 minutes Directed By: Forugh Farrokhzad Written By: Forugh Farrokhzad Main Cast: (narration): Ebrahim Golestan, Forugh F...
  • From 30's to 40's
    I've spent a considerable amount of time getting to know the scope of cinema that was the 1930s. It was a colorful decade, full of lots ...

Categories

  • Aditya Chopra
  • Agnes Varda
  • Albert Brooks
  • Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Aleksandr Dovzhenko
  • Alexander Mackendrick
  • Alexander Payne
  • Alfred Hitchcock
  • Amy Heckerling
  • Anatole Litvak
  • Andre Delvaux
  • Ang Lee
  • Arthur Penn
  • Barbet Schroeder
  • Ben Sharpsteen
  • Blake Edwards
  • Bob Clark
  • Bob Fosse
  • Bong Joon-ho
  • Busby Berkeley
  • Carl Reiner
  • Carl Theodor Dreyer
  • Carlos Saura
  • Carol Reed
  • Chantal Akerman
  • Charles Chaplin
  • Charles Crichton
  • Charles Vidor
  • Chris Marker
  • Christopher Nolan
  • Claude Chabrol
  • Curtis Hanson
  • Daniel Myrick
  • Danis Tanovic
  • Dario Argento
  • Dariush Mehrjui
  • David Cronenberg
  • David Hand
  • David Lean
  • David Zucker
  • Derek Jarman
  • Don Siegel
  • Dorothy Arzner
  • Douglas Sirk
  • Edgar G. Ulmer
  • Eduardo Sanchez
  • Edward Dmytryk
  • Edward F. Cline
  • Edward Yang
  • Elaine May
  • Elia Kazan
  • Elmar Klos
  • Emeric Pressburger
  • Emile de Antonio
  • Eric Rohmer
  • Ernest B. Schoedsack
  • Ernst Lubitsch
  • Errol Morris
  • F.W. Murnau
  • Federico Fellini
  • Fei Mu
  • Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
  • Forugh Farrokhzad
  • Franco E. Prosperi
  • Francois Girard
  • Frank Capra
  • Frank Darabont
  • Frank Lloyd
  • Franklin J. Schaffner
  • Fred Schepisi
  • Fred Zinnemann
  • Fritz Lang
  • Garry Marshall
  • Gaspar Noe
  • Gene Kelly
  • George A. Romero
  • George Cukor
  • George Marshall
  • George Roy Hill
  • George Stevens
  • George Waggner
  • Georges Franju
  • Gillo Pontecorvo
  • Gregory La Cava
  • Gualtiero Jacopetti
  • Guy Hamilton
  • Hal Ashby
  • Hal Hartley
  • Hamilton Luske
  • Hans Petter Moland
  • Harold Ramis
  • Hayao Miyazaki
  • Hector Babenco
  • Hideo Nakata
  • Hiroshi Teshigahara
  • Howard Hawks
  • Humphrey Jennings
  • Ingmar Bergman
  • Ivan Reitman
  • Jacques Tourneur
  • James Foley
  • James L. Brooks
  • James Whale
  • Jan Kadar
  • Jan Svankmajer
  • Jane Campion
  • Jay Roach
  • Jean Renoir
  • Jean Vigo
  • Jean-Luc Godard
  • Jean-Pierre Jeunet
  • Jean-Pierre Melville
  • Jerome Robbins
  • Jerry Lewis
  • Jim McBride
  • Jim Sharman
  • Jim Sheridan
  • Jiri Menzel
  • Joe Wright
  • Joel Coen
  • John Boorman
  • John Carney
  • John Carpenter
  • John Ford
  • John Frankenheimer
  • John G. Avildsen
  • John Hughes
  • John Huston
  • John Landis
  • John Lasseter
  • John McTiernan
  • John Schlesinger
  • Jonathan Dayton
  • Jonathan Demme
  • Josef von Sternberg
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  • Joseph Losey
  • Julien Duvivier
  • Karel Reisz
  • Ken Loach
  • Kenji Mizoguchi
  • Kenneth Anger
  • Kevin Costner
  • Kevin Smith
  • Kim Ki-duk
  • King Hu
  • King Vidor
  • Larry Charles
  • Lars von Trier
  • Lawrence Kasdan
  • Leni Riefenstahl
  • Leo McCarey
  • Lewis Milestone
  • Lindsay Anderson
  • Lloyd Bacon
  • Lowell Sherman
  • Luis Bunuel
  • Ma-Xu Weibang
  • Marcel Carne
  • Mark Sandrich
  • Marlon Brando
  • Martin Ritt
  • Mel Brooks
  • Mel Stuart
  • Merian C. Cooper
  • Mervyn LeRoy
  • Michael Curtiz
  • Michael Haneke
  • Michael Moore
  • Michael Powell
  • Michael Snow
  • Michelangelo Antonioni
  • Mike Hodges
  • Mike Nichols
  • Miklos Jancso
  • Nelson Pereira dos Santos
  • Norman Jewison
  • Norman Z. McLeod
  • Olivier Dahan
  • Orson Welles
  • Otto Preminger
  • Paolo Cavara
  • Park Chan-wook
  • Paul Haggis
  • Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Penny Marshall
  • Peter Bogdanovich
  • Peter Greenaway
  • Peter Jackson
  • Peter Watkins
  • Peter Weir
  • Phillip Noyce
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini
  • Preston Sturges
  • Quentin Tarantino
  • Randa Haines
  • Raoul Walsh
  • Ray Lawrence
  • Rene Clair
  • Richard Attenborough
  • Richard Lester
  • Richard Linklater
  • Rob Reiner
  • Robert Aldrich
  • Robert Benton
  • Robert J. Flaherty
  • Robert Mulligan
  • Robert Redford
  • Robert Rossen
  • Robert Wise
  • Roger Corman
  • Roman Polanski
  • Rouben Mamoulian
  • Sacha Guitry
  • Sam Mendes
  • Sam Raimi
  • Sam Wood
  • Sergei Parajanov
  • Sergei Yutkevich
  • Sergio Leone
  • Sidney Lumet
  • Stan Brakhage
  • Stanley Donen
  • Stephen Frears
  • Steve James
  • Steven Soderbergh
  • Steven Spielberg
  • Stuart Rosenberg
  • Takashi Miike
  • Tay Garnett
  • Terence Fisher
  • Theo Angelopoulos
  • Thomas Vinterberg
  • Tim Burton
  • Tod Browning
  • Valerie Faris
  • Vera Chytilova
  • Victor Fleming
  • W.S. Van Dyke
  • Wes Craven
  • William A. Seiter
  • William A. Wellman
  • William Cameron Menzies
  • William Dieterle
  • William Friedkin
  • William Keighley
  • William Wyler
  • Wim Wenders
  • Wojciech Has
  • Wolfgang Reitherman
  • Woody Allen

Blog Archive

  • ►  2012 (81)
    • ►  mayo (10)
    • ►  abril (20)
    • ►  marzo (11)
    • ►  febrero (1)
    • ►  enero (39)
  • ▼  2011 (216)
    • ►  diciembre (30)
    • ►  noviembre (19)
    • ►  octubre (17)
    • ►  septiembre (2)
    • ►  agosto (23)
    • ►  julio (47)
    • ►  junio (9)
    • ►  mayo (1)
    • ►  abril (25)
    • ▼  marzo (20)
      • 991. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make...
      • 790. DIE HARD (1988)
      • 473. The Jungle Book (1967)
      • 308. GIANT (1956)
      • 420. Suna no onna/Woman in the Dunes (1964)
      • 328. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
      • 388. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
      • 315. 12 Angry Men (1957)
      • 218. Whisky Galore! (1949)
      • 290. The Ladykillers (1955)
      • 365. Peeping Tom (1960)
      • 211. The Red Shoes (1948)
      • 235. The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
      • 194. Black Narcissus (1946)
      • 191. A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
      • 181. I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
      • 659. Ordinary People (1980)
      • February 2011 Recap
      • 160. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
      • 521. L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo/The Bird w...
    • ►  febrero (22)
    • ►  enero (1)
  • ►  2010 (190)
    • ►  diciembre (2)
    • ►  noviembre (32)
    • ►  octubre (32)
    • ►  septiembre (27)
    • ►  julio (8)
    • ►  junio (4)
    • ►  mayo (1)
    • ►  marzo (25)
    • ►  febrero (34)
    • ►  enero (25)
  • ►  2009 (12)
    • ►  diciembre (12)
Con la tecnología de Blogger.

Datos personales

Unknown
Ver todo mi perfil