Part of Made In England: Powell and Pressburger x6
Roger Livesey dynamically embodies outmoded English militarism as the indelible General Clive Candy, who barely survives four decades of tumultuous British history (1902 to 1942), only to see the world change irrevocably before his eyes. Anton Walbrook and Deborah Kerr provide unforgettable support, he as a German enemy turned lifelong friend of Candy’s and she as young women of three consecutive generations — a socially committed governess, a sweet-souled war nurse, and a modern-thinking army driver — who inspire him. COLONEL BLIMP is both moving and slyly satirical, an incomparable film about war, love, aging and obsolescence, shot in gorgeous Technicolor. (Synopsis courtesy of Criterion Collection)
“Cited as a key influence by such contemporary directorial talents as Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson, this most epic of dramas has lost almost none of its bite, wit and aesthetic beauty over the years, and stands proudly as one of the greatest cinematic works from the legendary filmmaking duo.” —Daniel Green, Cinevue “So unambiguously satirizing the military mind-set that Prime Minister Winston Churchill tried to have it banned.” —J. Hoberman, Village Voice “Shot in three-strip Technicolor, it’s simply one of the most gorgeous films ever made, and in terms of composing a frame, Michael Powell was a master.” —Andre Dellamorte, Collider “Made in 1942 at the height of the Nazi threat to Great Britain, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's work is an uncommonly civilized film about war and soldiers — and rarer still, a film that defends the old against the young…. Rarely does a film give us such a nuanced view of the whole span of a man's life. It is said that the child is father to the man. COLONEL BLIMP makes poetry out of what the old know but the young do not guess: The man contains both the father, and the child.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
