Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger

Interesting if flawed bio doc of England's greatest film making duo. Ironically, what is most engaging about it is also what becomes most tiresome, namely Martin Scorsese. His analyses of the pair's great films are cogent and I like it that he does not omit their lesser efforts, especially in the later years, so that the film manages to steer clear of the too hagiographic. And the affection that Scorsese has for Powell is commmunicated without excessive schmaltz, and is the warmer for it. But after awhile I had a reaction that I hardly ever have with documentaries, namely that this thing could use a few more talking heads! Seen only from the vantage point of one person P/P, the humans, tend to disappear. It would have been nice, for example, to hear from at least one of Powell's three wives (or even to be informed that the guy was married three times). This would have been relatively easy since the last of Powell's spouses was Scorsese's longtime film editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. But no. No one, except the subjects themselves, in interviews, is allowed to intrude on the Voice of Marty. And in a doc about Powell and Pressburger I sure as hell didn't need to know, in some detail, how their films influenced "Raging Bull". In other words, about a fourth of the way through I began to sense a certain outside, outsize ego, like Brooklyn ivy, choking off the subject. And this feeling only kept expanding. B minus.

The more accurate title is: The Films of Powell and Pressburger: As Told By Martin Scorsese (the credited Director is David Hinton).

Be that as it may, MADE IN ENGLAND is a fairly thorough overview of filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger who collaborated on a series of films spanning from the late 1930s to the early 1970s (their company was called The Archers). The most famous are THE RED SHOES, BLACK NARCISSUS, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH and THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP. There are generous clips from the movies put into context by the ever-present Scorsese. Old filmed interviews as well as personal photos and home movies illustrate their lives and careers - both together and separately. Powell's most known work outside the collaboration were 1940's THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (co-Director) and, most infamously, PEEPING TOM. Many of the excerpts from their films are recently restored, and look smashing.

Scorsese admired their work from afar from an early age, and got to know Powell on a personal level over the Englishman's last two decades of his life (Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker is Powell's widow). Occasionally, Scorsese stretches the influence of Powell and Pressburger to on his own work with motifs that are cinema staples in general. It's a minor quibble, but it just adds to the impression that this is Martin Scorsese's story as much as it is Powell and Pressburger's.

MADE IN ENGLAND is a solid introduction to Powell and Pressberger's work - now, go see their films!

From this year, comes this exhaustive love letter from Martin Scorsese (who narrates & gives testimony on camera) about Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, master British filmmakers who elevated their medium into art. Using archive interviews w/the pair & copious scenes from their films, their work was exemplified by their use of special effects & otherworldly subject matter which would put their oeuvre far & away ahead of the pack of what their contemporaries were doing which would be a boon of inspiration for Scorsese (his use of color as emotions was a direct lift from their work) during his formative years. For those who only know a handful of their work (The Red Shoes, The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life & Death, Peeping Tom & Black Narcissus to name a few), here's your chance to get a more comprehensive picture of what made them so great which w/a tour guide as knowledgeable (his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker is Powell's widow) as Scorsese is, you can't go wrong.

This documentary commemorates the collaboration between director Michael POWELL and screenwriter Emmerich PRESSBURGER. Between 1939 and 1957 they made numerous films together, and from 1943 onwards they also worked as producers for the film company THE ARCHERS. It is interesting that films such as BLACK NARCISSUS, THE RED SHOES and THE TALES OF HOFFMANN were forgotten between 1960 and 1980 before they were rediscovered as masterpieces of film history. Martin SCORSESE also reminds us of this, having already paid tribute to the almost forgotten film gems of Italian cinema history. It makes you want to rediscover the films of POWELL / PRESSBURGER. BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) with Deborah KERR, David FARRAR and Kathleen BYRON is certainly particularly successful.

I'm a long-time admirer of the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and so it seems is Martin Scorsese as he amply demonstrates in this warm and informed tribute to the duo. The first film of theirs I ever recall seeing was the wonderfully imaginative "A Matter of Life and Death", still one of my all-time favourites but of course there are so many other movies in their canon to admire and here Scorsese takes us through each of them in a linear fashion as well as imparting the usual biographical information about them.

I'm not quite sure why his commentary couldn't just have been done by voiceover which would have saved us the numerous static, cutaway shots to Marty sat in a cinema seat gazing intently at us as if the fourth wall was the movie-screen itself, other than to show us that it was indeed the renowned Mr Scorsese strewing pearls of wisdom our way, reinforcing his presence in so doing. I've not pegged him as being self-aggrandizing before so I'm going to discount that possibility too but I guess the producers thought it might have helped sell the movie a bit more when you can see as well as hear the esteemed contemporary director doing his stuff. Maybe I'm being too severe on him, in not conceding the personal nature of the project to him and also given he was personal friends with Powell for the last 16 years of the latter's life.

Another carp would be Scorsese unnecessarily referencing his own movies to the point where we're shown clips from his own films supposedly inspired by P & P. I'm not that big a fan of Scorsese's work and didn't appreciate him leveraging his own movies into the narrative to perhaps shine some unrequired reflected glory onto the Archers own productions, believe me, they don't need it. And just one more moan for the road, I didn't often hear him mention by name many of the wonderful actors employed in the various films.

Anyway, once I got past all the "All about Marty" vibes, I was able to really enjoy revisiting these marvellous films, some of them among the best ever in the medium and you can tell he's watched each and every one of them and written every word he speaks. There are welcome archive interview clips of Michael and Emeric as well as some of Powell's home movies - especially the endearing man-about-town clip of him at an advanced age in contemporary Hollywood and numerous stills photos of the two. The clips from the movies themselves are judiciously selected and aptly analyzed by Mr S.

I guess if the actual presence of the mighty Marty caused a few more people to catch this fine documentary then I suppose I can park my aforementioned reservations.

I just hope the viewer's next move was to hunt down a Powell and Pressburger film and not one by Scorsese as they'd be far better off if they did the former.