The collaborations between Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger represent one of the most respected partnerships in cinema history, the two directors long revered for crafting some of the most enduring pictures ever to come out of the United Kingdom. Pressburger once said of his colleague: "He knows what I am going to say even before I say it maybe even before I have thought it and that is very rare. You are lucky if you meet someone like that once in your life." Though I had previously seen and loved 'Peeping Tom (1960)' {Powell's solo effort, a shocking and daring horror/thriller that arguably brought down his career}, I remained keenly interested in seeing my first P&P collaboration, and so I was delighted to find the Criterion Collection DVD of 'I Know Where I'm Going! (1945).' Perhaps it's the extensive on-location photography, or the distinctive local accents, but there's something about this film that sets it apart from Hollywood romances of the era, in the same way that the Ealing Studios comedies of the 1940s and 50s are like nothing ever to come out of the United States.
The first thing you'll notice about 'I Know Where I'm Going!' is the absolutely exquisite cinematography by Erwin Hillier, who captures the Scottish countryside in glorious, crisp black-and-white, shooting the entire film without a light meter. The pristine landscapes are absolutely breathtaking; you can almost feel the soft breeze blowing against your face, the silent shudder of the trees as a storm rolls overhead. This environment is the perfect stage for the events of the film, as ambitious and independent Englishwoman, Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) comes to meet an array of lively and free-spirited locals, representing a simpler lifestyle that she could never have imagined falling in love with. 'I Know Where I'm Going!' is also a miracle of clever editing, considering the male co-star, Roger Livesey, never came within 500 miles of the primary shooting location {having an unavoidable stage commitment in London}. Editor John Seabourne was given the monumental task of seamlessly blending close-up shots of Livesey in the studio with middle-distance shots of the actor's double in Scotland; the result is perfectly deceptive.
Powell and Pressburger, as was typical for their pictures, shared a writing credit for the film, which is a celebration of the "common man", a popular theme of British cinema, I've found, during that time period. Wendy Hiller's heroine, an independent but somewhat conceited woman, is hampered in her attempts to join her older, wealthier fiancé, Sir Robert Bellinger, on the island of Kiloran. Instead, she is left with Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesey), a humble naval officer on leave from the military. Despite initially feeling foreign and uncomfortable in the unfamiliar lodgings of the locals, Joan eventually comes to appreciate their unashamed simplicity, most noticeable in the stark contrast between the upper-class residents' dull, stuffy bridge game, and the servants' lively and musical birthday celebration for one of their oldest residents. Despite her insistence that she "knows where she's going," Joan also discovers that fate might be nudging her in a completely different direction. Why can't she travel to the island to marry Sir Bellinger? The answer to this question might not have anything to do with the weather at all: perhaps, deep down, she knows that she can do a lot better.
