I guess Im asking the wrong place but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account?? I somehow lost the password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me!
Livesey's performance is unsurpassable (Oliver's grandness would have overwhelmed the role - he still would have been very good, but Livesey's subtlety walks the fragile line between comedy and pathos); its a pity it is not regarded as one of the great films performance of the 20th century.
I was unfamiliar with Roger Livesey until I caught “A Matter of Life and Death” on TCM just a few years ago. I was struck by all the transcendent performances in the film. It’s an extraordinary film…this coming from an atheist. I have never seen Col. Blimp. In some sense Livesey’s performances in those two films are recognized as both have 8.0 ratings on IMDB, which put them among the best.
@@sleddy12345Olivier was very good, for parts he was suited. I have not seen Blimp, but suspect he would have been unsuitable for the role. He was, perhaps, more of a stage actor. His Hamlet was great, but that’s a play on film.
The greatness of Martin Scorsese is not only his ability to make outstanding films but his love and respect for what came before him , which in fact lives on in his creations as well.
Scorsese’s knowledge of film is extraordinary. That he can still make extraordinary films like “Killers of the Flower Moon,” at his age is a testament. Other aging directors, like Ridley Scott, just get older and ever more arrogant and egotistical, making bloated crap. Ironically, Scorsese’s most praised film, “The Departed,” is his one film I don’t like at all.
12:13 - 13:09 - now that's a real filmmaker - sacrificing the knighthood, the accolades, etc for the movie. And what lives on, at the end? the movie! Bravo Michael Powell!
I consider myself extremely lucky to have seen "Colonel Blimp" for the first time in my life, thanks to this channel (it was unavailable for decades), and immediately after, to watch Scorsese's review. This double bill was a memorable gift.
My all time favourite film, it's always seemed to me to epitomise what it is to be British, or at least what we aspire to be. Powell and Pressburger did a phenomenal job of evoking both several periods, but also values of the time and some beautifully crafted light comedic touches. A master-class in film-making. Kerr was simply luminously beautiful.
A magical film. I love the nostaglia of the early 20th century Berlin, the friendships that develop in the film in ways you don't expect, there's a lovely arc to it but it's much slower paced so it doesnt feel like its doing a familiar narrative. I just feel though the ending isn't the strongest.
"I really hope you appreciate it" is the most genuine request a great artist can make. It speaks to the humility to be able to create for fellow human beings. Beautiful.
I feel he is like one of those medieval monks who leaves us as a legacy the imperishable chronicles of what another era was, by rescuing from oblivion its artists and their masterpieces.
Agreed.Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest directors.Raging Bull is not just a film.It's a cinematic experience: ticks all the boxes: direction, photography, editing ,sound, music and of course the acting which disappears and you are left with a pure brutal moving reality.
@@fede018 spends more time talking about what he would have changed in a masterpiece or being stuck for years on whether or not There Will Be Blood has a set piece before realizing the oil derrick was a set piece 😩
Clearly Martin Scorsese is a great historian of cinema in addition to one of it's very finest directors. We are indeed very fortunate to have him as such an eloquent spokesperson to share his profound insights into the medium we all love.
I think the biggest lesson to draw here is that the permanency of art always outlasts the temporary requirements and narrow interests of government and society.
From the moment I saw this film for the first time, it was immediately elevated, in my mind, to one of the greatest films ever made. Top 10. Maybe top 5.
I saw this when I was ten to twelve, or as I will now say, 'Around the age Scorsese first saw it'. I couldn't work it out at all, but I knew I liked it a lot. Much later I met someone my own age who'd seen it at the same time and neither of us could say why, but we both knew it was one if our absolute favourites. It amuses me that Scorsese worked with Paul Schrader who was slightly obsessed with Yasujiro Ozu who also misses out seemingly vital action scenes like weddings and so on. Except Ozu critics have to say he elides them.
Two movies fixed Roger as peak, for me..."I know Where I'm Going" and "Green Grow the Rushes." I had seen an example of the newspaper cartoon 'Colonel Blimp" before seeing even the mangled bisecting of the original. Kerr in "I See a Dark Stranger" and the Mitchum nun versus Japanese occupiers, of course. Olivier overacts in some roles...as the Russian engineer, with Penelope Dudley Warner, as the French Canadian in "39th Parallel." 'Blimp' is wonderful. THANK YOU ALL. Too bad about Wendy Hiller~~~unreal, so good. Her role with Michael Rennie is luminous yet real. Shaw plays, perfection.
The cut-down version was also the first version that I saw on TV in the 80s - the 'flashback' structure was dropped and it was in purely chronological order from 1903 to 1943. Not only that, but every 'damn' was covered by a 'click' sound that must have been the 1940s version of the 'bleep'! Imagine my thrill going to the Museum of the Moving Image in London in 1989 and seeing the tapestry that appears behind the opening and closing credits; but the MOMI is now closed - where is that tapestry now??
Like Scorsese...I have watched this film many times and I personally think it is one of the most underrated films of all time. The story, the filmography and above all the superb acting of all the players make it a film that you really do want to see at least a 2nd time....and you really do get more from it each time you view it.
Scorcese does such great introductions to movies I didn't think I would be interested in... Going to watch this now, that scene of the pool and "40 years ago" is awesome.
Decades ago as a child.. I saw this movie somewhere.. and as Mr Scorsese says in the video.. 'it just stuck with me'. I couldn't get it out my head, it has a sort of atmospheric presence about it that just grabs you and you cant shake off. Every character is ultimately likeable even the little skunk Kaunitz. Years later with the advent of video tapes, I often searched for it but I never did find it. Then along came the internet. Sure enough I finally tracked down a grubby low resolution copy that I would infrequently watch. Whenever the subject of favourite movies came up with friends, my answer was always TLADOCB. No one and I mean NO ONE has ever even heard of it much less agreed with me. Until the other day.. I was watching a Casey Neistat video on youtube, not so much watching but it was playing in the background. Someone asked his favourite movie.. and his answer... TLADOCB!!! I couldnt believe it. Convinced I misheard I took it back.. There it was.. someone else with taste!! So today I thought.. maybe there are others out there who appreciate the movie as Mr Neistat and I do.. sure enough.. this video came up. So it appears as the video states around 10:50 .. We're part of a small but exclusive crowd of people with impeccable taste.
I watched "Colonel Blimp" once. The scene that got me was the preparation for the duel. The Livesey character was in someone else's world, and was facing possible injury or death. But the sense the viewer got was of courage and efficiency and honour. Which fought the sense (for this viewer's anyway) sense of fear and dread.
I once worked, in the 1970's, with an ex BEF soldier (Yorks &Lancs). He told me that when they were sent to France in 1939, they expected WWI tactics, in his words, ' just like Colonel Blimp'. He was evacuated from Dunkirk, later served in the Camoronians against the Japenese in Burma.
LADOCB is a miracle of film. It feels like a gift from a higher power. To think young filmmakers today believe they are being innovative with timelines and drifting away from what would appear to be key scenes is proven laughable when you see this masterwork.
I agree with the idea that this film needs to be seen more than once. I first saw it many years ago. (I don't know what version it was, or its length.) I thought it was interesting and entertaining. I saw it again several years later and enjoyed it much more. I thought I had changed more than the film!
My cousin and I saw Scorcese introduce this film at the State Theater in New Brunswick back in the 1990's, a couple of years after Goodfellas came out. I'd never heard of the film, I just went to see Scorcese. His passion and knowledge were ridiculous and it was so cool to hear him speak of this old movie with the crazy name. I was a fan of the film after that day and an even bigger fan of Scorcese.
I remember coming home from school (this was the 1960s) and watching the 4:30PM movie show. This is when I saw Orson Well's CITIZEN KANE for the first time. I was so young but the impact was almost overwhelming, too powerful, too emotional, and I was sad for some time. I had some premature sense of the tragic. A wonderful story from Mr. Scorsese. As it happens, I haven't seen that particular film from The Archers (Powell and Pressburger) , THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP. It is on this page and I now intend to watch it.
Raging Bull is by far Scorcese's greatest film....who else would dare shoot in B&W in 1982 and be able to pull it off? It is a classic and will live forever in cinematic history.
Such a wonderful appraisal of a truly great film by someone who can apricate the brilliance of the techniques of the film making, but is also clearly a big fan of the film.
A great film, never tiered of watching it, as with Red Shoes and all the other great P&P films plus the colours are amazing. Anyone know where you can get a copy of the dance band number "I see you everywhere" played in the scene at the Bull Inn.
They did great in black and white as well - if you haven't seen "I Know Where I'm Going", I strongly recommend it. Amazing B&W photography and a real sense of place. It also has Roger Livesey as well as the wonderful Wendy Hiller.
Thank you for that essay. I have seen the movie 2, maybe 3 times it so rarely comes up on tv. A trip to HMV at Bluewater to see if a DVD of it is on their shelves is now on my Todo list. Hopefully the full restored version
Actually found it on BBC iplayer, restored version at 163 minutes, Martin Scorsese was a sponsor of the restoration. Just finished watching it again. Must be a long time since I last watched it because there was so much I didn't remember. Like the Bradford Daily Telegraph cameo, lived in Bradford for 14 years, it's now the T&A, Telegraph and Argus, so would not have noticed that bit before moving to West Yorkshire
I find this is more about Raging Bull than it is about The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp, which is unfortunate. I love The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp and would have preferred hearing more about that movie.
I remember being surprised the first time I ran across this movie on TV and wondering why I’d not known of it before (early to mid ‘90’s maybe?). Something about it was warm and charming and lovely, and different. Definitely far far underplayed; it should have been made quite available to everyone.
Not a frame is wasted in this film, a masterpiece if ever there was one. It was released just one month before Operation Gomorrah, and it was as much about that as anything else. A film that is both humane and ruthless at the same time. Remarkable.
One of my favourite films when I was younger not seen it in a long time. I’ll watch it again soon. Liked roger livesey too was great as the doc in matter of life and death
Thank God for Scorsese and his Film Foundation for restoring these classics and bringing the magic of Powell and Pressburger back into the public consciousness! ❤ check out his wonderful documentary, "Made In England", about his passion for the Archers films. You won't regret it!!
Of the Three Powell and Pressburger movies mentioned, I think The Red Shoes is the best. The other two are fine movies. with A Matter of life and death being my favourite.
So I have only seen the 90 minute version, that answers a lot of questions, because I couldn't understand why the film was controversial. I'm off now to find the full version. Thanks.
The greatness of Scorsese is how he directs everything to what he has done with the sheer modesty of a saint so that we walk away talking about his films. Yeah, that Blimp thing, well it points to Scorsese films and the greatness there in.... a precursor of what's to come.
This movie and others such as Goodbye Mr. Chips had a profound effect on me when I first saw them as a kid 40 years ago, what I don’t understand is that no one in my pier group ever saw them. Even today I still find it odd when I mention 2001 or Blade Runner (the original) and I am met with a shrug of the shoulders and ‘the name sounds familiar’. I don’t get it, have we lost the art of movies telling a story? I enjoy modern movies, but is it all now just CGI and quick hits? No story, no narrative?
The life and death of Colonel Blimp The Red Shoes Black Narcissus A Matter of Life and Death I Know Where I’m Going! A Canterbury Tale The Small Black Room The Tales of Hoffmann Not to mention Powells solo Peeping Tom….. Powell and Pressburger could do no wrong
I am gratified to learn that my estimation of exactly why Churchill objected to the film was proven correct. He was trying to sell the British war effort as a noble crusade of English gentlemen against the thuggery of German Huns, and here were the Brits openly espousing exactly the same thuggery, instead of leaving it decently veiled in discreet hypocrisy. The sort of films he did favor, such as The Sea Hawk and Lady Hamilton, presents the English (even pirates!) in wartime as properly genteel and high-minded, and would have left no doubt to American audiences of the moral superiority of the English cause.
Quite right Sir! Also there is "Went the Day Well?" from 1942. A propaganda film where the British had to be as brutal as the Germans to survive. As for Colonel Blimp I never tire of watching this absolute corker. Roger Livesey played the part perfectly. It showed his acting versatlility when he played the bogus vicar in "League of Gentlemen".
In which we serve is a very good patriotic WWII film that's also worth seeing. I feel like even Fire over England was made with the Nazi threat in mind.
The wartime resistance to the film being made is understandable - but only just - to our sensibilities it comes across as a very rousing film - not propaganda, per se, but of such emotional and ideological complexity one couldn't help but be stirred by Candy's evolution to 'fight on.'
Yes. Looking at it now though in the 21st century I appreciate much more the friendships that develop in the film. I know our hero always serves his country to the best of his ability but for me the most moving bit is him realising he loved Miss Hunter and missed the chance of telling her and how that effected the rest of his life.
JUST been on today, likely as a filler during lockdown...if we read this a while ago we`d wonder what I was on about...of course there were such a thing..folms considered propaganda...not good for the masses..but perfect logic.
It's a film I've tried to watch several times but I just can't seem to do it. After about 20 mins. I've had enough. It's the OTT acting style, the theatrics, the shouting....at least you can hear what they are saying, not like the mumbling today. So I don't know the story or what all the fuss is about. Perhaps one day the moment will come when I settle down and watch the complete film.
Stick with it - the first twenty minutes are just setting things up, and juxtaposes the brashness of the present (i.e. the 1940s present) with the era that Blimp represents
You just have to settle down and go with the trip. An old friend of mine saw it at the same time as me, young teenagers, and we couldn't say why we like it, it was about people totally different to us such a long time ago speaking in funny language about weird stuff we couldnt care less about... but as you go on you realise how much it's about those little gaps and misunderstandings and words unsaid and feelings unexpressed. What always kills me is that his surname changes from Candy to Wynne-Candy. What English man took his wife's surname, and put it in front, in 1919? This is a totally feminist film, and yet also about brutal torture by the allies in WW1. What other films do that? Please turn off your phone, turn down the lights, and let it roll.
You might need to bring a deep sense of the horror of the Nazis. It's never depicted visually in the movie, but it's always the background until Kretschmar-etc makes it explicit in his great speech toward the end.
I bought Colonel Blimp on laser disc decades ago after watching Richard Dreyfuss praising it. Laser discs were expensive, and this was more expensive than most. I found the movie to the boring.
The ministry of war was correct and not wanting this film made. It's an abomination. There is nothing nothing worth watching. The acting is horrible. The script is horrible directing is horrible. Everything about this movie is horrible even the makeup for God's sake is pathetic. if you take it as a camp, maybe but Scorsese obviously it's not the same Director he used to be, thinking this was an outstanding movie
Those people of today who denigrate the heroic deeds of RAF Bomber Command in WW2 should watch this film and this speech in particular. Germany represented an absolute existential threat to the civilised world. Any and all measures necessary were deployed to crush the heinous actions and ambitions of National Socialism. I thank my father and his peers who fought and died in the achievement of this. National Socialism dressed in the clothes of ‘liberalism’ still lurks around the corner. We should remain ever vigilant.
I think the morality of the strategic bombing campaign v Germany is something we should think about. Did it actually help to end the war? I don't critique the pilots though, only the leadership.
I could listen to Marty Scorsese talk about film all day.............................
Roger Livesey gives the performance of a lifetime. Should have received an Oscar nomination.
Aaaw he’s marvellous in everything, loved him in a Matter of Life and Death
I guess Im asking the wrong place but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account??
I somehow lost the password. I appreciate any tricks you can give me!
@Benedict Marco instablaster =)
Him and Anton Walbrook should've both been nominated, with Livesey winning.
The Academy has been making mistakes for decades
Livesey's performance is unsurpassable (Oliver's grandness would have overwhelmed the role - he still would have been very good, but Livesey's subtlety walks the fragile line between comedy and pathos); its a pity it is not regarded as one of the great films performance of the 20th century.
Olivier was a horrible film actor; he would have murdered the whole vibe
I was unfamiliar with Roger Livesey until I caught “A Matter of Life and Death” on TCM just a few years ago. I was struck by all the transcendent performances in the film. It’s an extraordinary film…this coming from an atheist. I have never seen Col. Blimp. In some sense Livesey’s performances in those two films are recognized as both have 8.0 ratings on IMDB, which put them among the best.
@@sleddy12345Olivier was very good, for parts he was suited. I have not seen Blimp, but suspect he would have been unsuitable for the role. He was, perhaps, more of a stage actor. His Hamlet was great, but that’s a play on film.
❤❤❤❤❤💋
@@sleddy12345
Oh! Someone agrees with me. But what about "The Entertainer"?
The greatness of Martin Scorsese is not only his ability to make outstanding films but his love and respect for what came before him , which in fact lives on in his creations as well.
I would go so far as to say his New York movies are London Films in disguise..
I would say you are from London and see that.@@eugenemurray2940
I knew and loved Powell and Pressburger when I was a child, decades before Scorsese came along.
Yes, I saw he also did commentary for the Searchers 1956.
Scorsese’s knowledge of film is extraordinary. That he can still make extraordinary films like “Killers of the Flower Moon,” at his age is a testament. Other aging directors, like Ridley Scott, just get older and ever more arrogant and egotistical, making bloated crap. Ironically, Scorsese’s most praised film, “The Departed,” is his one film I don’t like at all.
12:13 - 13:09 - now that's a real filmmaker - sacrificing the knighthood, the accolades, etc for the movie. And what lives on, at the end? the movie! Bravo Michael Powell!
I consider myself extremely lucky to have seen "Colonel Blimp" for the first time in my life, thanks to this channel (it was unavailable for decades), and immediately after, to watch Scorsese's review. This double bill was a memorable gift.
I have just finished watch "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" for the umpteenth time and each time is a fresh joy.
I never tire of watching Colonel Blimp. A superb film. Who can fail to be moved by Anton Walbrook's scene at the aliens registration interview?
My all time favourite film, it's always seemed to me to epitomise what it is to be British, or at least what we aspire to be. Powell and Pressburger did a phenomenal job of evoking both several periods, but also values of the time and some beautifully crafted light comedic touches. A master-class in film-making. Kerr was simply luminously beautiful.
A magical film. I love the nostaglia of the early 20th century Berlin, the friendships that develop in the film in ways you don't expect, there's a lovely arc to it but it's much slower paced so it doesnt feel like its doing a familiar narrative. I just feel though the ending isn't the strongest.
"I really hope you appreciate it" is the most genuine request a great artist can make. It speaks to the humility to be able to create for fellow human beings. Beautiful.
No one has ever possessed the knowledge and understanding of film that Scorsese has. His analysis bears the stamp of genius.
I feel he is like one of those medieval monks who leaves us as a legacy the imperishable chronicles of what another era was, by rescuing from oblivion its artists and their masterpieces.
It is very clear in this introduction that no one understands cinema like Marty.
Agreed.Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest directors.Raging Bull is not just a film.It's a cinematic experience: ticks all the boxes: direction, photography, editing ,sound, music and of course the acting which disappears and you are left with a pure brutal moving reality.
Agreed. He thinks outside the Hollywood box.
Tarantino too. But he's not that analytical.
@@fede018 spends more time talking about what he would have changed in a masterpiece or being stuck for years on whether or not There Will Be Blood has a set piece before realizing the oil derrick was a set piece 😩
@@fede018he doesn't have a wide taste like marty
Clearly Martin Scorsese is a great historian of cinema in addition to one of it's very finest directors. We are indeed very fortunate to have him as such an eloquent spokesperson to share his profound insights into the medium we all love.
Please look at Orson Welles and the first camera shot of Citizen Kane
I think the biggest lesson to draw here is that the permanency of art always outlasts the temporary requirements and narrow interests of government and society.
A matter of life and death and Colonel blimp are wonderful movies. I remember seeing them for the first time when I was younger on afternoon UK TV.🇬🇧
P&P's best film. Love it. My favorite British film ever.
From the moment I saw this film for the first time, it was immediately elevated, in my mind, to one of the greatest films ever made. Top 10. Maybe top 5.
I saw this when I was ten to twelve, or as I will now say, 'Around the age Scorsese first saw it'. I couldn't work it out at all, but I knew I liked it a lot. Much later I met someone my own age who'd seen it at the same time and neither of us could say why, but we both knew it was one if our absolute favourites. It amuses me that Scorsese worked with Paul Schrader who was slightly obsessed with Yasujiro Ozu who also misses out seemingly vital action scenes like weddings and so on. Except Ozu critics have to say he elides them.
Two movies fixed Roger as peak, for me..."I know Where I'm Going" and "Green Grow the Rushes." I had seen an example of the newspaper cartoon 'Colonel Blimp" before seeing even the mangled bisecting of the original. Kerr in "I See a Dark Stranger" and the Mitchum nun versus Japanese occupiers, of course. Olivier overacts in some roles...as the Russian engineer, with Penelope Dudley Warner, as the French Canadian in "39th Parallel." 'Blimp' is wonderful. THANK YOU ALL. Too bad about Wendy Hiller~~~unreal, so good. Her role with Michael Rennie is luminous yet real. Shaw plays, perfection.
My jaw dropped within the first shot of the 4K restoration. Amazing. The fact that the movie is a masterpiece also helped lol
The cut-down version was also the first version that I saw on TV in the 80s - the 'flashback' structure was dropped and it was in purely chronological order from 1903 to 1943. Not only that, but every 'damn' was covered by a 'click' sound that must have been the 1940s version of the 'bleep'! Imagine my thrill going to the Museum of the Moving Image in London in 1989 and seeing the tapestry that appears behind the opening and closing credits; but the MOMI is now closed - where is that tapestry now??
Like Scorsese...I have watched this film many times and I personally think it is one of the most underrated films of all time. The story, the filmography and above all the superb acting of all the players make it a film that you really do want to see at least a 2nd time....and you really do get more from it each time you view it.
Scorcese does such great introductions to movies I didn't think I would be interested in... Going to watch this now, that scene of the pool and "40 years ago" is awesome.
Decades ago as a child.. I saw this movie somewhere.. and as Mr Scorsese says in the video.. 'it just stuck with me'. I couldn't get it out my head, it has a sort of atmospheric presence about it that just grabs you and you cant shake off. Every character is ultimately likeable even the little skunk Kaunitz.
Years later with the advent of video tapes, I often searched for it but I never did find it. Then along came the internet. Sure enough I finally tracked down a grubby low resolution copy that I would infrequently watch. Whenever the subject of favourite movies came up with friends, my answer was always TLADOCB. No one and I mean NO ONE has ever even heard of it much less agreed with me. Until the other day.. I was watching a Casey Neistat video on youtube, not so much watching but it was playing in the background. Someone asked his favourite movie.. and his answer... TLADOCB!!! I couldnt believe it. Convinced I misheard I took it back.. There it was.. someone else with taste!!
So today I thought.. maybe there are others out there who appreciate the movie as Mr Neistat and I do.. sure enough.. this video came up. So it appears as the video states around 10:50 .. We're part of a small but exclusive crowd of people with impeccable taste.
"there is the lake,and I haven't changed......"
A film that takes film to the level of the other great arts. Not alone. But one of them.
I watched "Colonel Blimp" once. The scene that got me was the preparation for the duel. The Livesey character was in someone else's world, and was facing possible injury or death. But the sense the viewer got was of courage and efficiency and honour. Which fought the sense (for this viewer's anyway) sense of fear and dread.
I once worked, in the 1970's, with an ex BEF soldier (Yorks &Lancs). He told me that when they were sent to France in 1939, they expected WWI tactics, in his words, ' just like Colonel Blimp'. He was evacuated from Dunkirk, later served in the Camoronians against the Japenese in Burma.
Absolutely love this film, such a heart warming story.
I love how the part where Scorsese says he look for it is juxtaposed with the scene where Blimp sees the nurse in WW1 ;)
LADOCB is a miracle of film. It feels like a gift from a higher power.
To think young filmmakers today believe they are being innovative with timelines and drifting away from what would appear to be key scenes is proven laughable when you see this masterwork.
Tell me some "young filmmakers" who are guilty of this?
Huge fan of Powell. This is one of my top favorites, along with "The Red Shoes," "Black Narcissus," and "49th Parallel."
❤❤❤❤❤
Love listening to Marty talk about films.
Lovely and touching commentary. He's so right about the fact that P&P films can't be watched just once: they give up something new on each viewing
I agree with the idea that this film needs to be seen more than once. I first saw it many years ago. (I don't know what version it was, or its length.) I thought it was interesting and entertaining. I saw it again several years later and enjoyed it much more. I thought I had changed more than the film!
My cousin and I saw Scorcese introduce this film at the State Theater in New Brunswick back in the 1990's, a couple of years after Goodfellas came out. I'd never heard of the film, I just went to see Scorcese. His passion and knowledge were ridiculous and it was so cool to hear him speak of this old movie with the crazy name. I was a fan of the film after that day and an even bigger fan of Scorcese.
The cast was perfect and this was my all time favourite film
I remember coming home from school (this was the 1960s) and watching the 4:30PM movie show. This is when I saw Orson Well's CITIZEN KANE for the first time. I was so young but the impact was almost overwhelming, too powerful, too emotional, and I was sad for some time. I had some premature sense of the tragic. A wonderful story from Mr. Scorsese. As it happens, I haven't seen that particular film from The Archers (Powell and Pressburger) , THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP. It is on this page and I now intend to watch it.
Wow, that was unexpected, I just watch LDCB for the 2nd time in my life, so that was really special, thanks! ❤🎉😊😍
Raging Bull is by far Scorcese's greatest film....who else would dare shoot in B&W in 1982 and be able to pull it off? It is a classic and will live forever in cinematic history.
1980
David Lynch, Elephant Man. He also made Erazerhead in black and white in 1977.
Woody Allen's 'Manhatten' - 1979
Such a wonderful appraisal of a truly great film by someone who can apricate the brilliance of the techniques of the film making, but is also clearly a big fan of the film.
A great film, never tiered of watching it, as with Red Shoes and all the other great P&P films plus the colours are amazing. Anyone know where you can get a copy of the dance band number "I see you everywhere" played in the scene at the Bull Inn.
I just watched the red shoes and I couldn’t agree more it was sooooo beautiful
They did great in black and white as well - if you haven't seen "I Know Where I'm Going", I strongly recommend it. Amazing B&W photography and a real sense of place. It also has Roger Livesey as well as the wonderful Wendy Hiller.
Thank you for that essay. I have seen the movie 2, maybe 3 times it so rarely comes up on tv. A trip to HMV at Bluewater to see if a DVD of it is on their shelves is now on my Todo list. Hopefully the full restored version
Actually found it on BBC iplayer, restored version at 163 minutes, Martin Scorsese was a sponsor of the restoration. Just finished watching it again. Must be a long time since I last watched it because there was so much I didn't remember. Like the Bradford Daily Telegraph cameo, lived in Bradford for 14 years, it's now the T&A, Telegraph and Argus, so would not have noticed that bit before moving to West Yorkshire
Martin Scorsese, gives us brilliant synopsis of Powell & Pressburgers monumental achievements.He has taught us all so much.
I find this is more about Raging Bull than it is about The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp, which is unfortunate. I love The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp and would have preferred hearing more about that movie.
Life and death of colonel Blimp one of my top 5 films evokes bitter sweet feelings
A wonderful film from the masters of British cinema
Didn't get the knighthood, but they made a great film. I'm glad they chose the right answer! A wonderful film.
One of the greatest films ever made my personal favourite
I remember being surprised the first time I ran across this movie on TV and wondering why I’d not known of it before (early to mid ‘90’s maybe?). Something about it was warm and charming and lovely, and different. Definitely far far underplayed; it should have been made quite available to everyone.
this film and a Matter of Life and Death are my two favourite films
I first saw this film maybe 30 years ago on BRAVO (when that network wasn't the crap that it is now) and have loved it ever since.
Not a frame is wasted in this film, a masterpiece if ever there was one. It was released just one month before Operation Gomorrah, and it was as much about that as anything else. A film that is both humane and ruthless at the same time. Remarkable.
One of my favourite films when I was younger not seen it in a long time. I’ll watch it again soon. Liked roger livesey too was great as the doc in matter of life and death
love old films
Love this man and his passion for films and whst Criterion Collection represents for the art & industry of films.
Thanks for posting this. Wonderful.
i have been a student of film [movies ] all of my life thank god for this one a gem of a story
a 90 minute version thats sacrilege
the hill b/w no soundtrack just a fine script that did the
book justice in so many ways ; watch and learn 🎬
Adding to my list of classic films on yoube
Thank God for Scorsese and his Film Foundation for restoring these classics and bringing the magic of Powell and Pressburger back into the public consciousness! ❤ check out his wonderful documentary, "Made In England", about his passion for the Archers films. You won't regret it!!
This film is mentioned several times on the Criterion Collection Closet Picks channel
Of the Three Powell and Pressburger movies mentioned, I think The Red Shoes is the best. The other two are fine movies. with A Matter of life and death being my favourite.
So I have only seen the 90 minute version, that answers a lot of questions, because I couldn't understand why the film was controversial. I'm off now to find the full version. Thanks.
Two marvellous films ! Congrats
The greatness of Scorsese is how he directs everything to what he has done with the sheer modesty of a saint so that we walk away talking about his films. Yeah, that Blimp thing, well it points to Scorsese films and the greatness there in.... a precursor of what's to come.
The character Sam in Foyles War is a study of Debra Kerr from Col Blimb
I thought I dreamt ''Whale Music'' with Maury Chaykin. Love that movie!
Watched the move based on Marty’s recommendation. Damn good film.
My favourite film
What about A Canterbury Tale?
This movie and others such as Goodbye Mr. Chips had a profound effect on me when I first saw them as a kid 40 years ago, what I don’t understand is that no one in my pier group ever saw them. Even today I still find it odd when I mention 2001 or Blade Runner (the original) and I am met with a shrug of the shoulders and ‘the name sounds familiar’. I don’t get it, have we lost the art of movies telling a story? I enjoy modern movies, but is it all now just CGI and quick hits? No story, no narrative?
The life and death of Colonel Blimp
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
A Matter of Life and Death
I Know Where I’m Going!
A Canterbury Tale
The Small Black Room
The Tales of Hoffmann
Not to mention Powells solo Peeping Tom…..
Powell and Pressburger could do no wrong
I would rate The Red Shoes and Peeping Tom as the best of that list...
Scorsese could talk about Jurassic World: Dominion and it would be fascinating
Might have known the establishment were against it's release. Disgusting.
I am gratified to learn that my estimation of exactly why Churchill objected to the film was proven correct. He was trying to sell the British war effort as a noble crusade of English gentlemen against the thuggery of German Huns, and here were the Brits openly espousing exactly the same thuggery, instead of leaving it decently veiled in discreet hypocrisy. The sort of films he did favor, such as The Sea Hawk and Lady Hamilton, presents the English (even pirates!) in wartime as properly genteel and high-minded, and would have left no doubt to American audiences of the moral superiority of the English cause.
Quite right Sir! Also there is "Went the Day Well?" from 1942. A propaganda film where the British had to be as brutal as the Germans to survive. As for Colonel Blimp I never tire of watching this absolute corker. Roger Livesey played the part perfectly. It showed his acting versatlility when he played the bogus vicar in "League of Gentlemen".
British.
In which we serve is a very good patriotic WWII film that's also worth seeing.
I feel like even Fire over England was made with the Nazi threat in mind.
A very special picture.
Wonderful stuff!!!
The wartime resistance to the film being made is understandable - but only just - to our sensibilities it comes across as a very rousing film - not propaganda, per se, but of such emotional and ideological complexity one couldn't help but be stirred by Candy's evolution to 'fight on.'
Yes. Looking at it now though in the 21st century I appreciate much more the friendships that develop in the film. I know our hero always serves his country to the best of his ability but for me the most moving bit is him realising he loved Miss Hunter and missed the chance of telling her and how that effected the rest of his life.
Wonderful film.
This clip tells more about THE RAGING BULL than about BLIMP.
What is this an extract from?
It's from the introduction to the the film in the Criterion DVD and Blu-Ray
So interesting.
Very unique 😆
These are the sort of things Orson welles would have done, a sort anti orthodoxy!
Thankfully he never got the K otherwise we wouldn’t have the film.
JUST been on today, likely as a filler during lockdown...if we read this a while ago we`d wonder what I was on about...of course there were such a thing..folms considered propaganda...not good for the masses..but perfect logic.
Blimp was a negative, right wing character in David Low's political cartoons.
It's a film I've tried to watch several times but I just can't seem to do it. After about 20 mins. I've had enough. It's the OTT acting style, the theatrics, the shouting....at least you can hear what they are saying, not like the mumbling today. So I don't know the story or what all the fuss is about. Perhaps one day the moment will come when I settle down and watch the complete film.
Stick with it - the first twenty minutes are just setting things up, and juxtaposes the brashness of the present (i.e. the 1940s present) with the era that Blimp represents
It's about the loss of honour and embrace of industrial and total war.
You just have to settle down and go with the trip. An old friend of mine saw it at the same time as me, young teenagers, and we couldn't say why we like it, it was about people totally different to us such a long time ago speaking in funny language about weird stuff we couldnt care less about... but as you go on you realise how much it's about those little gaps and misunderstandings and words unsaid and feelings unexpressed. What always kills me is that his surname changes from Candy to Wynne-Candy. What English man took his wife's surname, and put it in front, in 1919? This is a totally feminist film, and yet also about brutal torture by the allies in WW1. What other films do that? Please turn off your phone, turn down the lights, and let it roll.
You might need to bring a deep sense of the horror of the Nazis. It's never depicted visually in the movie, but it's always the background until Kretschmar-etc makes it explicit in his great speech toward the end.
Love M Powell but Colonel Blimp is his worst movie.
I bought Colonel Blimp on laser disc decades ago after watching Richard Dreyfuss praising it. Laser discs were expensive, and this was more expensive than most. I found the movie to the boring.
The ministry of war was correct and not wanting this film made. It's an abomination. There is nothing nothing worth watching. The acting is horrible. The script is horrible directing is horrible. Everything about this movie is horrible even the makeup for God's sake is pathetic. if you take it as a camp, maybe but Scorsese obviously it's not the same Director he used to be, thinking this was an outstanding movie
Those people of today who denigrate the heroic deeds of RAF Bomber Command in WW2 should watch this film and this speech in particular. Germany represented an absolute existential threat to the civilised world. Any and all measures necessary were deployed to crush the heinous actions and ambitions of National Socialism. I thank my father and his peers who fought and died in the achievement of this. National Socialism dressed in the clothes of ‘liberalism’ still lurks around the corner. We should remain ever vigilant.
Fascism is the word you're looking for and yes, the likes of the far right have it in droves
I think the morality of the strategic bombing campaign v Germany is something we should think about. Did it actually help to end the war? I don't critique the pilots though, only the leadership.
Fantastic movie