You Need a Shot of Michael Powell

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

03-27-13

Something Always Happens (1934)

This restored early Powell comedy looks gorgeous, has a fair share of his visual wit, and makes the viewer feel good, but ultimately it's too predictable and too lightweight to add up to much. Still, I've watched it twice and it was easy enough both times. The relationship between Ian Hunter and young John Singer is the heart of the movie.

Crown v. Stevens (1936)

This murder "mystery" also looks good in its restoration, but as with the last film, it suffers from underdevelopment due to it being just over an hour long. Powell's direction is efficient but not terribly innovative. Patric Knowles is the innocent man caught in femme fatale Beatrix Thomson's clutches.

Spy in Black aka U-Boat 29 (1939)

This is the best of the three films but it's never been restored! Suave Conrad Veidt (Casablanca) plays a WWI German submarine captain who comes to Scotland to meet his British spy contact Valerie Hobson. In between adventures with the British fleet, there's time for romance. Emeric Pressburger wrote the script although this isn't an Archers film. Powell gets to show off a bit more here, and there's a good Miklos Rozsa score, but it still could have been pumped up more.

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mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

12-24-13

The Edge of the World (1937)

Powell is in complete command of his poetic, visceral imagery in this early winner, filmed in the remote, rugged Scottish Hebrides. All the touches he later perfected in his work with Pressburger, notably I Know Where I'm Going! and A Canterbury Tale, those of elegy and fate combined with local color and music, are already mature here. The mountain climbing race showcases Powell's expertise at creating suspense not only in the event itself but in the empathy he develops with fine-tuned editing in of paternal pride and feminine concern and resignation. John Laurie and Finlay Currie are arresting as the heads of the two clans impacted by the race, and the film's influence can be seen in both John Schlesinger's Far from the Madding Crowd and David Lean's Ryan's Daughter. In truth, perhaps The Edge of the World deserves to be discussed in the company of Powell's many masterpieces since so much of his originality is on display here in such a pure and holistic early form.

honeykid

MoFo Whisperer

12-24-13

I think The Edge of the World was the first Powell film I saw knowing who he was (that is, after seeing Peeping Tom). I liked it, (I think I'd probably rate it a little higher than you which, considering how strict a marker you are, probably means I like it a little less

) but the thing which really struck me after watching it for the first time was how harsh it all seemed, both in terms of the landscape and the themes, and yet how achingly beautiful it's all shot. I think I started to watch it again once, but for whatever reason, didn't finish it.

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mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

12-24-13

It seemed better to me today, maybe because I've seen his others so often but like you haven't watched this in full lately, and everything's in place. It was rather exciting.

honeykid

MoFo Whisperer

12-24-13

I've tried to watch Black Narcissus a couple of times over the last few months. I just can't get into it. It looks gorgeous, of course, but it's so dull to me. I'm just not interested in anything that's going on. I think I might give it a go one day with the sound off and just look at it. I might not enjoy it any more, but I can't enjoy it less.

Tacitus

The People's Republic of Clogher

12-25-13

I agree that it's an admirable film rather than, maybe, an essential one. Man, do I admire it though.

Also: Nuns!

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mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

05-03-20

In honor of watching my wife's favorite film, I Know Where I'm Going! on TCM right now, I'm bumping this.

ahwell

Registered User

05-03-20

I�ve only seen two from him, but both are great. My favorite is Peeping Tom but the Red Shoes is quite good as well!

Daniel M

...

05-03-20

You've probably noticed that I have watched a lot of their films through my other posts Mark, but I think before a year ago I hadn't seen any of their major hits. I absolutely love them as directors now, personally I'd rate their films:

Black Narcissus

The Red Shoes

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

A Matter of Life and Death

The Spy in Black

- been a while

And just Powell...

Peeping Tom

- been a while

I think Black Narcissus is my favourite but the top three are all very close. I just loved the style of that film, the colours are absolutely amazing and they really amplify the mood of the film, it's probably one of the scariest films that's not really considered a horror for me.

The Red Shoes and Colonel Blimp are just absolutely amazing storytelling. It's no wonder Scorsese talks about the former a lot, as a man who has made films that are long multi-generational spanning stories too. The structure of both and the way the sections/chapters feel like films within themselves is wonderful, again I love the colours in both. They have everything you would want in terms of mise-en-scene and using everything perfectly as films should to tell a story. I'm pretty sure that Francis Ford Coppola is a big fan too which makes sense too because I would consider him a similar filmmaker with The Godfather, where the balance of all the formalist film elements are perfect to tell the story.

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matt72582

Please Quote/Tag Or I'll Miss Your Responses

05-03-20

I loved Peeping Tom, especially a subject like that done in the early 60s, but I didn't like Black Narcissus.

But, I'll read closer what Mark has to say, and try to watch some of these movies.

Gideon58

Registered User

05-04-20

The only Powell film I've seen is The Red Shoes, but I rated it

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

10-13-22

I Know Where I'm Going! (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1945)

+ 7.5/10

Beautiful film about headstrong Wendy Hiller who decides to marry a wealthy man on a Hebrides island because she'a always dreamed of doing such a thing. She doesn't count on the winds being so strong when she gets there making it nigh on impossible to reach the island of her fiance whom she's never met; she has to stop at the nearest one. She also doesn't count on meeting naval officer Roger Livesey whose simple thoughts on life attract her.

This is the set-up for several odd but totally relatable characters and their customs, legends, music, etc. I especially love the B&W photography, the castle with rhe curse in it, the falconer, the strangely-placed telephone, the C�ilidh for a diamond wedding anniversary with all the singing and dancing, the three pipers, the Corryvreckan whirlpool, and how romantic the whole thing is. My fave supporting actor has to be Finlay Currie although a very young Petula Clark ("Downtown") is also present.

Powell's direction is incredible from the unique opening credits to the train trip to the wedding ceremony to a corporation and his usual incredible sense of place. One of his best and one of my wife Brenda's two favorite films.

beelzebubble

Msg

Registered User

10-13-22

Originally Posted by mark f

From Movie Tab II:

I have never seen A Small Back Room. I love David Farrar and Jack Hawkins.

beelzebubble

Msg

Registered User

10-13-22

Originally Posted by mark f

I Know Where I'm Going! (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1945)

+ 7.5/10

I love Livesey's performance in this wonderful film.

beelzebubble