A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

Cannes Classics

Directed by :: Michael POWELL Emeric PRESSBURGER

Country:: UNITED KINGDOM

Year:: 1946

Duration:: 104.00 minutes

Synopsis

Squadron Leader Peter Carter (David Niven) is alone in a blazing plane over the English Channel and is about to bale out without a parachute. During what he feels are his last moments Peter confides to a young American WAC (Kim Hunter) his thoughts on love and poetry. Then he jumps, falling through the fog into the sea and is washed ashore. He appears to be unhurt and by some strange coincidence meets the WAC and falls in love. But all is not as it seems, he has suffered severe concussion and experiences a series of strange hallucinations, brought on by intense headaches, in which he sees characters from the Other World. Principle among them is an eighteenth century French Conductor (Marius Goring) who tries to get him to leave for the Other World.

Peter is treated by a brain surgeon Dr. Reeves (Roger Livesey) for his headaches. After the doctor is killed in an accident Peter undergoes a serious brain operation. Meanwhile Dr. Reeves reappears in a courtroom and is appointed Counsel for the Defence, in a strange trial for Peter’s life. As the surgeons operate the trial begins, with his only defence being that he is in love. The verdict will decide whether he will live or die.

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

Synopsis

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The Official Selection 2005

Cannes Classics