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Best movie of this year hands down!

A Masterpiece!

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Partially inspired by the satirical comic strip "Colonel Blimp" by David Low, this is an absolutely wonderful romantic drama with some very interesting things to say about the manner in which wars are fought. Both the script and the direction by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are first rate and the vibrant cinematography of Georges Perinal is beautiful. The film is excellent throughout but it reaches another level in the section dealing with World War II.The film stars Roger Livesey as Clive Candy (later Wynne-Candy), an intelligent and honourable but blustering and resolutely old fashioned British Army officer. Livesey is marvelous and never less than entirely convincing whether he is playing Candy in his thirties or his seventies. We are introduced to Candy as an elderly retired general and a senior figure in the Home Guard. While in a Turkish bath, he is taken both unawares and captive by the considerably younger Lt. "Spud" Wilson, who has begun the war game at six rather than at the prearranged midnight. Wilson argues, rather sensibly, that the Nazis do not abide by the old rules of war and neither should Britain if it hopes to win. However, he treats Candy in an extremely dismissive, ageist and condescending manner, meaning that I found it impossible to like him even though he was in the right. After being on the receiving end of Wilson's insults, Candy decides to show the younger whippersnapper what for and the two men begin to fight in the Turkish bath. In a beautifully shot transition, Candy enters it as an elderly general in 1942 and leaves it as a young lieutenant in 1902, beginning the film's main flashback storyline.In 1902, Candy is on recuperative leave from the Boer War and travels to Berlin in order to combat the German press' propaganda about Britain's conduct in the war. After (supposedly) insulting the honour of the Imperial German Army, Candy is challenged to a duel in which he must face Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, who is ironically against dueling but was chosen by lot. The two men proceed to injure each other rather badly and spend several months convalescing in the same nursing home. Although Theo can initially speak only two English phrases ("Very much" and "Not very much"), the two men become best friends. Anton Walbrook is excellent in the role of the thoughtful, introspective Theo. Unlike his British friend, he realises that the nature of war is changing and they cannot continue to fight them as it were still the 19th Century. In the dying days of World War I, Candy believes that the Germans' use of "dirty tricks" indicates that they know that they are going to lose the war and that no combatant confident in his military prowess or the justness of his cause would stoop to such measures. Shortly afterwards, the South African van Zijl uses what are implied to be the same dirty tricks to get information from German captives, an approach that he learned from the British in the Boer War. Unfortunately, Blimp does not realise, at least until it is too late for him to change, that fair play is a much more effective strategy in a cricket match than in warfare. My favourite scene in the entire film is Theo's moving, fantastically written and delivered speech about why he has decided to settle in Britain. It was a brave decision to cast a German officer in such a sympathetic light in 1943, something which would likely not have been tolerated if Theo were not established as being resolutely anti- Nazi.In her first major role, the 21-year-old Deborah Kerr, one of my favourite actress of her generation, is fantastic in the triple role of Edith Hunter, Barbara Wynne and Angela "Johnny" Cannon. Edith is a formidable young woman who is not afraid to speak her mind at a time when most men thought women were only suited to being obedient wives, dutiful mothers and governesses. She resents that her gender severely limits the opportunities that she has in life and she is hinted to be a suffragette. While she may have had some feelings for Candy, she and Theo eventually fall in love and get married. Although Candy is initially delighted for them, he once realises that he is madly in love with Edith himself. As he says later in the film, she represents his ideal woman, the one for whom he spent his entire life searching, and he is heartbroken. In 1918, he sees a young nurse in France named Barbara Wynne who bears a striking resemblance to Edith and is immediately smitten. He eventually tracks her down and they marry. I would like to think that it was because he genuinely loved Barbara rather than because she was Edith Mark 2 but I can't be sure. During World War II, he hires Angela Cannon, Edith Mark 3, as his driver. By 1940s standards, Angela is a very modern woman who is doing her bit for the war effort. Candy may have feelings for her too and, while she is incredibly fond of him, it is because he is such a darling old man. Interestingly, Kerr's three characters each have a very different relationship with Candy: Edith is his good platonic friend (in spite of his desire for something more), Barbara is his wife and Angela views him as a father or possibly even a grandfather figure.Outside of the three main stars, the strongest cast member is John Laurie as Candy's loyal batman turned butler Murdoch. The film also features nice appearances from Felix Aylmer, Ronald Culver, Reginald Tate, Livesey's wife Ursula Jeans and, of course, Powell's Golden Cocker Spaniels Erik and Spangle. A very young Patrick Macnee was reportedly an extra but, as with "Hamlet" (1948), I didn't spot him.Overall, this is a splendid film on romance, war and growing old.

J. Arthur goes for quantity rather than quality is this interminable life story of a British officer, not a comedy as the comical newspaper character and whimsical incidental music implies, but a contemporary wartime drama, with some lovely swing and German music.The officer falls in love with a woman with extraordinary hats (one with an entire dead bird sprawled down the front) who ends up marrying a German officer in 1902.They later meet in WW1 and in WW2. Despite the title, the soldier is still alive at the end of the film. Product placements – Fry's cocoa and W. H. Smiths (newsagent).

An extraordinary film, full of wonders and invention. Roger Livesey's performance as Candy features one of the most amazing transformations of the history of cinema, from young Candy to old Candy. It is as if two different actors were playing the role.Emeric Pressburger's script is one of the most ambitious and literary ever used in a film. It is heartbreaking and at the same time very clever and self-reflecting. It talks about a passed age, and it shares some common themes with Proust's Remembrances of Things past. It could be a novel standing on its own.Colonel Blimp is a masterpiece for the ages, which will never grow old.The summit of the Archers' career.

I had the honour of watching The life and death of colonel Blimp and A matter of life and death both today, both films I thoroughly enjoyed. As a 27yr old British lad, it has only been now that I have been exposed to such gems that I wish I watched them earlier. I preferred TLANDOCB than AMOLAD, not to say that either one was an abomination because for me they are both marvellous. The main reason I liked TLANDOCB, for me, was how Roger Livesey played his character very well, such warmth almost satire like of what my perceived opinion of a British officer would had been in those days. Yes it was, in most ways, a satirical of the officer gentry types of that age. Although for me it wasn't all that, there was a lot more. The friendship struck between Clive Candy and Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff gives hope in this world that everyone should not be tarred with the same brush and good comes from anywhere irrespective from where they come from or what they have done. It has a theme of love and affection in the presence of the beautiful Deborah Kerr playing three characters (Edith Hunter, Barbara Wynne and Angela "Johnny" Cannon). How many other films would you see gentleman fight over the same woman yet here it is a lot more deeper which suggests more to the audience, without spoon feeding (which annoys me more about modern films in my era), as I do like to discuss films with my house mate. What I liked most about this film was how remarkable and fresh it was, considering this film was out in the early 40's it could easily pass as a film that was released later, much later. This film, without a doubt, should be comparable as an equal to "the third man", "It's a wonderful life", "The Godfather" or "12 angry men" to name a few. Moviegoers deserve more humbling productions as this and less mundane and mediocrity.Please send suggestions of what gems I should embark on next @ http://www.imdb.com/list/QdM7nPjVErY/Going to my local cinema is hard, there are only two screens there!