Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024)

4 Stars (out of 4)

Wild Hearts

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Hearing Martin Scorsese talk about his favorite films in documentaries like A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies, My Voyage to Italy, and Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, is always a pure pleasure. Scorsese knows these movies, and has special insight into them, but as he talks over the clips, you can feel his pleasure and his enthusiasm anew. He's discovering new things all the time. So the documentary Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger is not only a wonderful experience, but it's also a more intense one for Scorsese, given not only the impact of Powell and Pressburger's films on Scorsese's own work, but also the personal relationship he came to have with Powell.

Directed by David Hinton, the film expertly covers the history of the Powell and Pressburger — known as "The Archers" — and their partnership, with generous clips and analysis of their best films, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale, I Know Where I'm Going!, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and The Tales of Hoffmann. Additionally, it examines their not-so-great films and the reasons things might have gone wrong. It goes into detail on Peeping Tom, Powell's solo film, and the one that more or less destroyed his career.

In 1974, Scorsese reached out to Powell, who was living in obscurity at the time, and they became friends. Scorsese helped get Peeping Tom restored and re-released, which led to a new appreciation of all the Powell & Pressburger films. Scorsese and Powell became friends, but even better, Powell and Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker fell in love and married. This is a thorough and loving portrait, a mini-film school all in itself, and a must-see for anyone who already loves these films, or for anyone who is interested in learning more about what the cinema has to offer.