The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Directed by

Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Genre

drama film, war film, romance film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

2h 43m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.4 of 10 from 272 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

The film follows a British army officer from the Boer War through World War II. His old-fashioned ideas about honorable combat clash with modern warfare.

epicreflectivepoignantslow-pacedsatiricalmelancholicthoughtfulvisually lush

What happens

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a 1943 British romantic-war film written, produced and directed by the British film-making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. The title derives from the satirical Colonel Blimp comic strip by David Low, but the story is original. Although the film is strongly pro-British, it is a satire on the British Army, especially its leadership. It suggests that Britain faced the option of following traditional notions of honourable warfare or "fighting dirty" against such an evil enemy as Nazi Germany. One film critic has described it as "England's greatest film ever" and it is renowned for its sophistication and directorial brilliance as well as for its script, the performances of its large cast and its pioneering Technicolor cinematography. Among its distinguished company of actors, particular praise has been reserved for Livesey, Walbrook and Kerr. The film was ranked 45th in the British Film Institute's 1999 list of the top 100 British films and 80th in Empire magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• The Gentle Sex (1943)
• Immortal Sergeant (1943)
• I'll Walk Beside You (1943)
• The Night Invader (1943)
• There's Something About a Soldier (1943)
• Forever and a Day (1943)
• Journey's End (1930)
• The Dark Tower (1943)