A Matter of Life and Death

Set during the Second World War, this romantic drama with elements of fantasy follows a British pilot (David Niven) who, after jumping from a plane without a parachute, survives thanks to an administrative error in the afterlife. Whilst falling in love with June (Kim Hunter), the American radio operator to whom he addressed his final words before the crash, he finds himself compelled to defend his right to life and love before a heavenly court. One of Powell and Pressburger’s most celebrated films, A Matter of Life and Death brings this cycle on life, death and what cinema imagines between them to a close, establishing itself as a work of profound humanism and remarkable formal innovation.