Review of I Know Where I'm Going (2009) by Mia S — 13 Nov 2013

I was truly captivated by this 1945 picture from The Archers (Powell & Pressburger, famous for the later Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes). A completely British film featuring a heroine who knows what she wants and that is to raise her social standing by marrying a rich but older businessman who is a symbol of Britain's new focus on corporate culture (he runs Consolidated Chemicals).

The film details her journey from London to a tiny Scottish island (Kiloran) where the wedding will take place -- at last she is stopped by a tremendous gale blocking her passage. She meets Roger Livesly who is more than he seems and they are stuck together waiting to cross the dangerous channel (where a well-filmed whirlpool lurks).

The film is thus a romance as well as a keenly wrought observation of down-to-earth Scottish values and culture (yes, some bagpiping here). Powell and Pressburger go the expressionistic route (as usual) which lends a distinctly magical air to the otherwise realistic proceedings, full of dream sequences, superstition, ancient curses, and romance.

In the end, in what must be a political statement, humanistic values are championed over the military industrial complex. This makes the film sound dull but it is definitely not -- a moving mystical romance.