Review of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) by Carly B — 02 Mar 2004

(DVD) (First Viewing, 5th Powell and Pressburger (6th Powell) film).

Simply superb. Set on a grand scale, [b]The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp[/b] works so well because it connects on an intimate level. Breaking the life of Clive Candy down into three major sections, Powell and Pressburger are able to chronicle both World Wars, love affairs, a duel, and most of all a friendship that managed to endure it all.

P&P regular Roger Livesey ([b]I Know Where I'm Going![/b] and [b]A Matter of Life and Death[/b]) plays Candy with much dignity and sincerity, from his days as a reckless young soldier to a bloated and frail elderly man. And a young Deborah Kerr, in her first major film role, plays three different women who appear in the three sections of Candy's life. But the big surprise for me was the young Anton Wallbrook as Theo, the German who Candy duels, injures, and becomes lifelong friends with. He hadn't made a major impression the other films I've seen him in, but he's perfect here, and gives a sad speech that becomes perhaps the most poignant sequence in the film.

What impressed me most was the thread of friendship that runs through the film. It's really one of the best depictions of friendship I've ever seen in a film- though duty puts them on different sides of WWI and Theo marries the woman Candy was in love with, their bond stands firm. And given P&P's sentimental tendencies, the relationship works quite well.

Just really a beautiful film, and it looks spectacular on the Criterion DVD. I think I may still prefer [b]A Matter of Life and Death[/b] (though just slightly), [b]The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp[/b] is without a doubt one of Powell and Pressburger's finest acheivements and most likely one of the greatest English films of the 1940's.