A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
High concept film that lives up to its title sort of similar to It’s a Wonderful Life, though it goes even further with its depiction of the afterlife. It is basically a fairy tale set at the end of WW2. The historic context of this film is vital, as it works a process of what Europe had just went through and trying to find some of meaning and hope for the millions of deaths. The set design and the trial is very unique and it reminded me of the Star Trek The Next Generation where Q put humanity on trial. There is a similar thing going on here, as the film doesn’t shy away from direct political commentary with named countries, making the film bolder than merely a fairy tale processing of life and death. That said, I mostly appreciated this on the historic and intellectual merits, as the actual love story felt too contrived to properly get to me.
<a href=”https://letterboxd.com/jwldk/list/criterion-challenge-2026/>Criterion Challenge 2026 - 23. Pick any category from a past Criterion Challenge year (Technicolor)</a>
Rating: 3.5