Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger

Okay, so I wasn't born in the 40s. I'm an 80s kid, and color TV and cinema were already the norm in my childhood. But even then, especially when watching TV (private channels only emerged in Turkey during my adolescence, so I grew up with state-run channels), most of the films were in black and white. Turns out, those were cheaper for TV stations to acquire.

It's wild to think that Martin Scorsese and I probably watched the same films on TV and fell in love with the same directors. This documentary answered a lot of questions I had, particularly about the influence of British filmmakers and crew on modern American cinema. It seems even Italian-American directors of that era developed their passion for film by watching British movies on TV as kids.

I'm not usually a big documentary person; I rarely watch them. But this one, which I caught on Mubi, really struck a chord with me. It's a poignant reminder of how fickle the film industry can be and how quickly people are forgotten.

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024) is a love letter to the iconic British filmmaking duo, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It's a treasure trove of archival footage, interviews, and insights into their creative process. The documentary delves into their groundbreaking techniques, their unique visual style, and their lasting impact on cinema.

Scorsese's narration is both informative and passionate, revealing his deep admiration for Powell and Pressburger's work. He guides us through their filmography, highlighting their most iconic films like The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and A Matter of Life and Death. We get a glimpse into their collaborative genius, their ability to seamlessly blend fantasy and reality, and their unwavering commitment to artistic integrity.

The documentary also sheds light on the challenges they faced in a rapidly changing industry, their eventual falling out, and their subsequent rediscovery and reappraisal by later generations of filmmakers. It's a cautionary tale about the fleeting nature of fame and the importance of preserving cinematic heritage.

Made in England is not just a documentary for film buffs; it's a celebration of creativity, passion, and the enduring power of cinema. It's a reminder that even in an industry driven by commercial interests, true artistry can still shine through. And most importantly, it's a tribute to two visionary filmmakers who dared to dream big and left an indelible mark on the world of cinema.

Martin Scorsese has been trying to get people to know and like the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger since the 60s when he was a film student at NYU. He actually discovered his first Archer films as a child, seeing The Tales of Hoffman on television and The Red Shoes in theaters with his father, but it wasn't until he became a success himself with the release of Mean Streets that he discovered that Michael Powell was still alive. Searching out the retired, English filmmaker at his small cottage in Kent, Scorsese is the singular force behind the rediscovery of Powell's films decades after he had made his pair of Australian films, and this documentary is probably the furthest that appreciation is going to reach.

Told by Scorsese who narrates the entire documentary, the story of Michael Powell in particular and his professional relationship with Emeric Pressburger is cast through the lens of Scorsese's own experience, opening with him as a child and his appreciation of some 19th century opera on television. Interspersed, Scorsese covers basic biography of Powell and Pressburger individually before really digging into their careers.

The documentary really is a primer for audiences, an introduction to the strange, otherworldly visions of the Archers who, as Scorsese put it, were experimental filmmakers in the British studio system. Having just gone through all of it (except for Pressburger's Twice Upon a Time, his only sole directing credit that I couldn't find a copy of anywhere), I got swept away in Scorsese's telling. I can't talk about how it would affect the uninitiated, but I have to assume that the strange sights and Scorsese's descriptions of their techniques, effects, and influence, especially on his own work, would interest those newly discovering the works of the British and Austro-Hungarian team.

It's interesting to note the differences of opinions that Scorsese and I have about the work. For instance, Scorsese considers The Red Shoes to be one of the greatest films ever made while I think it is merely very, very good. Or that he calls Gone to Earth a gothic masterpiece and I found it rather dull. Or that he considers both Oh...Rosalinda! And Ill Met by Moonlight to be disappointments, but I found them quite competent entertainments. Which is to say that while our opinions differed, I still loved hearing him talk about all of it.

If I have disappointments, it's that he skips over some professional details that I need answers to (I'll have to just read Powell's autobiography to get them, I think), namely around how Powell managed to pull together the production of The Queen's Guards after the horrendous reaction to Peeping Tom, or how The Boy Who Turned Yellow exists at all. It's understandable that Scorsese's focus is on Powell's successes rather than his failures, namely the artistic successes since he spends a goodly amount of time talking about Peeping Tom, a personal favorite of his. Still, with Scorsese's personal connection to Powell, a few seconds to talk about these things that concern me and no one else on the planet would have been nice.

It was interesting to hear of Powell's influences beyond what I found to be the obvious of Lubitsch (like in His Lordship) and Hitchcock (like in Crown v. Stevens and several others) to his earliest work with Rex Ingram, including clips from The Four Horsemen that emphasized the otherworldly approach to cinema that obviously Powell reformed in his own way through what he called "compositional film", the combination of sight and sound with an emphasis on synching the action on screen to the music, something he started with Black Narcissus and embraced fully across the entirety of the film with The Tales of Hoffman. It's a term that I couldn't have come up with myself but which fits this kind of idealized form of Powell's work rather completely.

I also really liked how Scorsese and the documentary's director, David Hinton, were able to include a fair number of clips from Scorsese's own work to highlight the influence of Powell's approach to making movies, Scorsese emphasizing the use of movement within a frame and editing to music. The largest clips come from Raging Bull, but the parallel between the obsessive characters like Lermontov in The Red Shoes or Mark in Peeping Tom with some of Scorsese's own characters like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver or even May from The Age of Innocence helps deepen the connection between the two men's work.

And, of course, there's the actual personal connections starting with the energetic young director of Mean Streets searching out Powell in the English countryside, glad to hear that anyone would be interested in his films at all, much less a rising New York director from America. It continues on with Scorsese helping him find work in Los Angeles, the marriage between Powell and Scorsese's editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and ending with behind-the-scenes clips of Powell on the set of The King of Comedy as Scorsese talks about how Powell, the older, more mature, creative voice in his life was able to help him through tough times. He never talks about Powell's death, almost making it feel like Powell is still alive in some way, and it seems appropriate considering how Scorsese's entire efforts around Powell are to bring the man and his work alive to a world that had forgotten and abandoned him.

Really, the personal touch from Scorsese is what gives the film that wonderful emotional connection. There's talking about how Powell and Pressburger's work was great, and then there's Scorsese talking about a friend whose work he greatly admired.

This is a wonderful documentary and introduction to the work of The Archers for those who haven't seen it, and it's also a wonderful bit of catharsis for those who have.

What makes the World Cinema documentaries of Martin Scorsese - American Movies, Val Lewton, Elia Kazan, and Voyage to Italy - so special is how he doesn't pretend that he can cover everything (though he certainly hits all the major beats that he can). He can't pretend to, so it all comes back to what his world was as a child; kid with asthma, couldn't play or do much in extracurricular physical activities, so there were two things he could manage: going to the movies, and watching movies on TV.

It's through this prism as well as the incalcubale influence that these works had on him that he shows us and talks about, with an enthusiasm and passion that makes you feel like you got a seat in a film class that lasts only as long as a feature (though the American and Italian docs run 4 hours - short time when you think on it), and this film, about the "Archers" Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is another in that pantheon.

Made in England is a film that is more than just a documentary about movies or the making of them (though it is that). You feel like he was changed by what the bravery and virtuosity of art - and as is detailed here the love and bond between the two creators (Powell mostly was on set and directed, Pressburger did more or the writing, and they both produced equally), which is itself an inspiration for creators. And as a difference from the other documentaries/history lessons, this time there's a friendship that Powell also had with the man and that love for his mind and heart as well as his work comes through completely.

Above all else is the sense that not only do you not necessarily have to have seen most or even all of the films by these filmmakers to appreciate what Scorsese is detailiny here - though I imagine having familiarity at least with The Red Shoes or Black Narcissus would help, and they are not hard to find these days - the documentary makes the case for what, we are told, was Michael Powell's mantra: one art in all (if I'm paraphrasing that forgive me before you throw me in movie critic jail). That is to say film in its peak potential can and should have all the arts working in unison: theater, painting, dance, choreography, literature, poetry, mysticism and spirituality all mingling in films like Canterbury Tale or, of course, Tales of Hoffmann.

The examples of experimentation and surrealism, how ambitiously the filmmakers kept pushing what could be done in the medium while not only keeping in the spirit and practice of the hallmarks of Silent-era film (telling as much as possible visually, over dialog, which isn't to say there isn't great dialog in there films because I Know Where I'm Going, enough said), are stellar and really point to how there was real joy in the fantasies and realities that Powell and Pressburger ventured into. And it's just a superb chronicle of how careers evolve and how one film will lead to another or then the next a sharp 180 turn has to be made (ie Red Shoes to Small Black Room, you almost can't believe they're by the same directors but the heart is the constant between the two films).

You understand completely how art and experimentation can thrive best when Those With the Power at the studios (and sometimes surely producers, ie Rank and Selznick) can make or break a career depending on how open or closed off they are to an approach to art; sometimes that's due to the circumstances of a time period (so the contexts of England in WW2 vs Post War and then into the 1960s - the forgotten part and the rediscovery in the later decades - is deftly explored so it becomes also a story about how, to quote of all things something I read once in a book about MTV, art is what you get away with).

What I mean to say is Scorsese, in his analysis that is down to showing the nuts and bolts of filmmaking - how color is used so daringly and vibrantly (I got goosebumps showing my personal favorite P&P, Matter of Life and Death); the choices of pre recorded music on set for sequences; planning so meticulous even eye movements are choreographed to the nines - he expresses what Cinema as a whole can express life, loves, rivalries, war, betrayal, capital O Obsession, the human need for control (and the lack of it), and materialism and how spirituality is in so many parts of life, as the ultimate art-form.

In other words, Scorsese uses specific examples; down to how the decisions in showing (sometimes uncomfortable) points of view; choices of actors (with Deborah Kerr sometimes multiple parts in one film); points that challenge our empathy with a character (49th Parallel), are one level that can't be separated from the pure joy that the Archers displayed in film after film (until, sadly, that dissipated).

This documentary commemorates the collaboration between director Michael POWELL and screenwriter Emmerich PRESSBURGER. Between 1939 and 1957 they made numerous films together, and from 1943 onwards they also worked as producers for the film company THE ARCHERS. It is interesting that films such as BLACK NARCISSUS, THE RED SHOES and THE TALES OF HOFFMANN were forgotten between 1960 and 1980 before they were rediscovered as masterpieces of film history. Martin SCORSESE also reminds us of this, having already paid tribute to the almost forgotten film gems of Italian cinema history. It makes you want to rediscover the films of POWELL / PRESSBURGER. BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) with Deborah KERR, David FARRAR and Kathleen BYRON is certainly particularly successful.

The more accurate title is: The Films of Powell and Pressburger: As Told By Martin Scorsese (the credited Director is David Hinton).

Be that as it may, MADE IN ENGLAND is a fairly thorough overview of filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger who collaborated on a series of films spanning from the late 1930s to the early 1970s (their company was called The Archers). The most famous are THE RED SHOES, BLACK NARCISSUS, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH and THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP. There are generous clips from the movies put into context by the ever-present Scorsese. Old filmed interviews as well as personal photos and home movies illustrate their lives and careers - both together and separately. Powell's most known work outside the collaboration were 1940's THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (co-Director) and, most infamously, PEEPING TOM. Many of the excerpts from their films are recently restored, and look smashing.

Scorsese admired their work from afar from an early age, and got to know Powell on a personal level over the Englishman's last two decades of his life (Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker is Powell's widow). Occasionally, Scorsese stretches the influence of Powell and Pressburger to on his own work with motifs that are cinema staples in general. It's a minor quibble, but it just adds to the impression that this is Martin Scorsese's story as much as it is Powell and Pressburger's.

MADE IN ENGLAND is a solid introduction to Powell and Pressberger's work - now, go see their films!