“Is he a poet?”: Questions of British National Identity and Love in A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Postcolonialism and the world wars had a devastating impact on Britain in numerous ways. However, the national identity of Britain remained the most ambiguous and at risk as the weight of imperial sins began to sink in. Britain’s strength and independence as a nation was greatly tested during World War II, as attacks were made directly on British soil and Britain found itself unable to win the war without additional support and resources. This instability is explored in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1946 film A Matter of Life and Death, which examines the strange romantic relationship between a British soldier, Peter (David Niven), and an American radio operator, June (Kim Hunter), that begins after Peter survived what should have been a deadly fall from his crashing plane. The film beckons the audience to not compare the event in the film to those in real life, however, the making of the film right at the end of World War II suggests that the war in the film itself is also World War II. Throughout the film, the mise-en-scène emphasizes a rich British history that reminds the audience of a British national identity that had been effectively forgotten during World War II. The film showcases a world of juxtapositions between the rational and irrational through the film’s emphasis of British literary traditions, spirituality, and law. The endless contradictory dichotomies are proven irrelevant when love is showcased as the one thing that is both rational and irrational by the end of the film. Peter and June’s relationship should not exist and yet their love is proved valid in the realms of the film. This ultimate relationship between an American woman and a British man renders the question of British national identity utterly superfluous in the name of love allowing for an entirely new identity to be made, while acknowledging the traditional British identity.

A Matter of Life and Death is a unique film in all the matters of its production and distribution. The film, directed by notorious Powell and Pressburger, began shooting during the end of World War II (Chapman 34). The studio directed Powell and Pressburger to produce a film that would improve the image of a British and American relationship, since the alliance between the two nations in World War II received increasing prejudice by the citizens of each nation (Chapman 34-35). The completed film was not released until the end of the war, making the effects of the film slightly different in the sense of wartime tensions, but still worked to relieve some of the apprehension around British and American relations during the postwar period (Chapman 38). A Matter of Life and Death mentions war briefly and fails to add any discussion about war in general and instead focusing on the peculiar love story of Peter and June.

Throughout A Matter of Life and Death, many scenes emphasize British Romantic poetry and philosophy recalling a historical British literary superiority. Even from the first shots of the film, while Peter is speaking what he believes are his last words to June, Peter quotes the poetry of Sir Walter Raleigh. Peter could have talked about anything in his last words: he could have panicked or urged his life story to be remembered. Instead, Peter, calm and collected, speaks of poetry, spiritualism, and love: a juxtaposition in itself. Peter is speaking words associated with irrationality and imagination and yet is behaving reasonably in a chaotic moment. Peter’s comfort in dying rely on his comfort in the words of this Romantic poetry instead of a love for his country or bravery in war. Poetry and literature are continuously referenced throughout the remainder of the film as well. When Peter meets Doctor Reeves (Roger Livesey) for the first time, the meeting takes place in a manor house where there is also a play of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream being put on. Manor houses and theatre are also integral symbols of a traditional British national identity, although in this scene, both are in charge by Americans. The celebration of these two symbols by Americans in this scene suggests the outdated reliance on the symbols and that they no longer accurately represent the British national identity. Furthermore, June and Peter were playing a game of chess in the manor house, contrasting a game of high logic and skill with a description of Peter’s “hallucinations” of the afterworld. When Peter is taken to Reeve’s home, he stays in Reeve’s office among stacks of books. Peter requests that he is allowed to stay in the office upon first being in the room because he said it would be good for “his mind”. For Peter, the books provide a level of physical and mental well-being and protection. Moreover, Peter is mentioned many times throughout the film to be an aspiring poet that also dwells on the sublime. However, it is noted that Peter is constantly unable to work on poetry because he has always had other more important careers in the military. These two careers in themselves seem to be directly contradictory since one relies on the imagination and the other on logic. Peter’s poet status furthermore becomes essential in the trial at the end of the film. Reeves acts as Peter’s council in heaven and at one point is questioned by the plaintiff council, American Abraham Farlan (Raymond Massey), “Is [Peter] a poet?”. The question serves to imply that if Peter had been a famous poet, there would be more cause for him to remain living. Interestingly, Peter’s military status holds no weight in the importance of his life. A little later in the trial, Reeves claims that “for England I am ready to call on John Donne, Dryden, Pope, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats …” relying heavily on English Romanticism to support his argument. Again, the irrationality of these poets are utilized to make a rational argument due to the uniqueness of the trial being based on whether or not Peter and June’s love is authentic.

Spirituality is integral to A Matter of Life and Death as the world of the living and dead are directly intertwined and furthermore overlap throughout the film. The realm that is referred to as heaven in the film seems to stand in as a symbol of rationality itself. Any scenes of heaven are shot in black and white, which at the time A Matter of Life and Death was made would have felt more natural and real than the shots of the real world which are shot in technicolor. Furthermore, heaven is described as running basically as a “clock”, with everything in perfect order. Although, it is noted that every few thousand years there has been a mistake. Seemingly, what makes the real world so irrational is the fact that there is no straight and definite line of events as shown by the fact that Peter does not die and also by the fact that Conductor 71 (Marius Goring) and others in heaven can stop time on Earth and interrupt events there. Ironically, when Peter awakes on the beach, he confuses himself for being in purgatory and yet the British landscape seems far more heaven-like than heaven itself in the film. The scene exposes perhaps some of the influence of Romanticism in Peter in that moment, but also idealizes the land of Britain. Heaven and earth also mimic each other at moments in the film such as at the ending of the film when the doctors and nurses working on Peter’s head are shown as the same people who make up the key members of the court in heaven. This flips the dichotomy and confuses the rational and irrational balance in the film as the surgery seems to be the more rational moment than God and angels coming down from heaven to allow Peter a fair trial. Another instance of mimicking comes into play when June is shown to be wearing the same pink rose that Conductor 71 also wears pinned to his lapel throughout the film. This mimicry connects June and Conductor 71 as messengers in the film. June was literally suppose to deliver a message to Peter’s family in the beginning of the film, but also acts as a source of guidance in Peter’s life after the plane crash. Conductor 71 is an actual messenger from heaven to act as a middleman between heaven and Peter on earth. June wears the rose in two scenes in the film: in the manor house when Reeves is first introduced to Peter and at the very end of the film when she finds the chess book in Peter’s jacket and goes to console him as he awakes from surgery. Of lesser importance, June and Conductor 71 are also tied to chess in these scenes, but more importantly the two scenes are integral moments of June as messenger in the film. In the first scene, June is delivering Peter to Reeves and in the second she is delivering him into his new permanent life on Earth.

The trial at the end of the film synthesizes and exaggerates the rational and irrational dichotomies throughout the film. Any trial should logically be based in reason, but the trial seems to rework the idea of the rational by both disproving rationality and proving the irrational as rational. The prosecution, run by Abraham Farlan, continuously tries to make rational arguments that do not stand up to the content of the trial. Farlan mentions that any jury would always be biased against any British man because of the sins of empire stained on the British national identity. Reeves, acting as Peter’s council, welcomes the notion of a prejudiced jury to the point of replacing the jury with all American members. The trial works in this moment to disintegrate the attachment to an old British identity as it is not relevant to current affairs. Reeves works national identity out of the question completely by showing embarrassing evidence against the American national identity. Removing the shame behind national identity allows the trial to move on to judge Peter only on the authenticity of his love rather than any national identity that he holds. When June and Peter themselves are questioned on their love, rationality and irrationality come together in a statement made by June. Farlan questions June about how she could love Peter when she hardly knows him and June responds that it is true that her love for Peter lacks reason, but she argues there is no “sense” in love. June goes on to end up offering her life to restore the rationality and balance in heaven and on earth, which proves her love and leads to the trial being ruled in favor of Peter.

Balance and unbalance are essential in the workings of A Matter of Life and Death as well as rationality and irrationality. The film acts as a distraction to war and to national identity in a time period where national identity in itself could mean life or death. The film proves that love conquers all and national identity does not matter in the name of love. Traditional British national identity is both celebrated and dismissed by the end of the film allowing for a potential new and better identity to be made. With a lack of certainty in the post war period in America and Britain, A Matter of Life and Death permits both countries a fresh start into a new world.

References

Chapman, J. “'The True Business of the British Movie'? A Matter of Life and Death and British Film Culture.” Screen, vol. 46, no. 1, 2005, pp. 33–50., doi:10.1093/screen/46.1.33.