Programme

Art is life – a motto that rings in The Red Shoes, apparently reflects the philosophy of Michael Powell (1905-90) and Emeric Pressburger (1902-88) towards filmmaking. Almost like a morbid obsession, their total devotion to the cinema underscores the phenomenal power and mystery of their original, diverse body of work, at once daringly subversive, aesthetically inventive and ravishingly beautiful. Few can rival their cultural legacy and enduring influence in British film history.

Working hand in hand since the outbreak of World War II, the coalescence between English native Powell and Hungarian émigré Pressburger ‘proved to be one of those fortuitous combinations where the chemistry was felicitous in every degree’ (film historian William K. Everson). Powell’s dynamic direction was given substance by Pressburger’s richly layered and incisive screenplays; their distinct cultures and personalities converge on the common ground of an uncompromising take on filmmaking. The two cinematic visionaries and innovators shared credits as writers, directors and producers under the banner of their production company The Archers – a hallmark that denotes an integral artistic partnership.

Their early collaborations hit the stride with a series of wartime thrillers. Surpassing the boundaries of a propaganda film, the creative duo delves into humanity, contemplating friendship, romance, desire and belief while denouncing the wars. Grounded in reality yet embracing surrealism, their films evoke magical, dreamlike fantasy that celebrates the transcendent value of love – through three incarnations of an ideal woman embodying the heart and soul, or an adjudication in the heavenly tribunal for a presumed dead soldier returning to his love on Earth. Bold and revolutionary, they crafted films that explore the possibilities of cinematic language, and the mesmerising power of chiaroscuro and colour, unveiling covert depression in stark monochrome, while exposing burning desires in the feverish red of Technicolor.

Psychedelia of their unbridled imagination is in full manifestation under the immaculate direction, powered by exceptional cinematography, sound, lighting, and production design. The stairway to heaven, the bell tower on a cliff, and a boat in a whirlpool – all these visual splendours that bring to life the indecipherable psyche are made up by awe-inspiring special effects. The fusion of theatrical and cinematic magic, the wedding of sound and image in ‘composed cinema’, and their stylised artistic experimentation resulted in a tour de force of whimsical fantasy – a universe of cinema inventiveness that never existed before.

A devotee of The Archers, Martin Scorsese acknowledged in Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger that their body of work is a constant source of energy, and a reminder of what life and art are all about. That’s exactly what Powell and Pressburger’s visionary cinema was – and still is.