No.6’s Greatest Films Of All Time: A Matter of Life and Death

Powell and Pressburger are at their most imaginative - and controversial - in this film, starring David Niven. Squadron Leader Peter Carter is alone in a blazing plane. As he prepares himself for death he confides his innermost secrets to a radio operator. After jumping out of the plane he miraculously survives, meets the woman he spoke to and they fall in love. Although he appears to be unhurt, he has in fact suffered severe concussion which is accompanied by a series of strange hallucinations. During a brain operation, he meets characters from another world, and whilst he undergoes this dangerous operation, his spirit is put on trial. The verdict will decide whether he will live or die.