Powell & Pressburger

by Andrew Moor

The filmmaking partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger was one of the most remarkable and visionary in cinema. They made an extraordinary range of films, from The Spy in Black and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp to A Canterbury Tale and The Red Shoes. With champions like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, and revived critical interest worldwide, they now find new generations of admirers. This illuminating new book looks closely at these classic films to explore their complex relationship to national identity, and their developing interest in exile, borderlands, utopias, escapism, art and fantasy. Moor reveals how the visual imagery of the films of World War II question current cinematic styles and how post-war films like The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffman - in their highly expressive use of design, music and dance - are international in character.