The newly-released documentary with the lengthy title “Martin Scorsese Presents Made in England, The Films of Powell and Pressburger” or sometimes simply called ”Made in England”, is now available on disc from Cohen Media Group and for streaming on various sites. This is a two and a quarter-hour film of Scorsese teaching his audience the history, technique, and --in his words, the genius of this 20th Century British filmmaking team. While he speaks, we see clip after clip from their films. By their films, this includes clips from Scorsese’s own classics, such as Mean Streets and Raging Bull, that were influenced directly by Powell’s and Pressburger’s work.
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger began making films in the late silent era, and both were beginning to direct, write, and/or produce with some authority separately by 1930. They formed a partnership, a London-based company called The Archers, in 1942.
As The Archers, and also separately, the two made exceptionally artful feature films. Many are considered brilliant, among the greatest British films ever made. I Know Where I’m Going, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, The 49th Parallel, Black Narcissus, The Edge of the World….
Even Powell’s 1960 film, Peeping Tom, which was considered by many critics and audiences as creepy and trashy when it came out, is today given the respect it deserves. For those who do not know it, it’s the story of a killer of women who films their facial expressions just as they are about to be murdered.
I have talked about Powell and Pressburger films and their twenty year partnership before now because they created such wonderful entertainments that are examples of the best in international filmmaking. Some still have broad audience appeal. I’m not sure that this lengthy documentary has the same kind of broad appeal. Maybe this is a film mainly for serious film mavens. Scorsese discusses the lesser-known titles alongside the classics. He offers anecdotes about the two as collaborators as well as gives details of their business dealings with British and Hollywood producers.
Does the mainstream viewer want to know so much about these two talented men? Probably not, but there are a good many cinephiles who will savor all that Scorsese has to say… has to teach.
Scorsese calls the Technicolor fantasy elements of A Matter of Life and Death “heightened intensity through artifice.” He calls I Know Where I’m Going – one of my personal favorite films, “one of the most beautiful love stories ever made.”
Scorsese was good friends with Powell. Powell was a mentor and counselor to Scorsese in many times of need. In fact, Scorsese’s close friend and associate-- his film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, winner of three Oscars, was married to Powell from 1984 until his death in 1990.
Few—possibly nobody else, can discuss the films of Powell and Pressburger with the expertise of Scorsese. Only a fellow filmmaker could nail the details of specific shots, the use of “color, light, movement, a sense of music.” Made in England may not please everyone, but it is a must for film students and film afficionados.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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