While many will, justifiably, call out Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, David Lean and more when it comes to their favorite British directors, the work from a certain pair of filmmakers have struck a special chord with me. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger first met on 1939’s The Spy in Black and would go on to create a number of classic films (some taking time to attain that status), including A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes.
With my personal favorite work from them, The Life an Death of Colonel Blimp, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and a recent release from The Criterion Collection (an absolute must-buy), we’re highlighting a great documentary on the duo from 1981. Titled A Pretty British Affair, it tracks their initial meeting and years of future output, as well as interviews with both men before they sadly passed less than a decade later. The documentary also briefly follows Powell with Francis Ford Coppola, touring Zoetrope Studios and his then-latest work, One From the Heart, as well as stopping by Martin Scorsese‘s The King of Comedy set. Check out the full 50-minute film below.
Are Powell and Pressburger among your favorite directors? What are your favorite films?