The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Colour, 35 mm
United Kingdom, 1943, 164 min
Section: Tribute to Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

Synopsis

The age-old generational conflict between the obstinance of youth, sorely lacking in tolerance, and the experience of old men is central to the second film shot by The Archers, Powell and Pressburger’s production company. As the basis for their own genial General Candy (Roger Livesey), the creative duo turned to left-leaning David Low’s comic strip creation Colonel Blimp, which the caricaturist used to savage the domestic policy and military establishment of the era. One of the most renowned British films of the 20th century, Colonel Blimp uses extensive flashbacks of the private life and four-decade army career of a soldier who elevated professional and personal honor and true friendship above all. And thanks to Candy’s gentlemanly manner of waging war, which seemed highly anachronistic in 1943, and to his unwavering lifelong friendship with a German officer (Anton Walbrook), "Blimp” and his conventions provoked Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s anger against the obstreperous filmmakers and even a boycott of the film.