"I Know Where I’m Going!”

Black and white, 35 mm
United Kingdom, 1945, 92 min
Section: Tribute to Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

Synopsis

"I’ve never seen a picture which smelled of the wind and rain in quite this way, nor one which so beautifully exploited the kind of scenery people actually live with....” wrote Raymond Chandler about an uncommon romance whose script was knocked off by Emeric Pressburger in the record time of one week. Ambitious and stubborn Joan (Wendy Hiller) sets out for the Hebrides off Scotland’s western coast where a rich industrialist waits for her with an engagement ring. But inexplicable natural elements and a meeting with a likable naval officer named Torquil (Roger Livesey) force the young woman to reevaluate her plans and even do a bit of soul-searching. As with A Canterbury Tale, the landscape proves to be one of the film’s main protagonists and, with the help of cameraman Erwin Hillier once again, Powell was masterfully able to translate its spiritual dimension into film language. This melodramatic story, enriched by suspense and comic elements, also references the aforementioned movie through its semi-autobiographical male character – a stoically self-assured guardian of traditional values in a world beset by aggressive materialism.