My journey through the films of Powell and Pressburger brings me to one of their quirkiest pieces, A Canterbury Tale. Like all their best work, this film, made in 1943 and released a year later, has a way of stealing up on you as you watch it. It happened with The Red Shoes , it happened with The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp . Peeping Tom is a slightly different kettle of fish, as its shocks come immediately, while Black Narcissus suffers from a plot that is too thin and actors that seem to be enjoying themselves too much. (Golden rule for performers: if you are enjoying yourselves immensely, the audience are probably not.)
Much of A Canterbury Tale is shot on location in and around Canterbury, an area that the director, Michael Powell, knew well from his childhood. Indeed, the East Kent countryside – more Garden of Eden than Garden of England – shares top billing with the peerless Eric Portman (who dominates the film in much the same way that Anton Walbrook dominates The Red Shoes), newcomer Sheila Sim (now Lady Attenborough), Sergeant John Sweet, seconded from the US army, and Dennis Price, best known to later generations as Jeeves to Ian Carmichael’s Wooster.
The plot is bizarre and contrived, but that hardly matters. Indeed, it may be argued that it contributes to the immense power of the film, in which three troubled people come into the orbit of a Svengali-like figure – or is he an angel? – who seems to hold the key to making them whole.
"Life is full of disappointments," says the Portman character, even as he acts as the conduit through which other people's disappointments are transcended.
This is a remarkable film. As John Sweet, quoting Henry James, says in an interview shot on his return to Canterbury in 2004, "What you see is what you bring." Those who bring a rich experience of life and an open and wondering mind to this film are assured of their reward.
Much of A Canterbury Tale is shot on location in and around Canterbury, an area that the director, Michael Powell, knew well from his childhood. Indeed, the East Kent countryside – more Garden of Eden than Garden of England – shares top billing with the peerless Eric Portman (who dominates the film in much the same way that Anton Walbrook dominates The Red Shoes), newcomer Sheila Sim (now Lady Attenborough), Sergeant John Sweet, seconded from the US army, and Dennis Price, best known to later generations as Jeeves to Ian Carmichael’s Wooster.
The plot is bizarre and contrived, but that hardly matters. Indeed, it may be argued that it contributes to the immense power of the film, in which three troubled people come into the orbit of a Svengali-like figure – or is he an angel? – who seems to hold the key to making them whole.
"Life is full of disappointments," says the Portman character, even as he acts as the conduit through which other people's disappointments are transcended.
This is a remarkable film. As John Sweet, quoting Henry James, says in an interview shot on his return to Canterbury in 2004, "What you see is what you bring." Those who bring a rich experience of life and an open and wondering mind to this film are assured of their reward.
2 comments:
Late in his life, Eric Portman made a very good Number Two in the Free For All episode of The Prisoner.
Good spot. And here he is in action.
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