Michael Powell - classic or modern?

Michael Powell’s reputation was built on his work after 1937, but by that time he had already made 23 B movies. It is true, however, that from then on his cinematic output took on a whole new dimension, making him one of the three greats of the British cinema of the 1940s and 1950s, along with David Lean and Carol Reed. In perfect harmony with screenwriter Emmerich Pressburger, he produced a series of superbly structured and exquisitely crafted films, over which they had complete control when they founded their own production company, The Archers. Highly effective formal experimentation underlies his apparent classicism, producing films that deliver pure pleasure. The Thief of Bagdad, The Red Shoes, Peeping Tom (and more...) are regularly ranked among the best of their respective genres and have lost none of their seductive power.

In collaboration with CINEMATEK