The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Sometimes I like movies for small reasons. One example is the wonderful laugh of Roger Livesey at the beginning of the Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. His character, having just pulled a prank on an old friend, laughs openly at a restaurant. The two are military men of both different countries and sides, but respect each other. Livesey's laugh insinuates the level of friendship between them. When a joke is done onscreen usually the point is just to get the audience to laugh so the characters say the joke straight. When a joke is said and the characters laugh, it is a point of interaction. The level of charm and endearment between the characters is important for its success. Laughing on screen to a joke doesn't happen as often people think it does in movies. The important thing is that is hardly ever happens as well as it does in the Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Powell and Pressburger, capable technicians of other valued works, make an epic on the theme of friendship and honor over changing times. This theme became famous in Grand Illusion, but the best thing is that they don't try to copy that film. Instead they use elements of slapstick humor mixed with sentimentality. There is a good even play of absurd humor mixed emotional resonance. The purpose of slapstick is to demote the characters, but in Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, the characters represent comic tragedies who get to our sympathies because of their lovabilities. Sometimes we make too much of older movies because most of them were studio products. Considering what obligations this film had that were financial, the fact it still was able to be truly touching and poignant is a success. This doesn't equal Grand Illusion, but shows a theme and subject has many avenues in which to be gaged.