Martin Scorsese will narrate and present Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger, a documentary about the legendary filmmaking duo. It’s out in May.
In the 1940s and early 50s, filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger made some of the best and most important films to emerge from the UK. Among their most admired works are The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948).
Whether they were wartime romances, comedies or dramas with a hint of the fantastical, the duo’s films were beautifully shot uniquely their own, largely because – unusually – they wrote, directed and produced their movies, with almost no studio interference, under their company banner, The Archers.
Narrated by Martin Scorsese, Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger will explore the pair’s singular life and work, with the feature-length documentary running to a generous 129 minutes. Fittingly, given just how beautifully shot Powell and Pressburger’s films were, Made In England is getting a cinema release in the UK, with its debut set for the 10th May 2024.
Scorsese has long been a champion of the filmmakers’ work. He played a major part in the deserved critical reappraisal of Peeping Tom, the 1960 psychological thriller that was deemed so sordid that it essentially destroyed Michael Powell’s career (by this point, he and Pressburger had parted ways, albeit on friendly terms). Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorsese’s longstanding editor, was married to Powell until his death in 1990; Schoonmaker, along with Scorsese and Olivia Harrison, is credited as an executive producer on Made In England.
Read more: Exploring the lesser known films of Powell and Pressburger
Directed by David Hinton, the documentary employs a “rich array of archive material” to explore Powell and Pressburger’s very different backgrounds – Powell was born in Kent; Pressburger was a Hungarian-Jewish émigré) – and how they wound up becoming two of the UK’s most respected and influential filmmakers.
“Certain films you simply run all the time and you live with them.” Scorsese said in a press release. “As you grow older they grow deeper. I’m not sure how it happens, but it does. For me, that body of work is a wondrous presence, a constant source of energy, and a reminder of what life and art are all about.”
Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger will screen at festivals in Berlin, Dublin and Glasgow ahead of its wider cinema release on the 10th May.
