Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger

Martin Scorsese hosts a look back at the partnership between British filmmaker Michael Powell and Hungarian screenwriter Emeric Pressburger in Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger. Martin Scorsese fostered his love of film by watching British productions that were aired on American TV. His favourites were from “Production of the Archers,” the production company of director Michael Powell and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger. Working together from the late 1930s through the 1950s, Powell and Pressburger made cinematic classics such as 49th Parallell (1941), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947), and their most well-known film The Red Shoes (1948).

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger Synopsis

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger is a documentary directed by David Hinton about the filmmaking duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, known together as The Archers. The film is hosted and narrated by Martin Scorsese, who was greatly influenced by the duo's films and Scorsese even befriended a then-forgotten Michael Powell during the former's early years as a filmmaker. Made in England covers the entire filmography of Powell and Pressburger, while also touching on a couple of films that Michael Powell directed solo, such as The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and Peeping Tom (1960).

My Thoughts on Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger

While some may criticize Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger for making Martin Scorsese the focus at times, the documentary, which runs at a sizeable 2h11m, works as a lecture or masterclass about The Archers. There is arguably no living filmmaker more passionate about classic cinema than Martin Scorsese, so he is the perfect man to lead us down the career of Powell and Pressburger. The result is a documentary that will make you want to seek out the films of this iconic duo.