One of my all time favorites.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This remarkable film has changed the lives of many people who have seen it. In 1994, a half hour TV documentary was made called I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING REVISITED (available on Youtube, and also see my separate review of it), which revisits the scenes and interviews the surviving people who were involved in the production. The main film itself was shot on the Isle of Mull and the small islands of Scarba and Colonsay in the Scottish Western Isles. The ruined castle which features so prominently in the story was the real Castle Moy near Lochbuie on Mull, which both in the film and in reality was the home of the Clan MacLean (also spelled MacLaine), which the family abandoned in 1752. The terrifying scenes of the small boat drifting in a storm into a huge whirlpool in the sea, called 'the Corryvrecken' (its name also in the film), were filmed in the real whirlpool of that name situated between the islands of Scarba and Jura. It is the third largest whirlpool in the world. A local man, frankly risking his life for the sake of art (and perhaps a fee), took a small boat to the edge of the whirlpool and this was filmed as live action by telephoto lenses from the very top of Scarba. The whirlpool in the film was thus not an artificial one but very much the real thing. Such whirlpools in the sea, and in rivers, are rare but do exist around the world, the biggest one being off the coast of Norway in the Lofoten Islands, for instance. I have an old 16th century engraving of it somewhere, lost amongst the piles of such things which I have collected, in other words, lost in my 'paper maelstrom'. It is named the Moskstraumen, but often called 'the Maelstrom'. The word 'maelstrom' entered the English language because of it, introduced by Edgar Allan Poe, who used the term in his story 'A Descent into the Maelstrom'. Another major whirlpool off the coast of Norway is called the Saltstraumen. Much of the action of the film was filmed at a hotel in the town of Tobermory on Mull, and many tourists still turn up there to see the locations and taste the atmosphere of their favourite film. The quay where Wendy Hiller stood desperately hoping for a ferry is at Carsaig on Mull (the opposite end of the island from Tobermory), and is apparently still the same as it was in 1944. So much for history, geography, and oceanography, and so now we turn to the film. It is a dreamy, mystical and romantic film written and directed by the partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The cinematographer who did such brilliant work was Erwin Hillier (credited as Erwin Hiller). He was a genius at location shooting, as he proved in his most outstanding achievement of all, filming Sandy Mackendrick's SAMMY GOING SOUTH (1963, see my review), which was shot all across the African continent from Port Said in Egypt to South Africa. The stars of the film are Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey, both of whom are magnificent and make the film work magically, with enormous chemistry between them. Petula Clark, later to become a well known pop singer, plays the strange little girl reading the big book, who makes precocious remarks to Livesey. Pamela Brown gives a profound air of mystery and uncontrolled wildness to the part of the impecunious aristocrat Catriona. She lived with Michael Powell until her unfortunate early death from cancer at the age of only 58. This early appearance was only her second film, of the 60 she was to make between 1942 and 1975, the year she died. That averages out at slightly more than two per year. She certainly had unique qualities of strangeness. Finlay Currie, in his usual kilt, naturally appears in this film, as indeed how could he not, since he so epitomised Scotland in films at that time. It needs to be said that back in those days, the English looked upon their Welsh and Scottish fellow-countrymen with great affection, revelling in their quaintness, strange ways of speaking (much Gaelic is spoken in this film), and national peculiarities. This comes across for instance in Will Hay's film OH, MR. PORTER! (1937, see my review), with its hilarious and affectionate portrayal of the eccentricities of the Welsh, and Sandy Mackendrick's equally hilarious WHISKY GALORE (1949) about the Scots. Alas, England's relations with the Scots have soured, and today such an affectionate portrait of the Scots by English filmmakers would be most unlikely. In the film we are treated to a vision of a ceilidh celebration, and to other insights into traditional Scots life of the Islands. We even have three pipers playing together, and we have a golden eagle as a star of the film as well. This reminds me of our old acquaintance (from days of auld lang syne) Seton Gordon, the golden eagle expert, and champion piper who could play the pibroch the best of all. His book AFOOT IN THE HEBRIDES is highly recommended for those interested in the Western Isles. This film conveys more than just the romance between a man and a woman who fall unexpectedly in love, thus threatening all of Wendy Hiller's plans of 'where I am going', but it also conveys the romance of a West of Scotland that once existed, with its mist, its waves, its storms both natural and human, its pipes, its kilts, and its customs. It is a magical film recording the days of Scotland's innocence, perhaps, before political hysteria overwhelmed the people north of the Border. Perhaps if they all were to sit down and watch this movie, many of them might just recover some of their age-old charm, wit, sense of fun and playfulness, and lose those fierce frowns on their faces today.

I can't remember the exact quote but Michael Powell once said that with a film all you can do is make it in the hope that something magical will come and nest in it. He certainly did that with 'I know where I am going' and 'A Canterbury Tale.'I am not sure I have much to add with my encomium but re-watching 'I know where I am going' I was struck with what today would be called the sheer "emotional intelligence" of the film. It is so rare in the cinema today and long gone from the British Broadcasting Corporation or general British film-making which decades ago used to make fine adaptations of good British novels. The plot and characters have already been well rehearsed in previous threads so there is no need to go into that, but I say again how rare these days a film such as this is. In both films, the scenes are not just well shot, the acting so perfect but they are so well-written. The main characters of these films are interesting and intelligent and whom, if they were real, you would love to have as your friends or acquaintances and upon whose continuing story you would always want to be updated. And if they were not, you would eagerly await the next film or novel to continue their tale. The BBC has largely given up drama for one-dimensional soaps and when a 'worthy' English or American film comes along, as they still do occasionally, it is usually a film about manners or just plain sentimentalism. Worthy but dull and lifeless. Not just still life but stiff life.Steven Spielberg can and does occasionally make intelligent films but they are, I think and feel, still left asleep at the post in comparison with Powell and Pressburger.A film which is as stimulating as a good novel is the best of ambitions but with the age of Powell and Pressburger now past so I fear is either the ambition or the ability. Incidentally, also on show in these two films, Powell once complimented his colleague Emeric Pressburger for having a perfect feel for the 'shape of a scene'.If there is such a place as Heaven and I get there I hope they will have made lots more such films for me to enjoy; films which are food for the spirit and mind as well as heart to enjoy.

Nice job by Pressburger and Powell, by the performers, and by the crew. It's a convincing picture of the western islands off Scotland. The cool wind rushes across the bluffs and the puffy clouds are chased up and down the barren hills by their own shadows. And this is 1945 and in black and white. Special effects provide persuasive gales and rainstorms.In the middle of it all is Wendy Hiller, a young lady who knows where she's going. The introduction tells us that at age one she crawled in one direction across the floor. At age five she wrote a letter to Father Christmas, demanding a pair of silk stocking -- and not that artificial fabric either. At twelve, she had her stockings. By this time my heart was beginning to ship some water because I was reminded of my ex wife.However, this is a fairy tale. Hiller becomes engaged to one of the richest industrialists in England. Says her Dad, "Why, he's old enough to be your father," and Hiller replies with dignity, "And what's wrong with YOU?" Her fiancé is waiting for her on the far-off isle of Kilgoran where they will be married and spend their honeymoon. He's rented a castle there from the Laird of the Manor or whatever his title is. Alas, Hiller reaches the next to the last island in the chain and is stranded there first by fog and then by howling gale.At this point, we're waiting for the romantic stranger to show up in the little town because we don't believe for one minute that Hiller is REALLY going to marry that robber baron. Well, Roger Livesey is a stranger, and an officer in His Majesty's Navy too, AND the owner of the island of Kilgoren who is renting the castle out. I hope I'm not mixing up the geography but I might be, because Livesey seems to own a ruined castle just outside the little village where he and Hiller are stranded by the weather. I don't know. Can you own two castles? No matter. Livesey might not be romantic but he's a good-natured guy with a sense of humor and principle. The gale lasts for days. Hiller and Livesey are increasingly attracted to one another and Hiller prays to get to Kilgoren and her fiancé so she doesn't fall for the wrong man.Meanwhile they enjoy all the amiability and hospitality of the little village. Three pipers -- count 'em, three -- have been imported from the mainland for a Ceilidh celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of the old Campbell couple. It's a touching moment when the elderly husband is asked to say a few words between jigs and drams, stands up, croaks a bit, shrugs, and gives up, to great applause.In a way, this is a city versus country movie. There are a lot of them about. Murnau's "Sunrise" may have been one of the earlier examples. The materialistic and driven person comes from the city -- here, it's Manchester -- and discovers the real meaning of life among the happy peasants, given to eating, drinking, singing, and whistling while they work, at ease with themselves and with nature. More sophisticated examples put a blemish or two on peasant life, like "The Quiet Man" and "Zorba the Greek." At any rate, Hiller insists on being taken by boat to Kilgoran despite the turbulent sea and there's considerable adventure in their attempt. The attempt, though, fails, as it must, if Hiller and Livesey are to be together at the end.An altogether pleasant, if minor, viewing experience. No breakthroughs. Nothing more than a fairy tale, but nicely done.

The plot of "I Know Where I'm Going!" was not a particularly original one even in 1945; it owes something to the earlier American screwball comedy "It Happened One Night". It is essentially that old romantic comedy standby "The Girl is engaged to/married to/in love with Mr Wrong, but meets and ends up with Mr Right". (This plot has also been used in some modern rom-coms such as "Home Sweet Alabama").The Girl in this case is Joan Webster, a young middle-class Englishwoman with ambitions to rise in the world. Mr Wrong is her fiancé Sir Robert Bellinger, a wealthy industrialist who lives on the Isle of Kiloran in the Scottish Hebrides. Joan travels from her home in Manchester to Kiloran in order to marry him, but owing to bad weather is unable to complete the final leg of her journey, a boat trip to the island. She is therefore forced to wait on the Isle of Mull for the weather to change, and while waiting she meets Torquil MacNeil, a naval officer who turns out to be the Laird of Kiloran. (Sir Robert is only his tenant).The film has two morals. The first could be summed up as "Man Proposes, God Disposes", or perhaps (given the Scottish setting) as "The best-laid plans o' mice an' men gang aft agley". Joan knows where she's going, or thinks she does, both literally and figuratively. Literally, she knows that she is going to Kiloran. Figuratively, she is an independent young women who knows what she wants from life- to become Lady Bellinger- and is determined to get it. That exclamation mark in the title is perhaps intended to symbolise her determination and her impatience with anyone who might get in her way.Yet in the end Joan never becomes Lady Bellinger- anyone with a knowledge of cinematic conventions could spot a mile off that Torquil would turn out to be Mr Right- and, indeed, never even gets to Kiloran, although she makes desperate efforts to do so, sensing that the growing mutual attraction between herself and in her Torquil is putting her well-laid plans in jeopardy.The film's second moral is "money doesn't bring you happiness". Joan is initially portrayed as a selfishly materialistic girl whose only interest in the man she wants to marry lies in the size of his bank account. In her desperation to get to the island she bribes a young boatman to risk his life by putting to sea in bad weather. Her values are contrasted with those of the people of Mull, who are depicted as being poor in terms of material possessions but richer in spirit. Joan's abandonment of Sir Robert in favour of Torquil, who despite his long aristocratic pedigree is far from wealthy, can be seen symbolic of the triumph of traditional spiritual values over modern materialistic ones.Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who worked together under the name "The Archers" (little suspecting that that title would later be appropriated by the BBC for their radio soap opera about a farming community), have today become revered figures in the history of the British cinema. Although they shared production, writing and directing credits, it was normally Powell who acted as director and Pressburger who acted as scriptwriter. Some have seen "I Know Where I'm Going!" as one of their best films- Barry Norman, for example, numbered it among his hundred greatest films of all time. I have never, however, regarded it as the equal of films like "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", "A Matter of Life and Death" and "The Red Shoes", and I think there is a reason for this.There have been directors- Stanley Kubrick and Peter Weir are good examples- who have been able to work equally well within the confines of established genres and outside them. Powell and Pressburger, however, strike me as film-makers who were at their best when trying something completely original in films like the three mentioned above. They were, in my view, never quite as good when working within an established genre. Some might think that "Forty-Ninth Parallel" is an exception, but to my mind that film is much wider in its scope than a traditional wartime thriller. "One of Our Aircraft is Missing" and "The Battle of the River Plate", by contrast, are traditional war films and although they are reasonably good films, especially the first, neither of them display the spark of originality which characterises the work of the Archers at their best.Similarly, "I Know Where I'm Going!" falls firmly within the established conventions of the romantic comedy and never quite strives for the heights of originality. As a rom-com it has its strengths but also its weaknesses. As with a number of British films from this period dealing with romantic love the overall emotional temperature seems too cool. Roger Livesey and Wendy Hiller were both rather older than the supposed ages of the characters they are portraying, and are too emotionally reticent to convince us that they are falling passionately in love, a love so strong that Joan will happily renounce a fortune for its sake. Joan also comes across as rather too impatient and forthright to be entirely sympathetic.On the plus side there is some striking photography of the Highland scenery- unusually shot on location at a time when most British films were made entirely within the walls of a studio- and a vivid portrait of life in a remote part of Britain which in 1945 would not have been familiar to most English people or, indeed, to many lowland Scots. There are some good performances from the likes of Finlay Currie and Pamela Brown. (I previously knew her best as the elderly mother in "The Road Mender", so I was surprised how attractive she was in her youth). Overall, this is an enjoyable romantic comedy but not, in my view, the masterpiece it is sometimes hailed as. 7/10