Best movie ever!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

An extraordinary film, full of wonders and invention. Roger Livesey's performance as Candy features one of the most amazing transformations of the history of cinema, from young Candy to old Candy. It is as if two different actors were playing the role.Emeric Pressburger's script is one of the most ambitious and literary ever used in a film. It is heartbreaking and at the same time very clever and self-reflecting. It talks about a passed age, and it shares some common themes with Proust's Remembrances of Things past. It could be a novel standing on its own.Colonel Blimp is a masterpiece for the ages, which will never grow old.The summit of the Archers' career.

I had the honour of watching The life and death of colonel Blimp and A matter of life and death both today, both films I thoroughly enjoyed. As a 27yr old British lad, it has only been now that I have been exposed to such gems that I wish I watched them earlier. I preferred TLANDOCB than AMOLAD, not to say that either one was an abomination because for me they are both marvellous. The main reason I liked TLANDOCB, for me, was how Roger Livesey played his character very well, such warmth almost satire like of what my perceived opinion of a British officer would had been in those days. Yes it was, in most ways, a satirical of the officer gentry types of that age. Although for me it wasn't all that, there was a lot more. The friendship struck between Clive Candy and Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff gives hope in this world that everyone should not be tarred with the same brush and good comes from anywhere irrespective from where they come from or what they have done. It has a theme of love and affection in the presence of the beautiful Deborah Kerr playing three characters (Edith Hunter, Barbara Wynne and Angela "Johnny" Cannon). How many other films would you see gentleman fight over the same woman yet here it is a lot more deeper which suggests more to the audience, without spoon feeding (which annoys me more about modern films in my era), as I do like to discuss films with my house mate. What I liked most about this film was how remarkable and fresh it was, considering this film was out in the early 40's it could easily pass as a film that was released later, much later. This film, without a doubt, should be comparable as an equal to "the third man", "It's a wonderful life", "The Godfather" or "12 angry men" to name a few. Moviegoers deserve more humbling productions as this and less mundane and mediocrity.Please send suggestions of what gems I should embark on next @ http://www.imdb.com/list/QdM7nPjVErY/Going to my local cinema is hard, there are only two screens there!

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is one of the most complex and involving character studies in cinema history made even better by the fact that it also explores notions of order and historical perspectives. The central character, the jovial and loyal Clive Candy, is the representation of the old order of things: traditional British ideas of honor, commitment and playing by the rules. As the 20th century hurls forward, he and this mindset are confronted by sharply disagreeing ideas including modern warfare and Nazism.Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger established themselves as the preeminent British filmmakers during World War II with this film and 49th Parallel. These two films are unique in that they combine both well-done craftsmanship and sophisticated ideas about the nature of politics and national relations. There is much talking about the relationship between Britain and Germany, the two most important and advanced European countries at the time and how each reacted to the most significant events of the era, specifically the Great War and the introduction of the modern mindset. What transpires is a thoughtful and intricate tale about life, love and war in which all three elements are generally fused together and the characters are forced to confront realities they hoped would never occur.Much can be said about a film like this but it is often better to let the images and the characters speak for themselves. The Technicolor cinematography is stunning, a foreshadowing to future Powell and Pressburger achievements such as Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. Using a colorful palette heightens the drama and accentuates the ideas being presented. Perhaps the most useful element of this film is its historical perspective of the first half of the 20th century: Britain and its traditional mind-frame is confronted by the sweeping, epic spiritualism of Germany, resulting in two world wars and a heap of other differences. This is, arguably, the face-off which has defined this century and will have a major impact on our future. Few, if any, films are as capable of capturing the magnitude and scope of these ideas as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

This film is pure magic. It fully deserves to be in any list of the Top films of all time. That it was made during the second world war yet treats its topic with objectivity, humour and humanity places it in the category of true art. The story is engrossing, the characters so real that I find that no time at all seems to have passed between the beginning and the end titles. Roger Livesay characterises the many faces of Colonel Wynn-Candy with immense panache and an authenticity which amazes me. The cast provides the perfect backdrop for "Blimp" to realise that his time has passed, and the rules he considered ran the world are no longer valid. He is one of the iconic characters in cinema history, in the same class as Rick Blaine, Inspector Clouseau and Charles Foster Kane. It is pleasing to see that no-one has had the effrontery to try and re-make this classic. Watch this film.