Trailer
Assistive Technologies

A Matter of Life and Death

Runtime
1hr 44mins
Directed by
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Featuring
David Niven,
Kim Hunter,
Kathleen Byron
Body

After miraculously surviving a jump from his burning plane, RAF pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) encounters the American radio operator (Kim Hunter) to whom he has just delivered his dying wishes, and, face-to-face on a tranquil English beach, the pair fall in love. 

When a messenger from the hereafter arrives to correct the bureaucratic error that spared his life, Peter must mount a fierce defense for his right to stay on earth—painted by production designer Alfred Junge and cinematographer Jack Cardiff as a rich Technicolor Eden—climbing a wide staircase to stand trial in a starkly beautiful, black-and-white modernist afterlife. Intended to smooth tensions between the wartime allies Britain and America, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s richly humanistic A Matter of Life and Death traverses time and space to make a case for the transcendent value of love. - The Criterion Collection

This Week

  • Winner of the Silver Lion for Best Direction (Brady Corbet) at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.

    Showtimes
  • Winner of the Grand Prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

    Showtimes
  • The first English-language film from Pedro Almodóvar, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

    Showtimes
  • Winner of Best Documentary at the 2024 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards.

    Showtimes
  • Timothée Chalamet stars as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s true story behind the rise of one of the most iconic singer-songwriters in history.

    Showtimes
  • Nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Actress (Fernanda Torres) and Best Motion Picture of the Year.

    Showtimes
  • Stand back. Jim Kelly's out to kick the mob where it hurts.

    Showtimes
  • The stirring new film by multi-award-winning German auteur Andreas Dresen featuring Babylon Berlin star Liv Lisa Fries in an all-consuming performance.

    Showtimes
  • Before the film, join us for a seminar taught by Boston Globe film critic and author Odie Henderson!

    Showtimes
  • In The Heat of the Night

    They've got a murder on their hands and they don't know what to do with it.

    Showtimes
  • Looking at the foreign correspondent through the cinematic lens, taught by historian and educator Judi Freeman.

    Showtimes
  • Boston's one and only open mic night for filmmakers!

    Showtimes
  • A five-week course on the director's most iconic films.

    Showtimes
  • Nora Ephron’s hit rom-com Sleepless in Seattle introduced a new generation of fans to this classic weepie, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

    Showtimes
  • Can the most famous film star in the world fall for just an ordinary guy?

    Showtimes
  • Take a trip and break out of your shell with Barb and Star! 

    Showtimes
  • In a city ruled by criminals, two families have forgotten their fear. He will make them remember.

    Showtimes
  • One of the first movies to bring martial arts action to a mainstream Hollywood audience—and the final film Bruce Lee completed before his untimely death.

    Showtimes