A Matter of Life and DeathU

Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger | UK | 1946 | 1h 44m | Starring David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough

A British wartime pilot falls in love with an American radio operator while his plane falls from the sky. After bailing out without a parachute, he wakes up on an English beach having seemingly cheated death. However, when a messenger from the afterlife outlines that it was an administrative error which spared his life, he must mount a defence for his right to stay amongst the living. Intended to smooth tensions between the wartime allies Britain and America, Powell and Pressburger’s stylish melodrama unfolds as a richly humanistic journey through time and space, ultimately presenting a case for the enduring power of love.

Reviews

‘It’s basically an intellectual battle, held in an amphitheatre as large as a galaxy, about the right to life and the inherent tensions in US-UK political relations. In other words, essential viewing.’
★★★★★
Kevin Maher, The Times

‘A Matter of Life and Death is the utterly unique, enduringly rich and strange romantic fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed A Matter of Life and Death between December 26, 2023 and December 28, 2023.

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Today (Tuesday 14th April)

17:30

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1h 50m
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Tomorrow (Wednesday 15th April)

14:45

Sentimental Value 15
2h 13m | Norwegian w/ English subtitles
Actress Nora confronts her estranged father, a famed director preparing a comeback, and reconnects with her sister. Old tensions and new ambitions collide, forcing them to face their past. Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning star in Joachim Trier’s (The Worst Person in the World) emotionally rich story of reconciliation.

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17:45

The Good Boy 15
1h 50m
Tommy, a reckless nineteen-year-old, is abducted after a night of drugs and partying and wakes imprisoned in a remote Yorkshire basement. Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough star in this fresh, unsettlingly twisted thriller.

Book here

20:15

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2h 18m
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Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!