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Rating:  - A Quirky Romantic Masterpiece
From the late 1930's through the early 1960's the British cinema was best known for its quirky comedies and historical dramas (ala David Lean's films) before British realism took over. Perhaps other than Lean the finest representatives of the genre were the films of the directing/writing/producing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Their masterpiece was undoubtedly "I Know Where I'm Going." It is essentially a romantic travelogue starring a young, radiant Dame Wendy Hiller as the spunky (actually too spunky) heroine and Roger Livesey, a dashing naval officer, as her romantic foil. But the real stars are the breathtaking vistas of the Western Isles of Scotland, the eccentric locals (including a brief scene stealing appearance by a 12-year old Petula Clark), and the screenplay which combines all these elements (along with an ancient curse!) seamlessly. When people say they just don't make movies like that anymore they are referencing films such as this one; or as stated by Martin Scorsese "I reached the point of thinking there were no more masterpieces to discover, until I saw 'I Know Where I'm Going'!"
As usual the Criterion Collection DVD has a wonderful set of bells and whistles including an equally quirky retrospective documentary, some home movies by Powell, and a revisit to the film's locations.
Finally I defy anyone except the most unnostalgic cynic to watch this film and not ending up singing or humming the title song.
Rating: - Magical True Life Romance on the Scottish Coast
Here's a film I would have never ventured to watch had I not come across it by accident on Turner Classic Movies.
This woman, Joan Webster, played by Wendy Hiller, is off to Scotland to marry some guy she obviously doesn't know too well. We know this ourselves because she has dinner with her father the night before she's scheduled to leave for the Hebrides. Her father tries to tell her to slow down and think about it but she: "KNOWS WHERE SHE'S GOING." (She doesn't scream it, as implied by the caps. But she might as well have. The setup is movie perfection.)
Joan has these directions to the island on which this guy has planned to marry her. She has to take the train from London to East Bumshoe, then another train from Bumshoe to Overloafen, a bus from Overloafen to Pudgydubby, a cab from Pudgyduddy to Shaddycrack, the ferry from there to some other weirdly named town, then the water taxi to yet another Scottish backwater, and finally a private skiff to the island.
Unfortunately, when she gets there, it's thick of fog. Swirling, smoky, impenetrable fog. Fog like you won't believe, unless you live in Scotland or Great Britain or Maine, like I do. Or you own a Hollywood fog machine, or work in a Russian spa, or live next door to Sherlock Holmes. You get the point.
So she can't get to the island. She has to stay at someone's house with a bunch of other people who are similarly stuck. At this point, we're only about five minutes into the film, which is just more of this movie's magic, because it's here she's dealt the classic "Call to Adventure" of the hero's journey. She meets a man, and not the one she's supposed to marry.
The man is Torquil Macneil, played by Roger Livesey; he wears a kilt and speaks in a heavy Scottish brogue, and although he's not exactly the most handsome leading man you ever saw, he does wear a kilt and speak in a heavy Scottish brogue, which makes him, apparently, very hot. Don't get me wrong, he's always the perfect gentleman. It's 1945 for God's sake.
Later that day, feeling rather threatened by this charming kilt-wearing Scotsman, she tries once again to get the boat to the island. She's told it's way to foggy but as soon as the wind comes around northwest, the fog will lift and they'll be able to go. That night, Joan, while lying in her bed at the Inn, prays for wind from the northwest.
In the morning Joan wakes to find her prayers answered. The fog has cleared. Unfortunately, it's because of a full blown northwest gale, which ends up sticking around for more than a week. She never makes it to the island.
This special gem of a movie is the product of one of the most creative collaborations in movie history, that of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
They had a gift for storytelling that is almost gone. Very often when you see a film today you're struck by inconsistencies, failures of logic, plot holes, gimmicks, etc. Or you're faced with a movie that just doesn't come together. Not the case with Powell and Pressburger films. Their movies have perfect structure; they engage you, keep moving toward a goal and wrap up all neat and tidy.
If you ever see this one on the video rental shelf, grab it and take it home. I guarantee you won't be disappointed, especially if you're trying to score some points in the romance game.
-seabgb
Rating:  - Romantic love affair in and with Scotland
"I Know where I'm Going" is one of that handful of old films which transcend criticism (e.g "the Ghost and Mrs Muir"). A simple story of a materialistic girl who opts for love not money, the film is a mood piece set in romantic and evocative settings among the islands of Scotland. It does not matter that Wendy Hiller is an oddly unfeminine heroine, cleverly toned down with the use of a ocelot hat with hand bag to match, who booms her dialogue as if in a theatre, that the soundtrack is hard to hear at times especially in the crowd scenes and that the special effects used for the whirlpool scene have not withstood the test of time - the sum total is memorable. Roger Livesey is a stalwart and romantic hero with a "whisky and soda" voice which may have been his greatest attribute.
This is an expensive Criterion package so you expect the extras to be good. Ian Christie provides a commentary which carefully explains, among other things, what Hiller's character represented as the war drew to a close when the film was made. This is invaluable. He is able to explain the class implications of Pamela Brown's character, the impoverished and resourceful gentry, and this helps validate such an outrageous character to the modern audience. He also refers to Sir Walter Scott and the Scottish heritage of myth and magic. This is a great commentary.
Also included is a 1994 documentary about the film with appearances by Petula Clark, who played a small part in the film, and Dame Wendy Hiller herself, a woman who had matured into a handsome elderly lady in the same way Jessica Tandy and Barbara Stanwyck did. Other extras include excerpts from home footage by the director Michael Powell, narrated by his widow and a section of his 1937 film "The Edge of the World". These illustrate Powell's love affair with Scotland and if you feel the same way about the place, you will enjoy them. Certainly, the sum total is convincing because the reality is that this is an endlessly bleak and rugged part of the world so Powell's vision is very personal.
The film would make an interesting double feature with "Local Hero" which has not dissimilar themes and evokes a similar warm response from its audience.
Rating: - I Know Where I'm Going
Fantastic! I watched the film and immediately began it again. The casting is perfection. Being quite familiar the Western Isles and having a bagpiper for a husband, the film contained everything that I could wish for: Scottish deerhounds, pipers, castles, conversations in the Gaelic, a marvelous ceilidh, and of course the main star ... the Isles themselves! Emeric Pressburger's photography is a cinematic masterpiece ... so evocative and captivating ... it acts as a parallel script ... telling its own story. Don't overlook the Special Features bits!!
Rating: - I Know where I am Going
I wanted to see this movie as my father was one of the pipers in it.I thought it was a nice romantic movie for its time bearing in mind it was made in 1944!!!
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