NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� has spent a sizeable portion of his life talking about movies he loves. He鈥檚 made documentaries about Italian cinema (鈥淢y Voyage to Italy鈥�), Hollywood studio films (鈥淎 Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies鈥�) and individual filmmakers like Elia Kazan and But when Scorsese talks about the movies of , it means something different. It鈥檚 getting very close to something fundamental for him.
In the new documentary Scorsese recalls watching 鈥淭he Red Shoes鈥� as a child. He describes it as 鈥渙ne of the origins of my obsession with cinema, itself.鈥�
鈥淭he Powell-Pressberger films have had a profound effect on the sensibility that I bring to all the work I was able to do,鈥� Scorsese says in the documentary. 鈥淚 was so bewitched by them as a child that they make a big part of my films鈥� subconscious.鈥�
鈥淢ade in England,鈥� which rolls out in theaters this month, is a poignant crescendo in one of the great love affairs in movies. The films of Powell and Pressburger, the directing-screenwriting duo known as the Archers, has been an abiding polestar for Scorsese, who befriended Powell late in life. , Scorsese鈥檚 longtime editor, married him, and since his death in 1990 has worked tirelessly to celebrate his legacy.
Together, Schoonmaker and Scorsese have restored eight of the films already, including Technicolor masterworks like 鈥淭he Red Shoes,鈥� 鈥淭he Life and Death of Colonel Blimp,鈥� 鈥淏lack Narcissus鈥� and 鈥淎 Matter of Life and Death,鈥� along with the beloved black-and-white gem and, most recently, 鈥淭he Small Black Room.鈥� Once Scorsese and Schoonmaker finish editing their own films, like last year's Schoonmaker turns to her other life鈥檚 work.
鈥淚 have the best job in the world and I have the best husband in the world. What more could you ask for?鈥� Schoonmaker said in a recent interview by phone. 鈥淲orking for Marty is just so fantastic. Every film is different, every film is a new challenge. And then we sit and talk about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.鈥�
As an expression of movie love 鈥� of the power of film to transfix you, to change your life, to live alongside you as you grow older 鈥� 鈥淢ade in England鈥� could hardly be more effusive. It鈥檚 playing as part of a Powell-Pressburger with stops upcoming in Seattle, Chicago and at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles.
鈥淭he word 鈥榣ove鈥� is right, for all of us,鈥� says David Hinton. He directed 鈥淢ade in England鈥� and first met Powell in for a 1980s British TV documentary on him. He was approached by Schoonmaker, who initiated the film. Hinton quickly realized the zeal of his collaborators.
鈥淪corsese and Thelma, they want to put in every good moment from every good Powell and Pressburger film,鈥� Hinton says, chuckling. 鈥淪equences were flying back and forth across the Atlantic. They didn鈥檛 want to take credit but a lot of what you see in the finished film is actually their work.鈥�
Powell, the British son of a hop farmer, and Pressburger, a Hungarian Jew who had fled the Nazis to Britain, forged their collaboration during WWII. Together, sharing their credits on a single screen, they made 19 features together, many of which remain among the finest films ever made.
Schoonmaker believes she was in love with Powell before she met him. She saw the 鈥淭he Red Shoes鈥� when she was 12 and 鈥淐olonel Blimp鈥� not long after.
鈥淚t devastated me, in a good sense,鈥� Schoonmaker says. 鈥淚 had no idea who had made it and no idea that I would later be introduced to the man who made it and marry him.鈥�
When Schoonmaker met him, Powell鈥檚 career had petered out, a downfall exacerbated by the response to his disturbing and now widely celebrated 1960 film 鈥淧eeping Tom.鈥� When Scorsese in 1974 was given an award by the Edinburgh Film Festival, he asked if Powell would present it to him. But few remembered him. Powell, he learned, was then nearly destitute, living in a cottage in Gloucester.
By the time Scorsese was preparing to make 鈥淩aging Bull鈥� (1980), he and Powell had become friends, a relationship that reinvigorating the forgotten filmmaker. Powell later wrote he felt 鈥渢he blood coursing through his veins again.鈥�
At the same time, Scorsese kept sending Schoonmaker home with VHS tapes of the films. He indoctrinated others, too, like Francis Ford Coppola and Robert De Niro. The Powell and Pressburger legacy began to be revived. And a mutual filmmaking friendship blossomed.
鈥淢ichael gave to Marty too,鈥� Schoonmaker says, recalling when Scorsese was considering abandoning 鈥淕oodFellas鈥� over pressure to trim its drug scenes. 鈥淚 read him the script and he said, 鈥楪et Marty on the phone.鈥� He said, 鈥楳arty, this is the best script I鈥檝e read in 20 years. You have to make this movie.鈥� So Marty went back in one more time and got it made. That鈥檚 due to Michael. He was ferociously protective of Marty鈥檚 artistic freedom.鈥�
A photo from their wedding day appears in 鈥淢ade in England.鈥� Schoonmaker ultimately spent 10 years with Powell before his death. She calls them 鈥渢he happiest years of my life.鈥�
鈥淵ou know, he was an optimist,鈥� says Schoonmaker. 鈥淗e had me put on his gravestone 鈥楩ilm director and optimist.鈥� And he was. Living with someone who鈥檚 an optimist is quite extraordinary. He lived every second of every day.鈥�
It鈥檚 hard not to see similarities between the partnerships of Pressburger and Powell and Scorsese and Schoonmaker, who鈥檚 edited every feature of his since 鈥淩aging Bull.鈥� One of the most eye-opening sections of 鈥淢ade in England鈥� is a side-by-side comparison of some of the moments from Powell and Pressburger films that echo in theirs. The ballet performance in 鈥淭he Red Shoes鈥� influenced how Scorsese shot boxing matches in the ring in 鈥淩aging Bull.鈥� In the Russian impresario Lermontov (Anton Walbrook) of 鈥淭he Red Shoes,鈥� Scorsese sees a model for Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro). Their movements are eerily similar.
More than particular moments or characters, though, there鈥檚 also the deeper way that Powell鈥檚 marriage of imagery and music informs Scorsese鈥檚. The hallucinatory 1951 opera 鈥淭he Tales of Hoffman,鈥� which Scorsese 鈥� not your average kid 鈥� watched obsessively as a 10 year old on TV, he says, 鈥渢aught me pretty much everything I know about the relation of camera to music.鈥� The famous 鈥淟ayla鈥� montage of 鈥淕oodFellas,鈥� Schoonmaker says, was informed by the music-timed cuts in the feverish finale of 鈥淏lack Narcissus.鈥�
While such homage might not be possible for all lovers of the Archers, Scorsese's very personal reflections in 鈥淢ade in England鈥� effectively communicates the feelings Powell and Pressburger films stir in so many who encounter them. 鈥淭hey're romantics and idealists, Powell and Pressburger," Hinton says. 鈥淲hen I met Michael, that was so striking about him. He was still a romantic. He had this sparkle in his eye.鈥�
For Schoonmaker, the work continues. A few films 鈥� notably the enchanting 鈥淎 Canterbury Tale" and the WWII thriller 鈥�49th Parallel鈥� 鈥� await possible restorations. And Schoonmaker continues to toil over Powell's diaries with the hope of publishing them some day. She's purposefully not read all the way through yet, though. They still, all these years later, have more to say to one another.
鈥淚鈥檓 working chronologically so I鈥檝e waited to read what he wrote about me until I get there,鈥� Schoonmaker says. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to wait.鈥�
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
