A Matter of Life and Death is a 1946 British fantasy romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Set in England during World War II, the film stars David Niven, Roger Livesey, Raymond Massey, Kim Hunter and Marius Goring. The film was originally released in the United States under the title Stairway to Heaven, which derived from the film's most prominent special effect: a broad escalator linking Earth to the afterlife.

In 1999, A Matter of Life and Death was placed 20th on the British Film Institute's list of Best 100 British films. It ranked 90th in The Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2012 poll, regarded by some as the most authoritative in the world, and 78th in 2022.

Plot

In May 1945, Squadron Leader Peter Carter, a Royal Air Force pilot, is flying a badly damaged and burning Lancaster bomber over the English Channel after a mission over Germany. Carter is expecting to die, after ordering his crew to bail out without revealing to them that his own parachute has been destroyed. The only radio operator receiving him is June, at a United States Army Air Forces base on the coast of England. Carter converses with June before jumping from the Lancaster without a parachute.

Peter should have died at that point, but Conductor 71, the guide sent to escort him to the Other World, misses him in the thick fog over the Channel. The airman wakes up on a beach near June's base. At first, he assumes he is in the afterlife, but when a de Havilland Mosquito flies low overhead, he discovers to his bewilderment that he is still alive.

Peter meets June cycling back to her quarters after her night shift, and they fall in love. Conductor 71 stops time to explain the situation, urging Peter to accept his death and accompany him to the Other World, but Peter demands an appeal. While Conductor 71 consults his superiors, Peter continues to live. Conductor 71 returns and informs him that he has been granted his appeal and has three days to prepare his case. He can choose a defence counsel from among all the people who have ever died, but he has difficulty picking one.

Peter's visions are diagnosed by June's fascinated friend Doctor Reeves as a symptom of a brain injury—chronic adhesive arachnoiditis from a slight concussion two years earlier—and he is scheduled for surgery. Reeves is killed in a motorcycle accident while trying to find the ambulance that is to take Peter to the hospital; this allows him to act as Peter's counsel.

Reeves argues that, through no fault of his own, his client was given additional time on Earth and that, during that time, he has fallen in love and now has an earthly commitment that should take precedence over the afterlife's claim on him. The matter comes to a head—in parallel with Peter's brain surgery—before a celestial court. The prosecutor is American Minuteman Abraham Farlan, who hates the British for making him the first casualty of the American War of Independence. Reeves challenges the composition of the jury, which is made up of representatives who are prejudiced against the British; the jury is replaced by a multicultural mixture of modern Americans whose origins are as varied as those they replace.

Reeves and Farlan both make comparisons with the other's nationality to support their positions. In the end, Reeves has June take the stand and prove that she genuinely loves Peter by telling her that the only way to save his life is to take his place, whereupon she steps onto the stairway to the Other World without hesitation and is carried away. The stairway then comes to an abrupt halt and June rushes back to Peter's open arms. As Reeves triumphantly explains, "... nothing is stronger than the law in the universe, but on Earth, nothing is stronger than love."

The jury rules in Peter's favour. The Judge shows Reeves and Farlan the new lifespan granted to the defendant; Reeves calls it "very generous", and Farlan jokingly complains, then agrees to it. The two then engage in supportive banter with one another, and against the stern Chief Recorder, who protests against the breach of law. In the operating room, the masked surgeon (whose face is revealed as that of the Judge) declares the difficult operation a success.

Cast

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