{"id":4284,"date":"2018-08-04T15:30:59","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T19:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=4284"},"modified":"2022-10-25T09:52:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T13:52:06","slug":"a-dangerous-delusion-the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/a-dangerous-delusion-the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dangerous Delusion: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp<\/em> (1943) is of course a remarkable achievement, a massive production with epic scope, a clever structure, and one of the best possible showcases for Technicolor. But I’m evidently so far out of step with the consensus on this one that I’m doubting my film snob bona fides. I simply hated it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn’t look past my contempt for the delusional rich. Consider: American politics is dominated by wealthy families living in dangerous fantasylands: the Trumps, Kushners, Kochs, Mercers, DeVoses, et al. Terrifyingly, they are in positions of real power, including and especially that of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deborah<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As such, I have no time for the war-glorifying Clive Wynne-Candy (Roger Livesey), playing soldier in his mansion, insulting his lifelong loyal manservant, and falling in love with three different Deborah Kerrs. It is simply beyond my suspension of belief to imagine a veteran of the Boer War and World War I that could preserve a lifelong delusion that there is such a thing as “good clean fighting”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Good German man-crush Kretschmar-Schuldorff (Anton Walbrook) repeatedly fails to disabuse him of this fantasy. He’s the more relatable character here; his monologue describing his grief over the rise of Nazism in his home country is heartbreaking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) is of course a remarkable achievement, a massive production with epic scope, a clever structure, and one of the best possible showcases for Technicolor. But I’m evidently so far out of step with the consensus on this one that I’m doubting my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,2],"tags":[2098,1709,1307,1711,1710,1708,1707],"class_list":["post-4284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2-stars","category-movies","tag-2098","tag-anton-walbrook","tag-deborah-kerr","tag-emeric-pressburger","tag-michael-powell","tag-roger-livesey","tag-technicolor"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-176","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5756,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-accountant-is-a-brilliant-mind-meets-death-wish\/","url_meta":{"origin":4284,"position":0},"title":"The Accountant is A Brilliant Mind meets Death Wish","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"You can imagine the elevator pitch: \"A Brilliant Mind meets Death Wish! Ben Affleck! Anna Kendrick!\" Director Gavin O\u2019Connor's The Accountant flirts with righteous anger at big business financial corruption, but wimps out by ultimately fingering a single venal individual with a hired army of faceless mercenaries. There\u2019s nothing engaging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ben Affleck in The Accountant","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/accountant-jigsaw.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/accountant-jigsaw.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/accountant-jigsaw.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/accountant-jigsaw.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/accountant-jigsaw.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":716,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/michael-clayton\/","url_meta":{"origin":4284,"position":1},"title":"Michael Clayton confronts Shiva the God of Death","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Clayton is a that rare thing: an intelligent, fictional thriller for grownups. Like any self-respecting Thriller for Grownups, it's relentlessly grim in tone, the chronology is fractured, and a high level of detail demands your attention. 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Surprisingly, the theme is pretty much spelled out in voiceover in the first sequence: A man reflects on a past relationship in terms of concerts they went to together and the arc of their sexual life. I can only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nine Songs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/12\/9-songs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/12\/9-songs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/12\/9-songs.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/12\/9-songs.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/12\/9-songs.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5153,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/maze-runner-the-death-cure-2018-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":4284,"position":3},"title":"Teenagers shall inherit the world in Wes Ball’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"While definitely not in the target audience, and without expressly setting out to do so, I've still somehow managed to see all three Maze Runner movies. Their easy availability on streaming services is just too tempting for my chronic addiction to escapist sci-fi. It's interesting to see how young adult\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Maze Runner: The Death Cure","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5703,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/l-a-takedown-is-the-rough-draft-for-michael-manns-masterpiece-heat\/","url_meta":{"origin":4284,"position":4},"title":"L.A. Takedown is the rough draft for Michael Mann’s masterpiece Heat","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally, finally,\u00a0finally\u00a0had the opportunity to cross L.A. Takedown off my movie watchlist \u2014 a largely unavailable holy grail that I've been desperately curious to see for\u00a0years. If director Michael Mann had not reworked this material into the masterpiece Heat, L.A. Takedown would probably be pushed so far down his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"L.A. Takedown","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/la-takedown.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/la-takedown.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/la-takedown.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/la-takedown.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/la-takedown.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":881,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/andromeda-strain-2008\/","url_meta":{"origin":4284,"position":5},"title":"It’s the end of the world in Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Crichton's novel The Andromeda Strain was first adapted into a feature film in 1971, and now into a television miniseries from executive producers Tony and Ridley Scott. This 2008 incarnation is part feel-bad thriller, part wish fulfillment. As we thrill to the speculative illustration of how civilization might suddenly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/andromeda-strain-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/andromeda-strain-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/andromeda-strain-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/andromeda-strain-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/andromeda-strain-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4284"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7351,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4284\/revisions\/7351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}