Emeric Pressburger

Book excerpt: A Hungarian Jew who lived and worked in half a dozen European countries before arriving in Britain in 1935, Pressburger's reputation rests on the series of strikingly original films he made in collaboration with Michael Powell under the banner of The Archers. The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp all bear the unique credit 'Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger'. Frequently controversial, always experimental, The Archers suffered a long period of neglect before being rediscovered by such prominent admirers as Martin Scorsese, Derek Jarman and Francis Ford Coppola. Written by his grandson, and containing extracts from private diaries and correspondence, this biography defends the notion of film as a collaborative art and illuminates the adventurous life and work of the film-maker who brought continental grace, with and style to British cinema.