The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Both tender and critical, this is a poignant cinematic journey through both one man’s lifetime epoch and early 20th century British history, through an elaborate structure of cinematic flashbacks.

One of the finest British films ever made, it masterfully weaves the passage of time and its effect on body and soul, through the lifetime saga of British officer Clive Wynne-Candy (Roger Livesey). His life, loves (Deborah Kerr) and friendships are charted from the time of the Boer War, to his demotion to the Home Guard during World War II.

Upon its release during WWII, the film was banned from export, testament to the unease about its depiction of British political elite and the cherished friendship between Colonel Blimp and his sympathetic German counterpart, Theodore Kretschmar-Schuldorff (Anton Walbrook). However, it didn’t take long to become a classic: one which exemplifies the power of cinema to account for our past.