MovieChat Forums > A Matter of Life and Death Discussion > It didn't work for me for one simple rea...

It didn't work for me for one simple reason.

posted 7 years ago by dalton-22403
5 replies | jump to latest

The big problem with the story is that there is too little consequence to losing the trial for Niven's character. The afterlife he would be subjected to if he loses his case seems benign, pleasant, in some ways preferable to "life".

If he loses, a quick and painless transition to "death", followed by an eternity of no more worries, no stress, no aging, and the company of lost friends and relatives. Plus the ability to hobnob with the greats of human history. There seems to be no downside. If the carnal pleasures are denied in this "heaven", then the movie didn't adequately explain that. (I suppose one could possibly infer this from the lack of Technicolor in the heaven scenes, but wouldn't that make this afterlife hell rather than heaven?) This, weighed against being able to screw around for a few decades with a WAC sergeant he talked to for 5 minutes over the radio if he wins.

Similar stories at least have the threat of an eternity in HELL as the booby prize, with a reprieve granted as an opportunity to redeem oneself from this fate. That kind of raises the stakes. In "Stairway to Heaven" I couldn't have cared less about Niven's character winning or losing his case. It's basically a "If you win, 5 cookies - if you lose, only 4 cookies for you" situation. Either way, you still get tasty cookies.

[–] Steve Crook 7 years ago

This, weighed against being able to screw around for a few decades with a WAC sergeant he talked to for 5 minutes over the radio if he wins.

A few decades? Peter is 27, presumably June is a similar age. He's in love with her and she's in love with him. They were expecting more than "a few decades" together

Steve

[–] dalton-22403 7 years ago

Simply a little hyperbole to make my point. Whether it's a "few" decades or "several" is entirely beside the point. That's really nitpicking when the story posits an eternal afterlife.

I've only seen 4 of the P&P classics. For me, this is definitely the weakest. I was expecting better since many critics rank it near the top of their output. I can see you are a strong defender of P&P's film legacy since you post on all the message boards for their films. I don't think it's a terrible film by any measure, and it does feature some fine cinematography and art direction. But, sorry, overall this one just doesn't grab me.

[–] Steve Crook 7 years ago

That's all right. It isn't compulsory to like every film. Not even every P&P film :)

Steve

[–] bistritapcv (1660) a year ago

The entire trial was nothing of any substance.

[–] liscarkat (16638) a year ago

Sure, the Afterlife presented in this movie might be pleasant enough, although bland, but at only twenty-seven Peter would have lost two thirds of his life on Earth, including the possibility of a long, happy marriage to June, which he probably regarded as a bit more meaningful that mere screwing around. The stakes were quite high.