Britain in the immediate postwar period - lives had changed and futures were uncertain.
Introduction:
In December 1945, Powell and Pressburger released their latest film. It was entitled ‘I Know Where I’m Going’ and it featured the actors Roger Livesey and Wendy Hiller. The star of the film was the wild landscape around the Scottish island of Mull. The story concerned a headstrong young woman (Hiller) who is journeying to a fictional island called Kiloran to marry a wealthy industrialist. She absolutely knows where she is going – it is towards a life of security, comfort and power. However, her crossing from the mainland is thwarted by rough weather. She is blocked from taking that final step to the life that she has planned out and she becomes increasingly agitated. Finally, she bribes a naïve young sailor to get her over to Kiloran – and they almost lose their lives in the process. The Corryvreckan whirlpool between Kiloran and the mainland almost claims them.
The near-suicidal action is prompted by the fact that she is beginning to lose control. The real Laird of Kiloran (Livesey) is on leave from the navy and is staying in the same house, awaiting calmer seas. They have a mutual attraction and Hiller’s character realises that is she doesn’t marry her wealthy fiancée now, she will fall for the Laird and lose all that she dreamed of. At one point they exchange the following lines:
“People around here are very poor I suppose.”
“Not poor, they just haven't got money.”
“It's the same thing.”
“Oh no, it's something quite different.”
Finally, after her near-death experience at Corryvreckan, she realises the value of this philosophy and she submits to her fate.
The stories in this book follow six fictional audience members at the film’s 1945 release. In part one, each character watches the film with a certainty that they also know where they are going. In part two, we observe these characters as they experience their own version of Corryvreckan. Life takes them, spins them around and spits them out again in a new and unexpected direction. An epilogue lets you know how they got on afterwards.
We all have at least one Corryvreckan moment in life. Some of us have several. Let’s thank Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger for putting a name to it – and providing such startling imagery to go with it.
Introduction:
In December 1945, Powell and Pressburger released their latest film. It was entitled ‘I Know Where I’m Going’ and it featured the actors Roger Livesey and Wendy Hiller. The star of the film was the wild landscape around the Scottish island of Mull. The story concerned a headstrong young woman (Hiller) who is journeying to a fictional island called Kiloran to marry a wealthy industrialist. She absolutely knows where she is going – it is towards a life of security, comfort and power. However, her crossing from the mainland is thwarted by rough weather. She is blocked from taking that final step to the life that she has planned out and she becomes increasingly agitated. Finally, she bribes a naïve young sailor to get her over to Kiloran – and they almost lose their lives in the process. The Corryvreckan whirlpool between Kiloran and the mainland almost claims them.
The near-suicidal action is prompted by the fact that she is beginning to lose control. The real Laird of Kiloran (Livesey) is on leave from the navy and is staying in the same house, awaiting calmer seas. They have a mutual attraction and Hiller’s character realises that is she doesn’t marry her wealthy fiancée now, she will fall for the Laird and lose all that she dreamed of. At one point they exchange the following lines:
“People around here are very poor I suppose.”
“Not poor, they just haven't got money.”
“It's the same thing.”
“Oh no, it's something quite different.”
Finally, after her near-death experience at Corryvreckan, she realises the value of this philosophy and she submits to her fate.
The stories in this book follow six fictional audience members at the film’s 1945 release. In part one, each character watches the film with a certainty that they also know where they are going. In part two, we observe these characters as they experience their own version of Corryvreckan. Life takes them, spins them around and spits them out again in a new and unexpected direction. An epilogue lets you know how they got on afterwards.
We all have at least one Corryvreckan moment in life. Some of us have several. Let’s thank Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger for putting a name to it – and providing such startling imagery to go with it.
