Emeric Pressburger: The Life and Death of a Screenwriter

by Kevin Macdonald

few major figures in cinema history have remained as personally and professionally enigmatic as emeris pressburger

Genres: Film, Biography, Nonfiction

467 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Kevin Macdonald is a Scottish director, best known for his films One Day in September, State of Play, The Last King of Scotland and Touching the Void.
Macdonald was the grandson of the Hungarian-born English filmmaker Emeric Pressburger, and he began his career with a biography of his grandfather, The Life and Death of a Screenwriter, which he turned into the documentary The Making of an Englishman. After making a series of biographical documentaries, Macdonald directed One Day in September, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Reviews

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Great insight into who Pressburger was in his personal and professional life. Wonderful to get some more details about his relationship with Michael Powell too. I found myself tearing up at the end, for obvious reasons, thus I'll be watching the two films he regards as his favourites (yet again) in the next couple of days.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I savored every page of this very special book, the personal biography of the multi-talented Emerich Pressburger by his extremely talented grandson. Pressburger was an only child of a Jewish farming couple in Austria-Hungary, born at the beginning of the 20th century. His country went from being Romania to Hungary but his family’s situation only deteriorated during the First World War and Russian Revolution period. Emerich’s education was important, a wealthy uncle supported him and he was able to push himself and find fortunate circumstances studying in Prague, Stuttgart and France. He found opportunities working and writing for the German film industry in the 1920s and 1930s but once it was obvious that Fascism and Nazism were not going to disappear, he managed to get himself to Britain.
It was a struggle to be creative in so many languages, but he loved everything about being an émigré in England and his delightful and moving stories told for the screen allowed him to transform himself into a suave English gentleman. His fortuitous connection to Alexander Korda provided an introduction to Michael Powell, the movie director with whom he collaborated, producing and creating epic films for over 40 years. Their most important films were produced during the WWII years and post-war.
MacDonald did a spectacular job at researching his grandfather’s life, a man who was already in his 70s when the two spent time together in Scotland. MacDonald visited with his grandfather’s relatives, friends in Europe, Israel, S. America and the U.S. This is a tale of tenderness, melancholy, a survivor’s ability to forge a meaningful appreciation for art, music, friendship, love and devotion.

[Jean-françois Baillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit I had only a remote idea of the level of involvement of Emeric Pressburger in the making of the films he made with Michael Powell under the aegis of the Archers. Little did I suspect that most of the masterpieces they made together were actually the product of Emeric's imagination. But the most stunning revelation of this magnificent biography (simply one of the best books on film I have ever read), and an indispensible companion piece to Macdonald's film on his granfather, "The Making of an Englishman", is the subtle way Pressburger's biography wove itself into the scripts. The result is a moving, at times heart-wrenching portrait of a Hungarian Jewish immigrant who changed his name several times, almost starved to death in Berlin, made a name as one of the top scriptwriters in the same city when it was the capital of the European film industry, was an admirer of Churchill although he managed to make an enemy of him with the script of "Colonel Blimp", and collected salamis and gadgets until his death. The number of fascinating things that one learns about him that makes him the more endearing member of the duo (admittedly an easy task when one starts making a list of Powell's shortcomings as a human being) is staggering. Essential reading made easy by Macdonald's talent as a storyteller - only equalled by the other Kevin, as far as I am aware, Kevin Bronwlow: the biographer of David Lean, who also makes an appearance in the book, not to his advantage I have to admit.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished it for the second time. Still so good! MacDonald definitely inherited some of his grandfather's beautiful storytelling ability. Although it's a little depressing to read about Emeric's post-war period, when his grief over lost cultural identity and lost family (survivor's guilt had to be a part of it) started to affect his ability to write, as well as his personal relationships. One wonders what Powell/Pressburger could have continued to create had Emeric's ideas not been out of sync with other people's expectations (Ondine with Audrey Hepburn could have been spectacular) and had Powell not alienated nearly everyone in the industry. What if they had had a comeback like Kurosawa's?--can anyone imagine Kurosawa's filmography without Kagemusha and Ran? What a tragedy that would have been. At least Powell/Pressburger were still alive to enjoy the reappraisal and resurgence of love for their films in the '80s. Now I'm determined to track down Pressburger's two published novels. It's too bad The Unholy Passion was never published.

[Magnus Stanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read. This biography by Emeric Pressburger's grand-son Kevin Macdonald, a renowned documentarian in his own right (Touching the Void, A Day in the Life, Marley, and others) is a worthwhile study about the other half of the Archers, Britain's foremost filmmakers of the 1940's and 50's, i.e. not Michael Powell.

Argueably Macdonald could have been less neutral about the films, more personal. But otherwise I can wholly recommend this

[Iulia Necșulescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an insightful look into the life and work of Emeric and The Archers as a whole. It's sad to see that even today he's not as appreciated by some cinephiles as Michael, but that was to be expected when he wasn't such a showman like him.

[AVANTI KUMAR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absorbing and full of insights into Emeric Pressburger’s work and life.

[Christopher Heaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just re-watched all of the Powell-Pressburger films recently & I decided to read Pressburger's bio, penned by his filmmaker grandson, while the films were fresh in my mind. Very thorough bio. Well written.