A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Directed by Emeric Pressburger
A British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.
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What critics compared A Matter of Life and Death to
But the true inspiration is those old-fashioned romantic fantasies from the 1940s, the kind that used to run on Channel 11 in the middle of the day, classics like “Portrait of Jennie” or “Stairway to Heaven.”
Antecedents for The Adjustment Bureau can be found in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s near-career best romantic fantasy, A Matter of Life and Death (a.k.a., Stairway to Heaven), released sixty-five years, and Wim Wenders’ 1986 post-modern angels-in-Berlin fantasy, Wings of Desire.
Basically, Halsingland looks like a visual interpretation of Led Zeppelin's " Stairway to Heaven ", complete with pipers and May queens.
Heaven looks quite pearly, too; it’s shot in black-and-white, completing a trifecta of tips-of-the-hat to the Archers’ A Matter of Life and Death after the opening crash and Korda’s name, which he shares with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburgers’ producer Alexander Korda.
In a nod to Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death, there’s even a heavenly court where Korda must justify his dastardly existence to God (played by Bill Murray).
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The great, trailblazing director of "Stairway to Heaven" and "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" made only two more features before his death at 85 -- though he did see his own cinematic stature reestablished by younger admirers like Martin Scorsese, while "Peeping Tom's" sleazy rep evolved from cinematic scandal to movie classic.