'I Know Where I'm Going!' (Powell & Pressburger, 1945) IMDB LinkIt starts off cute. A toddler is crawling on the floor, voice over tells us that as a baby, Joan knew where was going. It's Joan again, older, writing a letter to Santa Claus, not asking for ponies or dolls, but silk stockings (silk being extremely expensive at that time). Joan in school, everyone is waiting for the bus, Joan has charmed a milkman to pick her up and take her home. College, the voice over tells us that Joan dated boys and expected them to take her to expensive restaurants.
Finally, the present. Joan is at a bar with her father, giving him the news. She is going to marry Sir Robert Bellinger, an extremely rich man. The father tells her that Bellinger is as old as he is. Joan pauses for a second and then retorts,
"And what's wrong with you, darling?"In short, Joan knows where she's going and movies are made to prove to people that the best laid plans always get fucked up. The wedding is to take place in a small Scottish Island, where her would-be husband resides in comfort. All arrangements have been made, there is a timetable for her getting there. Everything goes well until she riches the little town that is close to the island. She is supposed to take a boat to the island but there is a heavy fog and has to stay the night. She prays that there will be strong wind to push the fog away. Her prayer is answered, but as they say, be careful what you wish for. There is wind and the fog does clear, but the wind is too strong and she has to stay over again.
During her stay at the Scottish town, she meets a young, dashing, soldier, Torquil, who is on leave. And they seem to be slowly falling in love. But Joan did not plan for this! This is not where she wanted to go!
You know, I love black & white cinematography, but I realize it's not that interesting in filming sceneries. The Scottish town, with green fields, and fog, and the water, and the island from far, and the hills, and all this would have looked much better in glorious color. Unless the sceneries need to look spooky, this is a situation where I feel color wins easily.
Everything else about the film is rubbish. Joan is unlikable (what did you expect from a gold digger?) and I can't understand why Torquil seems to be pulled towards her. Every other character is just two dimensional to take much notice of. Directors Powell & Pressburger made the great "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", which I saw recently, only two years before this one, so I'm not sure where they went wrong. Interestingly enough, the film even stars the actor playing the soldier in both movies, Roger Livesey.
2/5
