Introducing Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1945 film I Know Where I’m Going!, Joanna Hogg was quick to dispel the notion the film had anything in common with her own Archipelago (2010), which had just been screened.
“It’s set on an island, beyond that there’s not much of a comparison,” she said, modestly adding it would be “embarrassing” to compare her work with the “masterpiece” she was presenting.
Instead, she detailed Powell and Pressburger’s working methods and covered their critical renaissance, having been championed by Martin Scorsese.
The film is certainly tonally different to Hogg’s work. A romantic comedy about headstrong Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller), who travels to a remote Scottish island with the intention of marrying a rich older man, only to learn island life isn’t as simple as she expected when she meets a local laird (Roger Livesey), I Know Where I’m Going! is funny, charming and gentle.
But there are also flashes of darkness, sensuality and the occasional surprisingly experimental sequence.
Hogg shares Powell and Pressburger’s fascination with relationships.
As the New York Times review she quoted said: “The characters are solid, normal and mature human beings and their experiences are far from spectacular. But they are intensely interesting people in their own quiet way.”
Words that could apply to any of Hogg’s films.
Four stars
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