The stories of German author E.T.A. Hoffman provided the inspiration for Offenbach’s opera, premiered four months after the composer’s death in October, 1880, which in turn gifted Powell and Pressburger the material for this Technicolor extravaganza. The film also represented the culmination of Powell’s fascination with the idea of a more perfect union between image and music, as had influenced sequences in both Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948). Performed entirely through song, it begins as Hoffman (Robert Rounseville) steals away to a tavern during a performance by ballerina Stella (Moira Shearer), where he recounts the details of his previous failed love affairs to his fellow drinkers.

Screening as part our Powell & Pressburger season, December 2nd – 20th.

Notes by Kevin Coyne