Kevin MacDonald is the grandson of Emeric Pressburger – of Powell and Pressburger fame. He is also the Director of High and Low, John Galliano, shown for the first time in Scotland at the Glasgow Film Festival.

Galliano was a poor lad from Gibraltar, raised in Britain, who became a fashion designer of world renown. His inventions were wild, creative, and often beautiful, and he became in incredible demand working for both Dior and Givenchy in Paris. The film tells of Galliano’s rise and fall from grace due to racially abusive remarks he made when in the grip of alcoholism.

Kevin says he made the film because the story of Galliano’s self-destruction appealed to him, and says he is interested in telling the stories of people who have been pre-judged. He talks about making films to discover who someone truly is – the person behind things they have said or done.

Kevin’s grandfather was Emeric Pressburger, a Jewish immigrant who came to Britain during the rise of the Nazis, and this is where Pressburger met his work partner Michael Powell. Made in England, the films of Powell and Pressburger is a beautiful window into another time and the two men’s own unique partnership. Powell was very British – he loved the rural England of the time and sought to capture its peace and quirkiness on screen, and he also loved climbing in the Highlands. Pressburger was Jewish, Hungarian and German. Powell was experimental and liked stylized visuals, Pressburger was a gentler, stabilising hand. It worked, Powell the Director, Pressburger the writer. Together they made many films such as the classic with David Niven A Matter of Life and Death, as well as Black Narcissus, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and The Red Shoes. These visually stunning films, and others by the duo, inspired the young Martin Scorsese, who grew up watching British films on TV.

American films generally didn’t go onto American TV, so British films were shown instead. Scorsese says he took inspiration from The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp when making Raging Bull and The Age of Innocence. Blimp is one of his favourite films and he says “that film says the most to me about growing up, growing old, and giving up.”

Interestingly, when Powell was older and living in obscurity, Scorsese befriended him and invited him over to America. He introduced him to his editor Thelma Schoomaker, who would marry Powell. (Thelma is nominated for an Oscar this year for her work on Killers of the Flower Moon.)

Glasgow Film Festival 2024 was its UK premiere, which is fitting because, despite the title of the film, a lot of it was made in Scotland.

Ailie Hunter
Latest posts by Ailie Hunter (see all)