We all indulge in fantasy of some kind. As human beings, we are distinguished by our ability to imagine, to dream, to wish for things, and to make-believe scenarios, events and stories that extend far beyond our everyday experience. (Fantasy, p. 1)

The one key phrase that stands out for me personally, is ‘events and stories that extend far beyond our everyday experience’. This explains that fantasy can be employed by filmmakers to tell stories that extract us from reality. Which is exactly what the purpose of the fantasy/reality battle in A Matter of Life and Death is aiming to do. The simple colour differentiation between the two elements explains the films messages in the simplest form. Fantasy is black, white and boring, whereas reality is colourful, vibrant and an ideal place to live as one strong community. Although it paints an unrealistic view of post-war Britain and its communities to entice people to behave that way in the real world, that is the point of the film. To watch it and to forget about the harsh real world.

A Matter of Life and Death is a British fantasy film, so aside from the film subverting fantasy and employing realism, it relies heavily on the fantastic for the plot of the film. Fantasy is at the heart of the film. Characters are constantly questioning their own beliefs and that of the protagonist. The narrative is so dependent on fantasy and imagination that it could not work within any other genre of film. The film constantly shifts between reality and fantasy with two visual indicators. One being the colour transition, the other being the stoppage of time when Conductor 71 (Marius Goring) is present. Conductor 71 is the representative of heaven chosen to shadow Peter until his trial. Whenever he appears, time in the film freezes and it is only Peter who can talk to him. This concept strengthens the idea that fantasy is part of the imagination, that one couldn’t exist without the other. In a chapter on Powell and Pressburger, Moor tal