Martin Scorsese’s voiceover narration and on-camera presence foregrounds the personal nature of “Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger,” an irresistible documentary survey about the formative movies of mid-century British writer/director Michael Powell and his co-writer Emeric Pressburger.
Scorsese didn’t direct “Made in England,” but his insights and relationship with Powell and Pressburger’s movies serve as the clothesline that director David Hinton hangs his movie’s footage on, including clips from both his title subjects’ movies as well as some charming archival interview footage (both Powell and Pressburger are now dead). Even Hinton’s tendency of focusing on Powell over Pressburger makes sense when you consider Scorsese’s presence as the lightly held lens through which the movie presents formative Powell and Pressburger dramas like “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp,” “The Red Shoes,” and “The Tales of Hoffmann.”
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