Rating: 
Summary: One of the World's Great Films. Really.
Review: This is one of the great romantic movies, and like all of the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger films, it's quirky and original. Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) has always known where she's going. She's headstrong and determined to marry a man who is wealthy and has position. Her fiance is an industrialist (this is at the tail end of WWII), older than she, who is living on a leased island off the coast of Scotland. They're to be married on the island, and Joan takes the train to a small village on the coast, where she'll go across on the ferry. Bad weather sets in and she has to wait at the home of another woman, a woman of common sense and little money, who also has staying with her an old friend and naval commander, Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesey).
This is Joan Webster's story, her determination to get to the island, her growing unease with MacNeil because he doesn't fit into her plans, her putting at risk a young couple who are in love and, as she comes to realize, may have better values than she does. Of course, there's a legend about the lairds of Kiloran, with a curse carved into the walls of a crumbling castle. There are villagers who are unique but not condescended to. There is an atmosphere of fog and mist and sun which is beautifully photographed. There is a storm-swept boat journey into the teeth of a giant whirlpool, all the scarier because it was filmed in the days before CGO.
Roger Livesey is terrific as MacNeil, the last of the lairds of Kiloran. He made this movie only a couple of years after he did The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp for the Archers. Here he finds himself attracted to this headstrong young woman, then falling in love with her.
Pamela Brown plays his friend. She was a first-rate actress plagued with bad health. Here she's all common sense but with also a great deal of understanding. She's a wonderful looking creature.
And there's Wendy Hiller. In my view this is the best movie role she ever had. She nails the part with her certitude, her unease knowing that despite her intentions her plans may be changing, her final recognition that she has been wrong about a lot of things.
At the end, MacNeil enters the ruins and breaks the curse...and we realise what the curse was really all about...then hears in the distance the pipers playing, slowly growing louder. These were the pipers hired to play at Joan's wedding and he last saw them and Joan as they prepared to sail across to the island. He looks out and sees the pipers, led by Joan, marching along the road toward him. And then, without strings or lush orchestrations, the old Scottish folk song kicks in sung simply...
I know where I'm going,
I know who's going with me,
The Lord knows who I love,
But the de'il knows who I'll marry.
I'll have stockings of silk,
Shoes of fine green leather,
Combs to buckle my hair
And a ring for every finger.
Feather beds are soft,
Painted rooms are bonny;
But I'd leave them all
To go with my love Johnny.
Some say he's dark,
I say he's bonny,
He's the flower of them all
My handsome, coaxing Johnny.
Well, if you don't get choked up, all you have beating in your chest is a hunk of muscle.
This is one of the great Powell and Pressburger movies. It's not just romantic, but it's romantic without being sentimental. It's a great story and a great film.
The Criteron DVD transfer is excellent and the extra features are extremely good.
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Masterpiece
Review: This is the first DVD I have reviewed. I do it because this is the most memorable film I have seen in years. It totally absorbed me. It is as good as other Dame Wendy Hiller films such as "Pygmalion". The DVD enhancement commentary, through the British Film Institute and a New Yorker film critic, and the location revisits are simply outstanding.
Rating: 
Summary: 12 year old Petula Clark on film
Review: This movie has become a classic over the years,and film maker Martin Scorsese raves about the film. A must see for anyone who loves british movies ,scotland,and any Petula Clark fans who want to see her in a non singing role aged 12
Rating:
Summary: An excellent film with great scenery
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.This movie is one of the more interesting that I have seen. The story follows a woman on the way to her wedding to a wealthy man on an island in Scotland. Inclement weather prevents her from taking a boat to the island and she subsequently meets a naval officer and begins to have feelings for him. The film has excellent scenery of Mull Island in Scotland.
The DVD special features include a revisit to the sites featured in the film.
There is also a theatrical trailer. There is feature length audio commentary by Ian Christie. There are several home movies made by Director Michael Powell, narrated by his widow Thelma who also narrated a slideshow of production photos on the DVD. There area also excerpts from Michael Powell's "The Edge of The World" a documentary "Return to the Edge of the World" and another documentary "I Know Where I'm Going! Revisited" by Mark Cousins.
Rating:
Summary: actually, she doesn't
Review: This very fine romance tells the story of Joan Webster, a determined young woman at the tail end of WWII, who has always known where
she's going, which is mainly getting ahead. At the moment, she's on her way to the island of Kiloran, off the coast of Western Scotland, to
marry Sir Robert Bellinger. Sir Robert has amassed a considerable fortune during the war via his Consolidated Chemical company. He makes
sure that Joan travels in style, according to a precise schedule, with folks waiting on her every step of the way, right up until the time comes for
her to take a boat over to the isle. At that point, nature intervenes, in the form of gale force winds, and she's prevented from joining Sir Robert
for several days. Meanwhile, she meets the colorful inhabitants of the little town, among them the handsome and dashing Torquil MacNeil, a Naval Lieutenant,
who it turns out is the real Laird of Kiloran, forced to rent out the family estate for several years at a time to get the money to maintain it the
rest of the time. The entirely predictable complications follow, but where a modern film would rely on slapstick and broad humor, Pressburger
and Powell are more subtle. The film is humorous, but the filmmakers are more intent on exploiting the natural beauty and wildness of their
setting than in getting cheap laughs and they cleverly tap in to several mythological themes. There is a castle with a curse on it and a
treacherous whirlpool lies between the town and the isle. In the end, legend and convention combine to bring the story to its necessarily
romantic conclusion. I have to admit, I normally loathe these stories where one betrothed, or the other, or both, break off an engagement because they've found "true
love." (I guess at the time it was also considered daring to implicitly criticize war profiteering by having Joan choose the poor sailor over the
industrialist.) But the movie's so enchanting and the use of myth so effective that I eventually surrendered to it. Powell and Pressburger made
many great films and this one, though I'd not rank it with their very best, is delightful. Highly recommended for husbands who owe their wives
a chick flick. GRADE : A-
Rating:
Summary: NEXT STOP, KILORAN VILLAGE
Review: Wendy Hiller knows where she has to go. Straight to the New Hebrides in order to marry one of the wealthiest men of England. The scottish fog and, later, never stopping winds force her to stay at Pamela Brown's House. She will learn during these three days of waiting that life is not as simple as she believed until then. An ordinary story in an extraordinary landscape. Filmed partly on location on the west coast of Scotland, British directors Michaël Powell and Emeric Pressburger's I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING starring Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey is a valuable addition for your library if you are an admirer of these genial directors or simply looking for a DVD you could watch again and again without having the feeling that it's not worth the price. The bonus features found on this Criterion DVD are amazing. Among other things, you will learn that Roger Livesey never left London where he was the leading character of a theatrical play and that a double replaced him for the scenes in Scotland ! Even Michaël PowelI, some years later, didn't know anymore who was on the screen at peculiar moments, Roger Livesey or his double. Look at these home movies shot by Michaël Powell himself in the New Hebrides, rarely the cultural potential of a DVD has been so smartly used. A DVD zone Loch Ness.
Rating:
Summary: Highland Fling !
Review: What are the truly great, classic romances on film ? Many would think of "Casablanca", and justifiably so. However, in its own charming, subtle way, "I Know Where I'm Going" deserves a high place on any such list. My wife and I decided to watch this as our "Valentine's Day" movie--a perfect choice. I suppose the big question is--why is a movie that is so predictable, so great ? As usual, the answer is a combination of fine ingredients--script, direction, setting and performances, both lead and support. Dame Wendy Hiller stars as a bright, independent and arrogant young woman who "knows where she is going". Actually, she is "going" to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland to marry a much older, but incredibly wealthy man. There is never any suggestion of a relationship between these two people or that they love one another. It is presented to us as an "arranged" marriage, just as this fellow ( we never actually see him on screen ) would set up one of his business deals. Of course, fate intervenes. Several days of bad weather prevent our heroine from leaving the coastal village to meet her intended on the island. During this time, she meets a naval officer who also happens to be the local laird, played by Roger Livesey. Even though he is attracted to Ms. Hiller, the Livesey character does not try to "sweep her off her feet"--he simply opens her eyes to the charms and rewards of a simple life where "people are not poor--they just don't have any money". Before long, she develops feelings for this man, which makes her even more anxious to reach the island and her husband-to-be, so that she can keep her word and "do the right thing". Of course, you can't fight fate--can you ? There are various subplots involving an ancient Scottish curse, a terrifying encounter with a whirlpool, and relationships involving some of the local people. Although shot in black and white, the beauty of Scotland is definitely one of the "stars" of this film. While Hiller and Livesey are superb in the leading roles, they receive fine support from Pamela Brown and a group of Scottish actors, including Finlay Currie. Actually, were there any films involving Scotland from the 30s to 60s which did not have Finlay Currie in the cast ? He is like the patron saint of Scottish movie actors ! Criterion, as usual, gives us a beautiful image, and some nice extras to go with this Powell/Pressburger classic. When Martin Scorcese is asked if he would "remake" the film, he basically says no--why mess around with perfection ? Thank you, Mr. Scorcese--a man of taste, as well as talent ! This is a movie where you can just curl up with your partner, relax ( except for that whirlpool ! )and enjoy some unforgettable characters who learn what is really important in life. A wonderful DVD to own. Now--when is the next flight to Scotland ?
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