I Know Where I'm Going!

1945

1h 31m

Romance

Comedy

List

100%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

82%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

Plucky Englishwoman Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) travels to the remote islands of the Scottish Hebrides in order to marry a wealthy industrialist. Trapped by inclement weather on the Isle of Mull and unable to continue to her destination, Joan finds herself charmed by the straightforward, no-nonsense islanders around her, and becomes increasingly attracted to naval officer Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesey), who holds a secret that may change her life forever.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

I Know Where I’m Going! is a movie of romance and myth, comedy and whimsy, but fiercely rooted in reality – and geography.

Rated: 5/5

Oct 19, 2023

Full Review

James Agee

TIME Magazine

Messrs. Powell & Pressburger achieve, unobtrusively, a remarkable study of a place and a people. This study is never quaint, traveloguish, educational or condescending.

Feb 27, 2018

Full Review

Jake Hamilton

Empire Magazine

One of the greatest (and sadly most forgotten) romantic comedies ever, which has not a cracking script, but some trademark-terrific visuals.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 18, 2016

Full Review

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Even if the outcome is predictable, a sharp sense of humour keeps everything buoyant, spiralling around a wonderful mix of people who are quick-witted and quirky. And while the effects work is dated, it's still properly thrilling.

Oct 17, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Awash in mystic power of ancient castles and chanted legends, 'I Know Where I’m Going' is one of the most romantic visions of Britain’s most magical director, and one of the most deeply, passionately romantic dramas of all time.

Feb 21, 2023

Full Review

MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

If the fundamental framework had been sound this could have been a first-rate film; it is in any case a piece of first-rate entertainment.

Feb 17, 2016

Full Review

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Alec B

Leave it to Powell and Pressburger to take the romance genre and show that it can absolutely afford filmmakers the chance to be innovative and tell a compelling character based story. Wendy Hiller gives an all time great performance here.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

Full Review

Matthew B

Joan Webster (Wendy Hillier) is the woman who knows where she is going. She always has done. Spoilt, selfish, grasping and still likeable, she has been used to getting her own way since she was a child. As an adult she has not improved much. Joan wants the best of everything. She wears the best clothes, and takes her embarrassed father to the best restaurant. Right now our determined heroine intends to marry her fiancé, a man who is nearly as old as her father, but who is also one of the richest men in England. All that remains is to travel from her home in Manchester to the island of Kiloran in the Hebrides for the wedding (is her father not invited?), and Joan has the whole journey planned out meticulously. Made a year after A Canterbury Tale, this film offered to do for Scotland what the earlier movie did for England. While it contains less of the cultural, historical, spiritual, literary and contemporary context of the previous movie, I Know Where I'm Going offers a similar idyllic account of simple rustic life. Characters speak in Gaelic. Seals sing. Houses are hardly separable from farmyards with animals running around the corridors. The people fish and bathe in the waters, and are at ease shooting and skinning rabbits. The latter is an activity in which the urban Joan fails to excel, naturally. We meet a falconer called Colonel Barnstable (played by Captain C.W.R Knight, who was himself a famous falconer), and a subplot develops about whether local sheep have been killed by a lost bird of his. The provincial feel of the movie is enhanced by the choice of music. A number of traditional Scottish songs are played. At one point, the characters attend a ceilidh, a traditional Scottish gathering, which is held to celebrate a wedding. Indeed the dances were choreographed by John Laurie, a regular actor in Michael Powell movies, who here plays the groom. Again as with A Canterbury Tale, what is important here is atmosphere rather than plot. Like Sergeant Bob Johnson in the earlier movie, Joan's progress to her destination is suspended, and indeed the plot of the movie is seemingly suspended too, moving forward slowly, allowing us time to drink in the beauty and local customs of the Hebrides setting. I Know Where I'm Going was commercially successful on its release, but is now an overlooked Michael Powell work. This is a shame, as it contains much that is admirable. The script was written in a week, and yet it was of such good quality that Paramount used it as an example of the perfect screenplay to be shown to struggling writers. In an age where movies so often demand excitement and action of some kind, I Know Where I'm Going may seem frustratingly slow to some. Its pace is certainly leisurely, but that is where the film's charm lies. The pleasure does not lie in the destination that the plot is heading to. It hardly even derives from the journey itself. It lies in the stops that we take along the way there, and the variety of minor incidents that are observed while we rest there. I wrote a longer appreciation (with spoilers) on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2017/10/15/i-know-where-im-going-1945/

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/25/23

Full Review

anne o

Powell and Pressburger are known for "The Red Shoes;" a gorgeous color film. This film is in black and white - the best looking black & white picture I've ever seen! Just delightful, from beginning to end!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

isla s

This is a somewhat slow and partly dull watch, although it has a nice setting and some reasonably nice characters. The Scottish stereotypes did make me cringe but at least the people were friendly enough - most of them anyway. Its a reasonable watch - not one I'd actively recommend but its ok.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

If you don't find this movie captivatingly beautiful and romantic, your soul is dead. Granted Joan is incredibly frustrating but her world has been turned upside down. She comes around in the end. I love this movie, every damn bit of it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Leave it to Powell and Pressburger to take the unfairly maligned romance genre and show that it can absolutely afford filmmakers the chance to be innovative and tell a compelling character based story. Wendy Hiller gives an all time great performance here.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

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Michael Powell

Director

Emeric Pressburger

Director

Wendy Hiller

Joan Webster

Roger Livesey

Torquil MacNeil

Pamela Brown

Catriona

Finlay Currie

Ruairidh Mhór

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Synopsis

Plucky Englishwoman Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) travels to the remote islands of the Scottish Hebrides in order to marry a wealthy industrialist. Trapped by inclement weather on the Isle of Mull and unable to continue to her destination, Joan finds herself charmed by the straightforward, no-nonsense islanders around her, and becomes increasingly attracted to naval officer Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesey), who holds a secret that may change her life forever.

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Screenwriter: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Production Co: The Archers
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Runtime: 1h 31m

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