“The pilot of a blazing bomber ‘survives' certain death, only to find himself ‘suspended' between heaven (where he is summoned for trial) and earth (where he has fallen in love with an American girl). The doctor who befriends him diagnoses a ‘highly organised hallucination' and much the same could be said of the film, with its bewildering alternations of microcosm and macrocosm, poetry and pathos, monochrome and colour. A stunning, subversive masterpiece.” -British Film Institute.

“...there was a good sound medical reason for every fantasy image that appeared on the screen. This appeals to me for I like to have my fantasy based on something real because life is far more fantastic than fantasy.... Although I'm good at fantasy, at pure fantasy I would be no good at all. I'm too practical.”