Michael Powell's and Ermeric Pressburger's I Know Where I'm Going was an unexpected movie at the time of its release. The two filmmakers, who usually shared joint credit as writer-producer-directors, had previously delighted audiences (and outraged officialdom) with their unusual films dealing with war-related subjects: 49th Parallel, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, and A Canterbury Tale. I Know Where I'm Going was set during the war but takes place in Scotland, far from the fighting; the only sign of the world war being fought is the presence of some men in uniform, the austerity of life, and the fact that the hero (Roger Livesey) has only a short leave home, his first visit in five years. But the real focus of I Know Where I'm Going was how people would live, and approach life, after the war: specifically, whether the heroine (Wendy Hiller) would continue to be motivated by materialism or whether she (and the audience) would learn something better. Powell and Pressburger, who went corporately and creatively under the name of The Archers, had a message to send: that there were more joys to be found in the texture of life than in any material comforts, and that this lesson would be a more vital result of the war than the military victory that was already taken for granted. In many ways, I Know Where I'm Going was the first postwar film, anticipating such American classics as The Best Years of Our Lives, It's a Wonderful Life, and even, on the darker side of life, Crossfire.