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Czechoslovakia, 1950. Ex-RAF
Czech pilot Franta Slama is confined to a Communist labour camp
(i.e. prison) as an "enemy of the people". Slama flew
for the RAF during WWII and is considered a risk to the
Communist regime, a war hero and potential "freedom
fighter". Slama is in the hospital ward recovering from
pneumonia. His doctor is a former SS surgeon, who is also
confined to the prison. During their ensuing discussions in the
hospital ward, Slama recollects his wartime experiences- the
Nazi occupation of his Czech airbase in 1939, his and trainee
pilot Karel Vojtisek's subsequent flight to England, and their
subsequent experience as combatants. These men become
combatants, united against the Hun who invades the English
skies, and against each other as they fall in love with the same
English woman.
This Czech import movie was
unknown to me until fellow club member Frank Eason mentioned it
at a recent club meeting. Having watched it twice (once by
myself, and once with my wife), I can say that this movie has
something for just about everyone. Of course, I was most
interested in the aircraft and battle scenes. In this movie you
will see a couple of Spitfire Mk5's, which though the magic of
digital technology, multiply into a full squadron. There are
also Heinkel 111's and Me 109G's, albeit modified postwar to
carry the Hispano Suiza engine rather than their original German
made ones. The aerial photography and battle scenes are quite
good, and the filmmakers were talented enough to make it just
about impossible to tell the difference between the real thing,
digital fabrication and use of large scale models. There are a
couple of errors in the pilot's lines too, for example when
Slama radios back to base "One Junkers down!", after
flaming an He111. Still, this is minor, and only something that
a propeller head like me would notice.
In addition to great technical
effects, the acting is pretty good too. And the love triangle
part of the story is well done and acted (unlike the boorish job
done by the two pilots and WAAF in the movie Pearl Harbor).
One warning about the movie. The predominant language is Czech,
with subtitles in English. So you do have to pay attention to
the screen to follow what's going on, particularly the parts of
the movie that take place in Czechoslovakia. |
