5.13.2009

The Red Baron



This film has already hit in Europe, but I have read that reviews and audience reaction were less than stellar. I can't imagine why. Just viewing the trailer below makes me curious to see more.



Perhaps it's the subject matter, or more specifically, how it is handled. Perhaps people wanted a war movie when they actually got a more biographical film. I, on the other hand, would rather prefer to see a film that portrays the infamous Red Baron as a man of honor. Here, he is more than a fighter pilot; he is a modern knight jousting in the air on a winged steed. The wonderful thing about this era is that the aerial dogfights were fought at a speed slow enough to still allow you to see the face of your enemy. It is perhaps the last time warriors would battle one another "face to face." As speeds and technology advanced, killing your opponent at greater distances became the modus operandi. If Baron von Richthofen truly was a man who respected his opponents by upholding a type of chivalry or bushido, and valued dogfighting as "sport" rather than the function of the pilot in war, then his legend should not exclusively revolve around his skill as a fighter pilot, but his integrity as a man. If this film is little more than wishful thinking, then at least its romanticism seems to be an enjoyable interlude.

1 comment:

Super Edco said...

Looks pretty good to me. I imagine there's a wavy line that may shift opinion when a film tries to laud an icon that has been traditionally villainized, often to extremes.

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