Gathering up the French DVD's I have waiting to be viewed last night,I decided to dive into the pile today. Taken by fellow IMDber dbdumonteil's very good review,I decided to fly into darkness.
View on the film:
Pre-dating by a decade the "buddies exchanging wisecracks whilst proudly serving for their country" genre that would become a staple of US cinema from WWII,co-writer/(with Joseph Kessel) director Anatole Litvak's adaptation of Kessel's own novel lands in WWI with the thick bond of friendship between Maury and Herbillon brightly burning, but brilliantly curls it into the melancholy,rather than the comedic. Welcoming the viewer to the partying and high-flying times of the squad, the writers gradually bring the love triangle laying under the surface between Helene and her husband Maury's bond with Herbillon onto the horizon, which darkens the sky on a richly melodrama final.
Gathered round the pubs of WWI singing army songs such as "auprès de ma blonde", director Litvak & Henri Georges-Clouzot's future regular cinematographer Armand Thirard soar into action with beautiful, ultra-stylised overlapping dissolves unlocking the heart of the love triangle, and sweeping the dissolves along the aftermath of the battlefields. Appearing to be a mix of real and studio shot, Litvak and Thirard give the sky fighting action scenes a real weight, via elegant wide-shots capturing the strategic alignment of the planes, matched by close-ups in the planes on the emotions running across the faces of the pilots. Holding a love for each other, Charles Vanel, Jean-Pierre Aumont and " Annabella" each give excellent performances as the the tangled loves, via Vanel digging into the big hearted, world weariness of Maury, Aumont keeping Herbillon aching to keep his romance and friendship beating, whilst Annabella has Helene strike an alluringly tragic nerve, as Helene looks to the sky, and sees the flight into darkness.
View on the film:
Pre-dating by a decade the "buddies exchanging wisecracks whilst proudly serving for their country" genre that would become a staple of US cinema from WWII,co-writer/(with Joseph Kessel) director Anatole Litvak's adaptation of Kessel's own novel lands in WWI with the thick bond of friendship between Maury and Herbillon brightly burning, but brilliantly curls it into the melancholy,rather than the comedic. Welcoming the viewer to the partying and high-flying times of the squad, the writers gradually bring the love triangle laying under the surface between Helene and her husband Maury's bond with Herbillon onto the horizon, which darkens the sky on a richly melodrama final.
Gathered round the pubs of WWI singing army songs such as "auprès de ma blonde", director Litvak & Henri Georges-Clouzot's future regular cinematographer Armand Thirard soar into action with beautiful, ultra-stylised overlapping dissolves unlocking the heart of the love triangle, and sweeping the dissolves along the aftermath of the battlefields. Appearing to be a mix of real and studio shot, Litvak and Thirard give the sky fighting action scenes a real weight, via elegant wide-shots capturing the strategic alignment of the planes, matched by close-ups in the planes on the emotions running across the faces of the pilots. Holding a love for each other, Charles Vanel, Jean-Pierre Aumont and " Annabella" each give excellent performances as the the tangled loves, via Vanel digging into the big hearted, world weariness of Maury, Aumont keeping Herbillon aching to keep his romance and friendship beating, whilst Annabella has Helene strike an alluringly tragic nerve, as Helene looks to the sky, and sees the flight into darkness.