Dark Blue World
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| Dark Blue World | |
|---|---|
 DVD Cover |
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| Directed by | Jan Sverák |
| Produced by | Eric Abraham |
| Written by | Zdenek Sverak |
| Starring | Ondřej Vetchý Tara Fitzgerald Oldrich Kaiser Charles Dance Krystof Hádek |
| Music by | Andrej Soukup |
| Cinematography | Vladimir Smutny |
| Editing by | Alois Fisarek |
| Release date(s) |  May 17, 2001 September 9, 2001 December 28, 2001 November 13, 2001 March 7, 2002 April 18, 2002 |
| Running time | 115 min. |
| Country | Czech Republic United Kingdom |
| Language | Czech German English Slovak |
| Budget | € 8 million |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dark Blue World (Czech: Tmavomodrý svět) is a 2001 film by Czech director Jan Svěrák about Czechoslovakian pilots who fought for the British Royal Air Force during World War II. The screenplay was written by Zdeněk Svěrák, the father of the director.
The film stars Ondřej Vetchý as František (Franta) Sláma, Kryštof Hádek as Karel Vojtíšek and Tara Fitzgerald as Susan. There is also an appearance from Charles Dance.
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[edit] Plot
About one third of the film takes place in 1950, after the war, when the returning Czechoslovak pilots were imprisoned by the new communist government for colluding with the capitalists. Most of these scenes are the interactions between Sláma, and his fellow inmates in the prison hospital (an ex-SS doctor and a convicted burglar). The film switches back between the war and the prison.
The first scene in the film is in the workshop of the prison. Sláma is at a sewing machine when he collapses and is taken to the hospital.
The film proper begins in 1939, just days prior to the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. After the invasion, the Czechoslovakian army is disbanded and the Czechoslovaks have to give up their aircraft. However, Franta and the younger Karel, among others, refuse to submit to their occupiers, and flee to the United Kingdom to join the RAF.
Once they arrive, the British force the Czechoslovaks to retrain from the basics, which infuriates them, especially Karel, who is both impatient to fight the Germans and humiliated to be retaught what he already knows. Karel also sees the compulsory English language lessons as a pointless waste of his time.
Eventually they are allowed to fly, but after their first sortie they realise why the British were training them so intensely: a young Czechoslovak nicknamed Tom Tom is shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf-109.
In the same mission, Karel himself is shot down, but manages to safely crash land and find his way to a farm. At this farm he meets Susan, whom he falls in love with (though the feeling is not mutual; Susan thinks Karel is far too young). The next day, after returning to the aerodrome, Karel brings Franta to meet Susan. The latter begins to get on well with Susan, though Karel believes that he is still Susan's boyfriend.
A sort of love triangle develops, though it takes Karel quite some time to realise that Susan has feelings for his commander, and it is not until late in the film when he realises that they are in a relationship with each other.
Following a mission to France where the squadron attacks a train, Karel is shot down and Franta lands to rescue him, a move that shows that the two's friendship endures. But soon after the mission, Karel learns about the relationship between Franta and Susan, which leads to a quarrel.
A few missions later, Franta's airplane has a malfunction and is forced to ditch into the ocean. His inflatable life raft bursts as he tries to inflate it and Karel decides to help him by giving him his own raft. While attempting to drop the raft, Karel collides with the water surface and dies. (But the raft emerges from the water, so Franta is rescued.)
The movie ends with Franta returning to Czechoslovakia, where he finds his girlfriend married.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Ondřej Vetchý | Frantisek Sláma |
| Krystof Hádek | Karel Vojtisek |
| Tara Fitzgerald | Susan |
| Charles Dance | Wing Cmdr. Bentley |
| Oldrich Kaiser | Machatý |
| David Novotny | Bedrich Mrtvý |
| Linda Rybová | Hanicka |
| Jaromír Dulava | Kanka |
| Lukás Kantor | Tom Tom |
| Radim Fiala | Sysel |
| Juraj Bernáth | Gregora |
| Miroslav Táborský | Houf |
| Hans-Jörg Assmann | Dr. Blaschke |
| Thure Riefenstein | Oberleutnant Hesse |
| Anna Massey | English Teacher |
[edit] Trivia
- The most expensive Czech movie produced, the budget totalled € 8 million. The train attack is the most expensive scene in Czech cinema history, costing more than the entire film Kolya
- Dogfight footage from the 1969 film Battle of Britain was seamlessly integrated with contemporary film footage using computer imagery and mastering to create the aerial sequences. Brief shots from the 1990 film Memphis Belle were also used.
- The film's director Jan Svěrák himself played a number of roles, particularly all the crew members of an allied Vickers Wellington bomber in the escort of a damaged bomber scene.
[edit] See also
- František Fajtl
- Nebeští jezdci aka Sky Riders
