Luciano Serra, pilota

A film funded by the Fascist Italy, yet it isn't really about Italy's armed forces or the might of the Fascist movement. It's more of a character study about a man pulled in two directions. On one hand, he's a family man with a beautiful wife, rich father-in-law and a handsome son. On the other hand, he has a need to fly, fly above all the rest. The movie walks us through his decision-making progress and allows us to feel the conflict within him. Though one could say that he never seriously considered his family and that his need to fly had consumed him at a relatively early age, but there are certain scenes where you can see the struggle that is raging within him.

So, as a character study how does the movie hold up? Well, the flying scenes are actually pretty decent for their time. There's a certain feeling of speed and movement that I've rarely encountered in any film, yet alone in a movie this old. The actors are also talented, the basic story is a classic and some of the battle scenes are rather intense. Unfortunately those said battle scenes are also way too long, which ruins the final third of the film. It just a battle scene after a battle scene. I would have liked to see more of those character interactions that the movie did so brilliantly in the first half of the film. Alas, it's just men shooting at each other with very limited dialogue. Though I must admit that the ending was done with style.

All in all, it's not a bad film, but it's not a masterpiece either. It has some good moments, but the lackluster final third ruins the whole experience.