Riders in the Sky (1968)
The story of Czech pilots in RAF service during the Battle of Britain, and the ongoing aerial battle in Northern Europe. It tells the story of the crews of the RAF’s No. 311 Squadron, which was mainly crewed by escaped Czech airmen, and their bombing raids during the Second World War.
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The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
This movie is realistic and even crude, and maybe that is the reason, why it's so impressive. Instead of romantic (nearly melodramatic) scenes, incorporated to the Sverak's "Tmavomodry svet" (Dark Blue World) it offers stories from ordinary, cruel life of Czech pilots in Great Britain. And it's even more deeper. The final scene with two soldiers - Czech and German, which are not enemies more, when the both men are facing their destiny in despair... Some of the most haunting moments includes also story of soldier, which received serious face injury and now must try to reconcile himself... The main storyline follows the story of two young Czech pilots - Student (falling to an unhappy romance with British radio-operator) and Prcek, both excellently acted (by remarkable talents Jiri Bednar and Jiri Hrzan). Music fits the whole film very well, featuring funny scene, where the famous tune "Skoda lasky" (originally Czech and in England known as "Roll out the Barell") is performed by the traveling soldiers in two languages... This is definitely one of the best Czech movies of the 60's and also the greatest Czech war movie at all.