Luciano Serra, pilota

From from first frame to last, this film is complete and utter Fascist propaganda. How anyone could say otherwise is beyond me. The reviewer above calls it a character study. Well, only in so far as the central character typifies the 'virtuous' and 'heroic' Italian male as espoused by the Mussolini's Blackshirts. The plot is absurdly contrived and bloated to the point of parody and it would be funny if it were not the reflection of a murderous, tyrannical regime who were at the time, at war with Ethiopia.

The only reason why it is remembered today is because it shared first prize (with Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia) at the 1938 Venice Film Festival. The film that everyone thought should have won that year was Jean Renoir's masterpiece, La Grande Illusion.

Luciano Serra, Pilota won because the film was made under the supervision of Mussolini's son.

Avoid.

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.