Bride Flight

This is a fantastic film. The trailer for this film tells of a passionate love affair between two people who can't be together. OK, the film is about these two people, but it is about so much more! The bond between these four people who met on a plane in 1953. The secrets some of them kept for 55 years. The expectations of starting a new life in a new country. And the scenery is amazing. I love New Zealand, and I thoroughly enjoyed the background in the film. I recommend this film to anyone. Although, fair to say, I guess it's more of a girl's film. It's an epic drama; there are no car chases or high tech gadgets. This is what a film is supposed to be. And the 130 minutes fly by! Also pay attention to the beautiful song at the end.

Normally I'm not a big fan of Dutch films, but when a friend of mine convinced me to see it and I actually saw the film, I was just blown away! Nothing like the usual Dutch films I was used too, it was way better! to start with the cast, in one word fantastic!! It was so refreshing to see other actors and actresses than we see in so many Dutch films. Waldemar Torenstra, Anna Drijver, Karina Smulders (and of course the other actors/actresses) were really at their best!

When I read the plot outline I was expecting some sort of chick-flick, but it turned out to be a story with much more depth than I was expecting. the way the story unfolds itself is very clever and Ben Sombogaart deserves a big compliment for this. Then the setting, New Zealand, is perfect for this story. The laid-back people in contrast to the strict catholic dutchies was very interesting to witness. and of course, New Zealand is a beautiful country which leads to great shots!

This all makes me very happy that I came over my prejudices and went to see the film! I wouldn't have wanted to miss it and I can recommend it to everyone!

Oh, what a tangled web we weave. But to how many webs do we belong? How many decisions were made outside our comprehension that changed the course of life forever? How many of those decisions became regrets? It doesn't really matter because yesterday happened, but it is interesting to consider the interconnected backstage of existence. And then tremble at the great unknown that is your parent's past. There's just so much we'll never know. And that's mostly OK. Bride Flight is a film that I admired because its leading characters were not only exquisitely defined, but their stories felt distinct and complete, almost separate within a greater whole. These people kept things from one another, and yet they were all so pivotal to each other. The dramatic irony fires on all cylinders. And the ensemble has absolutely excellent chemistry to pull it off. You never doubt the natural unfolding of events because every glance they give or catch is so engaging. New Zealand serves as a breathtakingly epic backdrop to this romance that jumps back and forth on a timeline much more gracefully than so many other examples. When it does jump back you start to become very happy certain rigid social customs have been left behind, and that's a testament to how fully yet subtly its realized. This was a pleasant surprise to watch.

Although it took me two nights to view this film, I must say I was very satisfied with it at the end. The arc of the story, spanning over 50 years or so really was truly grand. The film touches on the many personal issues and emotions of its central characters, yet maintains a certain distance, careful not to have us rooting for or against certain characters, while showing sweeping historical changes take place in the background.

The cast is top-notch, especially Karina Smulders, who plays Ada Van Holland, a young, unwordly bride-to-be traveling, for the first time, from Holland to New Zealand. There is a natural, non self-consciousness about her performance that is very appealing. The other members of the cast are also very wonderful. Many flawed characters occupy the screen, but no one beyond redemption and forgiveness. The cumulative affect of the storytelling, between flashback and modern day, was, in the end, deeply personal, and awe-inspiring.

In the present day, successful winemaker Frank de Rooy dies and three women are requested at his funeral. In 1953, a KLM flight breaks a record traveling from London to Christchurch. Frank meets Ada van Holland, Esther Cahn, and Marjorie Mullin who are three of the brides on their way to New Zealand. Frank lost his family in colonial Indonesia during the war. He falls for country girl Ada but she's already married by proxy to Calvinist Derk Visser. She goes on to live a loveless marriage in a bunker having several children. The only passion is the exchange of letters with Frank until he discovers them. Esther is an independent Jewish woman after losing everyone in the Holocaust. She refuses to live with ghosts from the past and charges forward making a career as a successful fashion designer. Marjorie marries Hans Doorman. After Esther gives birth, Marjorie adopts the baby as her own.

It's an old-fashion romantic melodrama. Ada's quiet suffering is devastating and her life is worthy of any pulp romance. This is all very pulpy with Marjorie and Esther. The movie should stop flashing forward to the modern era so much. It should have stopped after Rutger Hauer died. Every time it goes modern, the movie grinds to a halt. The modern era should be tiny bookends. Otherwise, this is a good old fashion melodrama if one is inclined towards such things.