Synopsis
Lt. Franta Slama is a top pilot in the Czech Air Force who is assigned to train a promising young flier, Karel Vojtisek, and they soon become friends. When Nazi Germany invades Czechoslovakia in 1939, they both reject the authority of their new leaders and escape to England where they join other Czech exiles in the RAF. While flying a mission over England, Karel crash lands and happens upon the farmhouse of Susan, a young woman whose husband is in the Navy. Karel soon falls head over heels for Susan but, while they enjoy a brief fling, in time Susan decides she prefers the company of the older and more worldly Franta. As Franta and Karel struggle to maintain their friendship despite their romantic rivalry.
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Cast
- Ondřej VetchýFrantišek Sláma
- Kryštof HádekKarel Vojtíšek
- Tara FitzgeraldSusan Whitmore
- Oldřich KaiserJan Machatý
- Linda RybováHanička Pecharová
- David NovotnýBedřich Mrtvý
- Charles DanceWing Commander Bentley
- Jaromír DulavaRailwayman Kaňka
- Lukáš KantorTamtam
- Juraj BernáthJan Gregora
Recommendations
- 90
Time
One thinks of the great opening line of that great novel The Good Soldier: "This is the saddest story I have ever heard." Like many such tales, this one is worth taking to your aching heart. - 80
Washington Post
The last word you'd expect for it is "sweet," yet it is exactly the right one. That may come as no surprise to some, since the director is Jan Sverak, who brought sweetness to his breakthrough film "Koyla," but it caught me by total surprise. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
A crackerjack combination of live action, special effects and recycled footage. - 75
Miami Herald
Dark Blue World's warm story and beautiful photography almost hits the mark, and it has a great ending. - 75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Dark Blue World is "Pearl Harbor" without the product placements, without the Hollywood bombast, and certainly without the $100-million-plus budget. - 75
Chicago Tribune
The film mixes unashamed kitsch, thrilling airfight scenes and dark historical drama. But what gives it a special charge is its portrait of the Czech RAF group: what happened to them before, during and after the war. - 63
New York Post
Has some terrific aerial sequences and exciting dogfights. But the clichés in the script by Zdenek Sverak (the director's father) keep the film firmly grounded when the action's not aloft. - 50
Village Voice
Dark Blue World and Sverak's previous "Kolya" were each written by the director's father, Zdenek, and both films betray a weakness for the symmetrical and sentimental.
