First Light

[poliphilo]

First Light was a glum recreation of the life of a Battle of Britain fighter pilot. Budget constraints had thinned 92 Squadron down to the wing commander and four other blokes- two of whom didn't say very much. Geoffrey Wellum, characterised by a senior officer as "a cocky young bastard", went from being tongue-tied and gauche to tongue-tied and battle-weary. Maybe life in an RAF mess in 1940 was all clipped, callous one-liners and long brooding silences- when one thought about the dead it was bad form to name- but I'm not convinced. Somehow (this is where the budget went) they got hold hold of four or five Spitfires. The Spitfires were lovely.

Comments

Re: "'First Light'--what, is that about vampires?"

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's left me thinking that the definitive movie about the Battle has yet to be made. What we want is something that captures both points of view- something a little bit complex.

The best WWII air force movie is The Way to the Stars- with Redgrave and Mills and the poem by John Pudney- but that's about Bomber Command.