THE creation, historic impact and enduring legacy of the legendary Spitfire fighter planes are explored in this passionate documentary which lands on the centenary of the RAF.
Narrated with the authoritative tones of actor Charles Dance, directors David Fairhead and Ant Palmer take a deep dive into what made this aircraft important on both a world-affecting scale (it makes the point that without them the Allies would most surely have lost the war) and on a deeply personal level.
It presents us with interviews of those who actually flew them during the Second World War who speak with gravitas, emotion and welcomed good humour, immersing us in their memories of that tumultuous time where this finely tuned machine gave a measure of certainty in an era where it was all too scarce.
We also get to learn about the plane’s creator, aeronautical engineer RJ Mitchell, and the film turns up some enlightening surprises in relation to how and why he made the design the way he did.
What really makes the film is the way in which it utilises newly captured aerial photography to put us right up there in the skies, conveying as best as possible the majesty and the danger of taking flight in a machine revered for its elegance as much as its power as a machine of warfare.
Those impressively immersive sequences leave no doubt as to why it deserves to be on the biggest screen possible.
Even at a relatively modest 100-minute runtime it does go on a little longer than its points demand, owing to a 15-minute epilogue focusing on a female RAF pilot seeing one of the Spitfires flying around after so many years. While perfectly interesting, and all in the good spirit of remembrance, it does feel somewhat bolted on and a late misstep that make you wish it had ended that bit sooner.
Nevertheless its cumulative effect is a stirring one, turning what could have been a dry history lesson for wartime enthusiasts into a more accessible and, most importantly, cinematic salute to ingenuity of the past.
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