Airplane Film

“Airplane show take-offs, landings, mid-air stalls, planes lurching through storms and countless characters yelling over propeller noise. These bits call up every emotion connected with flight: anxiety, longing, escape, destruction, power…It all amounts to fear of flying – just another manipulated sentiment in the context of a regular film, used to set the unconscious on edge without anybody noticing. Here it’s a breathless, liberating free-association.” – Renee Shafransky Spanning 40 years of aviation through feature clips wrenched from their cozy narrative settings, the film switches perspectives relentlessly. Pilots gaze out of windows to static shots of the earth. Air Force captains inspect the sky for enemy death machines. Desert nomads (Hollywood style) look expectantly for the winged messiah.