Seen in America as "The Flight of the Eagle," this is one of the two most extraordinary movies of Man's relationship to "space (area)." Where "Das Boot" best captured a world of confined spaces, this movie dramatically arrests the viewer in an terrifying environment of "too much space." Beginning as a beautiful period-piece, this story follows our three adventurers as they pitch and win the argument, to be the first humans to reach the North Pole. As an accomplished balloonist, Max Von Sydow as the real life Swedish Engineer, S. A. Andrée, meets and collects two hardy companions and embarks the `great adventure' via what else ?
a balloon! The film brilliantly captures the three travelers' descent from excitement into stark realization that `blueprints' do not always describe reality. The remainder of the film which runs about 3 hours, is an incredible story of how intellect, will always be limited against the harsh reality of God. Tremendous performances by Von Sydow and company, and significantly inter-cut with actual photos from the expedition, this movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. One of the most psychologically-terrifying, emotional films (and a true story), this is a must see for fans of great film-making.
Cheers.
