Movie Review Dark Blue World

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Czech movie from 2001. A fictional drama set against the backdrop of all to real historic events. The Germans occupied the Czechoslovakian Sudetanland from 1938, swallowing up the rest of the former Bohemian country during World War Two. Czech pilots, officially grounded in their homeland, fled to the UK and joined the British RAF, distinguishing themselves in the war effort. After the War, as their country fell to Soviet control, the pilots were arrested and thrown into brutal labour camps from fear that men fighting for freedom against one repressor, might try to fight for liberation against another. This film follows the stories of a group of Czech airmen over this period, mainly focussed on their RAF service. The training, flight and battle sequences are very powerful. The film is also a tragic love story. František Sláma, played by Ondrej Vetchý leaves his girlfriend and his pet dog behind in Czechoslovakia on his escape to Britain where he falls for an English Lady, played by Tara Fitzgerald, oblivious that she is in love with his best friend instead, leading to bitter rivalry between the two men that threatens to interfere with their combat duties. Returning home, Slama finds his lover there has dumped him for another man, and her children have adopted his dog so he lets them keep it too. He is next seen in the labour camp where he tells his story to two men he has befriended. Beautifully shot and acted drama with a great deal of attention to period detail, lots of spitfires in flight, and English actor Charles Dance also appears as the Squadron's commanding officer. The title comes from the musical score being created for a downed pilot's funeral service during the movie. The Youtube is a performance of the jazzy yet melancholy composition Arthur Chappell