Sunday, January 31, 2010

Amelia

For a sad subject this movie is most enjoyable. Historically true, Swank and Greer, as actors are real troopers as they move through this movie which not only documents the life of an extraordinary woman but chronicles the early history of air flight that set the stage for global passenger services. Long distance flying was being established at the time with Amerlia being the first woman to solo the Atlantic after Lindbergh's first male solo flight. The movie exposes the tendency of politics and advertising to use women as window dressing while men actually did the work. Amelia called this 'fraud' and while she compromised at first, her solo flights served to separate herself from this. The movie shows her growth as a pilot. Beautiful cinematography. She was central in the original 99's, an international organization of licensed female fliers which has grown today to over 6000 members. The mystery of her last flight remains murky though the movie true to history helps us understand it better. An amazingly courageous woman.

No comments: