Flight of the Phoenix: Dorfmann
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) is a stage play on the screen. The props are backdrops for a well-acted drama where the characters are thrust into a situation so we can see them wrestle with their emotions, convictions, and relationships.
Directed by Robert Aldrich, Phoenix starts with a plane crash in the desert. The survivors, lucky to be alive but stranded hundreds of miles from nowhere, can see no hope except an increasingly remote chance of rescue. Jimmy Stewart plays Frank Towns, the pilot, guilt-ridden about the crash but realizing that he has to remain a strong leader. Richard Attenborough is his co-pilot Lew Moran, and the two of them put forth such strong performances it is a marvel to watch.
Days after the crash, when hope is diminishing, Heinrich Dorfmann (played in the best performance ever by Hardy Kruger) proposes that they can rebuild the plane from parts and fly out of the desert. To Towns, this “proposal” is completely disregarded along with the many mad ravings of the survivors he is trying to keep under control. But, when Dorfmann reveals to Moran that he is an aircraft designer, Towns and Moran begin to consider that any cause, even a hopeless one, may lift the spirits of the desperate group.
The film is long. For two hours we watch this drama unfold as the survivors, under the harsh and critical leadership of Dorfmann, disassemble and reassemble a new plane. While it seems incredible at first, the film, though it’s strong characters, convinces us that it may just work. Dorfmann could not have been better cast. The film exploits every German stereotype that Americans prejudiced by World War II would have in their heads. Towns hates his arrogance, and feels sometimes they are wasting their time.
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When they are approaching the completion of the plane, there is a scene that is the turning point of the film. It is a quiet scene where Dorfmann, Towns and Moran are inside the cabin of the old plane. The scene is not only perfectly written and filmed, but it is the start of the ultimate test of the three main characters. Dorfmann reveals, only when he is asked, and almost as if it didn’t matter, that he is a model aircraft designer and has never designed a real plane. I am sure that you could have heard a pin drop in the theatre and it is worth 2 hours of watching for me to sit on the edge of my seat and watch this perfect moment of performance and storytelling.
(There is a horrible remake of this film starring Dennis Quaid. Please watch the original and don’t even consider the remake.)
Tags: movies
