| Saint-Ex | |
|---|---|
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| Based on | The Looters byJohn H. Reese |
| Screenplay by | Frank Cottrell Boyce |
| Directed by | Anand Tucker |
| Starring | Bruno Ganz Miranda Richardson Janet McTeer |
| Music by | Barrington Pheloung |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Jake Lloyd |
| Cinematography | David Johnson |
| Editor | Peter Webber |
| Running time | 82 minutes |
| Production companies | British Broadcasting Corporation Majestic Films International The Oxford Film Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 25 December 1996 (1996-12-25)[1][2] |
Saint-Ex is a 1996 Britishtelevision film, which was released as an episode of theBBC Two TV seriesBookmark,[1][2] after its premiere at theLondon Film Festival.[3] The story documents the life of French author-aviatorAntoine de Saint-Exupéry in the form of a "tone poem".[4] The film was directed byAnand Tucker and starsBruno Ganz,Miranda Richardson andJanet McTeer. The screenplay was byFrank Cottrell Boyce, while the writer's sons, Aidan and Joseph, portrayed the Saint-Exupéry brothers, François and Antoine, as children.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Bruno Ganz), growing up in an aristocratic French family, chooses to become a pilot. To the dismay of his family, young Antoine leaves to take a job flyingairmail overseas.
Antoine marries beautiful Consuelo (Miranda Richardson), and they set up house inCasablanca. The constant strain on their marriage from his dangerous flights results in Consuelo leaving and going to Paris. Antoine goes after her, they reconcile, but he refuses to give up flying even when he is almost killed when he crashes in an attempt to break the Paris-Saigon air record.
By the late 1930s, Antoine becomes a successful airmail pilot flying in Europe, Africa and South America. During this period, he became a writer, with his most famous work beingThe Little Prince.
At the outbreak ofWorld War II, Antoine joins theFrench Air Force (Armée de l'Air), but after France is defeated, he joins theFree French Air Force in North Africa. In July 1944, while flying anF-5 Lightning on areconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean, Antoine mysteriously disappears.
Saint-Ex was filmed and distributed in the United Kingdom. The film was directorAnand Tucker's feature film debut, and combines elements of biography, documentary and dramatic re-creation.[5] The use of period documentary interviews inblack-and-white is interspersed with live action and optical effects generated on film in colour.[3]
Saint-Ex was reviewed by Derek Elley forVariety: "Reach falls short of ambition in 'Saint-Ex,' an intriguing attempt to create a cinematic tone-poem to legendary French flyer-cum-novelist Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that only rarely gets both wheels off the ground. Despite some striking visuals and an evident desire to take a fresh look at the biopic genre, the movie remains strangely uninvolving for much of the time and isn't helped by a miscast Bruno Ganz as the titular aviator. Theatrical prospects look fog-bound."[3]
