50 films: 1966 - Wings

The film project faltered early when 1966 was supposed to be Larisa Shepitko's Wings, but the DVD hadn't arrived... it then fell by the wayside... 1966 was nabbed by Gambit and when the DVD finally arrived it was filed away for later. We finally got around to watching the film on Friday. So long since we decided to watch it that we can barely remember why it was picked.

The film is a beautiful and sad discourse on loneliness and heroics, of a mundane life after excitement, of posttraumatic stress disorder, I guess. Nadya was a pilot and hero during the Great Patriotic War but is now getting on with life as a school head teacher. She is successful in her job but has not come to terms with an ordinary life, and is struggling in her relationships with Tanya, her adopted daughter, and with Pasha her museum-director boyfriend.