''Saint-Ex'' is a 1996 British television film, which was released as an episode of the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

TV series '' Bookmark'', after its premiere at the London Film Festival.Elley, Derek
"Review: ‘Saint-Ex’."
''Variety'', 24 November 1996. Retrieved: 17 December 2015. The story documents the life of French author-

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of s ...

in the form of a "tone poem".Brennan, Sandra
"Overview: 'Saint-Ex'."
''The New York Times''. Retrieved: 17 December 2015. The film was directed by

Anand Tucker Anand Tucker (born 24 June 1963) is a film director and producer based in London. He began his career directing factual television programming and adverts. He co-owns the production company Seven Stories. Personal life Tucker was born in Thailan ...

and stars Bruno Ganz,

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress. She made her film debut playing Ruth Ellis in '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985) and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for ''Damage'' (1992) and ''Tom & Viv'' (1994). ...

and Janet McTeer. The screenplay was by Frank Cottrell Boyce, while the writer's sons, Aidan and Joseph, portrayed the Saint-Exupéry brothers, François and Antoine, as children.

Plot

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 flying airmail overseas. Antoine marries beautiful Consuelo (Miranda Richardson), and they set up house in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

. 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 being '' The Little Prince''. At the outbreak of World War II, Antoine joins the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

(''Armée de l'Air''), but after France is defeated, he joins the Free French Air Force in North Africa. In July 1944, while flying an

F-5 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

on a reconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean, Antoine mysteriously disappears.

Cast

* Bruno Ganz as

as Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry * Janet McTeer as Genevieve de Ville-Franche * Ken Stott as Prevost * Katrin Cartlidge as Gabrielle de Saint-Exupéry * Brid Brennan as Simone de Saint-Exupéry * Eleanor Bron as Marie de Saint-Exupéry * Karl Johnson as Didier Daurat * Daniel Craig as Guillaumet * Dominic Rowan as Aeropostal Clerk * Anna Calder-Marshall as Moisy * Joe Cottrell Boyce as Young Antoine * Aidan Cottrell Boyce as Francois * Nicholas Hewetson as French Pilot * Alex Kingston as Chic Party Guest

Production

''Saint-Ex'' was filmed and distributed in the United Kingdom. The film was director

's feature film debut, and combines elements of biography, documentary and dramatic re-creation.Allon et al. 2001, p. 334. The use of period documentary interviews in black-and-white is interspersed with live action and optical effects generated on film in colour.

Reception

''Saint-Ex'' was reviewed by Derek Elley for '' Variety'': "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."

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Allon, Yoram, Del Cullen and Hannah Patterson. ''Contemporary British and Irish Film Directors: A Wallflower Critical Guide'' (Wallflower Critical Guides). London: Wallflower, 2001. .

External links

* * * * {{Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1996 television films 1996 films British television films British aviation films British biographical films Biographical television films Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Films about shot-down aviators Films with screenplays by Frank Cottrell-Boyce Films directed by Anand Tucker Biographical films about writers 1990s English-language films 1990s British films