Wings is the title of a movie about The Great War directed by William Wellman. It was released as a silent film in 1927, winning the first Academy Award ever given for Best Picture.
It stars:
This film is at once tender and brutal. It deals with the stark immediate reality of war, and how that meshes with our humanity. This is accomplished by focusing three young people from a small town who join the war effort (the two boys join as pilots, the girl joins the motor corps) and following them throughout the war. This is also, however, a movie about friendship, class animosity, and love. An interresting thing about World War I movies made fairly soon after the war is the sense of morality and idealism because it was generally believed that nothing like that could ever happen again, and that we as a species had learned our lesson. To an extent I think that sentiment was a product of necesity. I think that a lot of people were still struggling to wrap their minds around what had happened.
All in all, this is one of my favorite movies. It is very emotionally intense, alternating between slow but deep character development and heart racing action, it will satisfy those out for a chick flick as well as those out for a solid war movie. Another thing this movie is often noted for is the incredible cinematography and well filmed dogfights and battles. The violence may be a little much for some, but if you are going to watch a war movie, that is not unexpected. If this movie were to come out now, it would likely draw an R for violence.
I won't try to spoil the movie for you, but be prepared to laugh a couple times, and cry many times, and be on the edge of your seat quite often.
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