First of all, let me take the moment to clear things out, no matter where you from and what books have you read about aviation pioneers: Alberto Santos Dumont is the
real father of aviation. Period. While a great percentage of the globe tends to jump on the Wright brothers band wagon, the other half gives the honor to Dumont and the
reason for that is because Wright brothers experiment was seen by a minor group that didn't took pictures, didn't film the flight and can only describe what they saw; now,
Dumont's flight with a heavier than the air machine that isn't any form of balloon but simply an airplane, or at least the format of one we get used to see in the following
years is the one who closely resembles that current format (with obvious changes), was seen by several witnesses which includes the noble aviation society of its time (Wright
brothers were invited to the event but never replied back) and above all...it's all on film, back in 1906, how the 14 Bis took off the ground and made a revolution in
aviation, a short flight that entered history. And I'm not being biased just because he's a countryman and I'm a patriot; there's plenty of facts to be found and checked.
Difference is: the brothers went further in developing other planes over the next years - plenty of patents while Santos gave away his project to the world development, hardly
making any profit from it (I've always criticized him for this) - and Santos Dumont continued to make some new ones but stopped after
a while, growing more and more depressed about Europe's use of his creation for war purposes. It ends with the genius of aviation going back to São Paulo and hanging himself in 1932.
"14 Bis" celebrates the 100th anniversary of the famous flight by Dumont (here played by Daniel de Oliveira), presenting a little about his conceived the design of the plane;
the failed attempt and the changes he had to make in order to come up with a good solution and not embarass himself again in front of respectable gentlemen. The rest is history: one of
the craziest yet most wonderful moments in history, science and progress. Problem with the film is that it doesn't echo or transmit the same feeling when we
watch the original images of Dumont's flight. It's all too quick. In fact, this kind of film should go exactly like Scorsese's "The Aviator", to provide a deep focus on Dumont as a
person, a visionary, his rise and fall...and how the 14 Bis flight changed everything. Now, when we see Hughes flying the Hercules there's some spectacular sensation because Marty
made a huge build up and challenging its audience in wondering if that expensive and larger than life creation would take off or dive into the ocean. This short was too condensed and
that might upset aviation buffs expecting for a three-act story.
In any case, I was delighted with the production quality and values, careful art-direction and it's worthy of praise in order to celebrate the conquest of who could posibly be
one of the first Brazilian heroes known to the world. The few audiences who watched this complain about Daniel's performance, saying he wasn't exactly like Dumont or he was too daring instead
of the timid man he is described in several accounts. I find his performance quite fine, he always delivers something extra with each character he portrays, specially real life figures
(the list includes Cazuza, Frei Betto, the Comando Vermelho leader in "400 Contra Todos"); but he did his best with what was available. Also worth seeing the great Nicola Siri, playing a
friend/rival also a aviation pioneer and one who profits from planes creation during WWI.
Nice tribute, amazingly well-made but it doesn't fly as high as it could. By the standards Brazilian cinema was at that time, it could be a lot better...if given to a feature
film treatment, time and effort, and a great director. Where's Salles and Meirelles when we need them? 8/10
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