The acting is superb and Rakie Ayoka is fascinating in her delivery of an adventurous dreamer navigating a world outside of her supportive, comfortable home with all of its familiarity. One of the most obvious points is that her family support system is the rock upon which she stands. It is solidly indicative of an array of young blacks who pushed the boundaries of living as they had done all of their lives to find new ground for exploration. If looked at from this point of view primarily, and not as a murder mystery, which it barely is, the film is much stronger.
It is a film about the inner fearlessness of exploration first and its ability to promote other changes, and Shades of Fear is a much better title than Great Moments in Aviation, which is nonsensical in itself and weak for the point(s) of the film. It is about Gabriel's fears, the missionaries' fears, the husband's (John Hurt's character) fears and the character Duncan, played by Johnathan Pryce's fears and how they work through them to find their own best truths and selves, or are forces to release them. It is an exploration into breaking free of your limitations and pre-conceived notions of self and those you encounter.
The story is able to develop slowly and fully on many levels because it is not burdened down by moronic, trite depictions of how blacks and whites operated during this time period, but instead shows a far more realistic view of how broad the experiences of blacks were in the 1950s. This is excellent in and of itself! The disparities in the opportunities between the races are depicted in the employment of the workers on the ship, from coal loaders, and stewards, to cooks, musicians and other crewmen (no women, which might well be the way ships worked then, not sure). Yet there is a the realistic approach of Gabriel's acceptance of her predicament of being the one who will probably be without a room on a full to the brim ship, if she does not participate in the roos with Duncan. He would get the room first, and her immediate understanding and acceptance of this and ability to move forward and pivot into the circumstance is the way black people have acted for centuries. This light touch gives the film a more realistic delivery of the times.
It is about the contrast of bright, shiny and hopeful, vs. Jaded, disappointed and selfish, vs. Stuck, bitter and needing to exact revenge, juxtaposed against fear of breaking out of the appointed roles assigned in life to find your best self, as told through the five main characters we follow throughout the film. It is a nuanced film with innuendo and not for those who need everything to be hard hitting and overt, because they don't want to pay attention to the subtleties of the filmmaker's vision.
If you can do that though, release the need to get ahead of the story and just pay attention and follow it with respect, it is a wonderful little piece of real cinema!
It is a film about the inner fearlessness of exploration first and its ability to promote other changes, and Shades of Fear is a much better title than Great Moments in Aviation, which is nonsensical in itself and weak for the point(s) of the film. It is about Gabriel's fears, the missionaries' fears, the husband's (John Hurt's character) fears and the character Duncan, played by Johnathan Pryce's fears and how they work through them to find their own best truths and selves, or are forces to release them. It is an exploration into breaking free of your limitations and pre-conceived notions of self and those you encounter.
The story is able to develop slowly and fully on many levels because it is not burdened down by moronic, trite depictions of how blacks and whites operated during this time period, but instead shows a far more realistic view of how broad the experiences of blacks were in the 1950s. This is excellent in and of itself! The disparities in the opportunities between the races are depicted in the employment of the workers on the ship, from coal loaders, and stewards, to cooks, musicians and other crewmen (no women, which might well be the way ships worked then, not sure). Yet there is a the realistic approach of Gabriel's acceptance of her predicament of being the one who will probably be without a room on a full to the brim ship, if she does not participate in the roos with Duncan. He would get the room first, and her immediate understanding and acceptance of this and ability to move forward and pivot into the circumstance is the way black people have acted for centuries. This light touch gives the film a more realistic delivery of the times.
It is about the contrast of bright, shiny and hopeful, vs. Jaded, disappointed and selfish, vs. Stuck, bitter and needing to exact revenge, juxtaposed against fear of breaking out of the appointed roles assigned in life to find your best self, as told through the five main characters we follow throughout the film. It is a nuanced film with innuendo and not for those who need everything to be hard hitting and overt, because they don't want to pay attention to the subtleties of the filmmaker's vision.
If you can do that though, release the need to get ahead of the story and just pay attention and follow it with respect, it is a wonderful little piece of real cinema!