Great Moments in Aviation (1993)

Directed by

Beeban Kidron

Genre

drama film, LGBTQ-related film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 28m

Rating

4.9 of 10 from 9 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young Caribbean woman training to be a pilot travels by passenger liner to England in the 1950s. She falls in love with a man on the run, while nearby two retired missionaries discover romance with each other.

romanticmoodyunderstateddreamlikebittersweetslow-movingtenderserene

What happens

Great Moments in Aviation is a 1994 British romantic drama film set on a 1950s passenger liner. The film follows Gabriel Angel (Rakie Ayola), a young Caribbean aviator who falls in love with the forger Duncan Stewart (Jonathan Pryce) on her journey to England. Stewart is pursued by his nemesis Rex Goodyear (John Hurt), and the group are supported by Dr Angela Bead (Vanessa Redgrave) and Miss Gwendolyn Quim (Dorothy Tutin), retired missionaries who become lovers during the voyage. The film was written by Jeanette Winterson, directed by Beeban Kidron and produced by Phillippa Gregory, the same creative team that collaborated on Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit in 1990. Winterson intended the screenplay to be reminiscent of a fairy tale, and was unhappy at being asked to write a new ending for its American release. The film was shown at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and broadcast on British television in 1995. Although originally intended for theatrical release, it failed to find a theatrical distributor, and was released straight to video in the United States in 1997 under the title Shades of Fear. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, and while the lesbian sub-plot in particular was generally well received, Winterson's scripting was a focal point of criticism. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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