Le ciel est à vous

"A ghost of the aviation/She was swallowed by the sky/or by the sea/like me she had a dream to fly." (Joni Mitchell,"Amelia" on the Hejira album)

This beautiful movie is dedicated to daring women,who were feminist ahead of their time :Hélène Boucher,Amelia Earhardt,Maryse Bastié and a lot of those pioneers who had to fight to make their way in a chauvinist male world.Thérèse (Madeleine Renaud) fulfills her greatest dream :becoming a pilot.This is a simple but moving story.

During the Occupation,the Petainist France set this movie up as an example of virtue and courage ,against the dirty Clouzot's "le corbeau ".After the Liberation,both movies were attacked,the former,for being too petainist,the latter for showing the darkest side of the occupied country.That demonstrates the stupidity of the censorship.

Today's audience will certainly favor "le corbeau" over "le ciel est à vous" :the film noir is more exciting that what I could call le film blanc.But it should appeal to women :in France too,they've come a long way.