Spitfire

The documentary tells the story of the Spitfire fighter used in the Second World War: the fast development in aviation between the wars, the design of the aircraft, its stablemate the Hawker Hurricane and its adversary the Messerschmitt 109. Then it moves to the pilots. Those who speak are people who actually flew the planes; most of them were in their nineties when the film was shot. David Fairhead and Ant Palmer directed the film together, and Charles Dance reads the narration. Among those who speak are the fighter pilot Geoffrey Wellum and the ferry pilot Mary Ellis; Ellis was one of the women who delivered aircraft from the factories to the bases. The aerial footage was shot with real Spitfires still flying today. The telling does not glorify the war, but it does not hide its admiration for the aircraft either.