The Red Baron Cinema Review

The Red Baron tells the story of the legendary German fighter pilot Baron Manfred von Richthofen.

Von Richthofen flew his distinctive red plane, hence gaining the nickname Red Baron, during World War 1 where he distinguished himself by being credited with 80 official combat air victories.

The movie itself is a kind of ‘Brideshead Revisited meets Top Gun’. It’s beautifully shot making it visually very easy on the eyes. The dogfight scenes are particularly impressive with 23 full scale reproductions being built especially for the film.

For California-based writer and director Nikolai Muellerschoen it was very important from the outset that the film was produced in Germany. After flirting with letting the Hollywood money men in Muellerschoen finally found German producers who shared his belief that the film could be an internationally successful German production.

The story of a German hero told from a German point of view. After Valkyrie this is another war film that attempts to humanise the participation of German soldiers in the war, interesting enough at the same time when Quentin Tarantino decides to go the other way with Inglorious Bastards.

The Red Baron portrays the aristocratic Von Richthofen as a fighter pilot who saw the business of shooting down enemy planes as competitive duels in the sky, almost sportsmanlike.

The movie goes on to show how Von Richthofen was perceived at the time as some kind of sporting hero. Adored by his countryman and respected and feared by his adversaries.

It also shows how the highly decorated fighter pilot exploits were used and exploited for propaganda purposes to persist with morale even when the situation was a lost cause and soldiers were being killed senselessly.

From his privileged background and status as a pilot Von Richthofen is somewhat distanced from the harsh realities of war and it takes his romantic involvement with a nurse (Lena Headey) to ultimately begin to come to terms with his role in the bigger picture.

German actor Matthias Schweighofer plays the starring role as Von Richthofen in the movie. A largely German cast are supported by Lena Headey and Joseph Fiennes who plays Captain Brown.