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{{short description|2001 film by Jan Svěrák}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Dark Blue World
| image          = Dark blue world dvd.jpg
| caption        = Australian DVD Cover
| director       = [[Jan Svěrák]]
| producer       = [[Eric Abraham (producer)|Eric Abraham]]
| writer         = [[Zdeněk Svěrák]]
| starring       = [[Ondřej Vetchý]]<br>[[Kryštof Hádek]]<br>[[Tara Fitzgerald]]<br>[[Oldřich Kaiser]]<br>[[Charles Dance]]
| music          = [[Ondřej Soukup]]
| cinematography = [[Vladimír Smutný]]
| editing        = Alois Fišárek
| distributor    = [[Cinemart]] (Czech Republic)<ref name="cineu">{{cite web|title=Dark Blue World|website=[[Cineuropa]]|access-date=11 May 2023|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/film/94410/}}</ref><br>[[Sony Pictures Classics]] (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand)<ref name=sd>{{cite web|title=Sony Classics grabs Sverak's Dark Blue World|website=[[Screen International]]|first=Anna|last=Franklin|date=30 July 2001|access-date=11 May 2023|url=https://www.screendaily.com/sony-classics-grabs-sveraks-dark-blue-world/406430.article}}</ref><br>[[Buena Vista International]]<ref name=sd/><br>Helkon Filmverleih<ref name="cineu"/> (Germany)<br>[[Mediaset|Medusa Distribuzione]] (Italy)<ref name=sd/><ref name="cineu"/>
| released       = {{Film date|2001|05|17|Czech&nbsp;Republic|2001|11|13|United&nbsp;Kingdom|df=y}}
| runtime        = 115 minutes
| country        = Czech Republic<br>United Kingdom<br>Germany<ref name="cineu"/><br>Italy<ref name="cineu"/>
| language       = Czech<br>English<br>German<br>Slovak<br>Spanish (Spain)
| budget         = [[€]] 8 million
| gross          = $2,300,000 (Worldwide)
}}
'''''Dark Blue World''''' ({{langx|cs|'''Tmavomodrý svět'''}}) is a 2001 [[war drama]] film by [[Czech Republic|Czech]] director [[Jan Svěrák]], the Academy Award-winning director of ''[[Kolya (film)|Kolya]]''. The film is about [[Czechs|Czech]] pilots who fought for the British [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. The [[screenplay]] was written by [[Zdeněk Svěrák]], the director's father. The film stars Czech actors [[Ondřej Vetchý]], [[Kryštof Hádek]] and [[Oldřich Kaiser]]. British actors include [[Tara Fitzgerald]], [[Charles Dance]] and [[Anna Massey]].

==Plot==
In 1950, during the [[Cold War]], František (Franta) Sláma (Ondřej Vetchý) is incarcerated in [[Czechoslovakia]], because of his prior service in the RAF. His recollections of the war begin in 1939, just days prior to the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|German invasion of Czechoslovakia]]. After the invasion, the [[Czechoslovak Army]] is disbanded and [[Czechoslovak Air Force|its Air Force]] has to surrender its aircraft. However, Franta and his young friend Karel Vojtíšek (Kryštof Hádek), among others, refuse to submit to their occupiers and flee to the United Kingdom to join the RAF.

The British make the Czechoslovaks retrain from the basics, which infuriates them, especially Karel, who is both impatient to fight the Germans and humiliated at being retaught what he already knows. Karel also sees the compulsory English language lessons as a pointless waste of his time. The RAF is in such a dire need of pilots during the [[Battle of Britain]] that eventually the Czechoslovak airmen are allowed to fly. After their first [[sortie]] they realise why the British have trained them so intensely: a young Czechoslovak nicknamed "Tom Tom" is shot down by a [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]] and killed. Franta becomes the unit commander, with the younger Karel under his charge.

While shooting down a [[Heinkel He 111]] bomber, Karel's [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] fighter aircraft is shot down. However, he manages to survive and find his way to a farm. There he meets and falls in love with Susan (Tara Fitzgerald), although she thinks he is far too young. The next day, after returning to the [[aerodrome]], Karel brings Franta to meet Susan. The latter begins to get attracted to Susan, although Karel believes that Susan is interested in him.

Following a mission to France where the [[Squadron (aviation)|squadron]] attacks a train, Karel is shot down, but Franta lands and rescues him, a move that shows that their friendship endures. Soon after, however, Karel learns a sort of [[love triangle]] has developed, with Susan being involved with Franta, which leads to a quarrel between the two friends. Later in the war, while escorting American bombers, Franta's Spitfire malfunctions and he is forced to ditch into the ocean. His [[life raft]] bursts as he tries to inflate it, so Karel tries to drop his own raft, but he flies too low and fatally crashes. The raft emerges from the water, allowing Franta to survive.

Afterward, when the war is over, Franta drives to Susan's home, only to find her with her injured husband recently returned from fighting overseas. Knowing he has no future with Susan and wanting to preserve her honour, he pretends to have lost his way and asks directions to the next town. Franta returns to Czechoslovakia and finds his old girlfriend has married the neighbourhood [[jobsworth]], has given birth to a child, and has taken over Barča, his dog. All the disappointed Franta can do is endure the situation as stoically as he can. In prison, he only has his memories of his friendship with Karel to sustain him.

==Cast==
{| class="wikitable"
! Actor !! Role
|-
| [[Ondřej Vetchý]] || František Sláma
|-
| [[Kryštof Hádek]] || Karel Vojtíšek
|-
| [[Tara Fitzgerald]] || Susan
|-
| [[Charles Dance]] || Wing Commander Bentley
|-
| [[Oldřich Kaiser]] || Jan Machatý
|-
| [[David Novotný]] || Bedřich Mrtvý
|-
| [[Linda Rybová]] || Hanička
|-
|[[Jaromír Dulava]]|| Kaňka
|-
| Lukáš Kantor || "Tom Tom"
|-
| {{ill|Radim Fiala (actor)|cs|Radim Fiala (herec)}} || Sysel
|-
| Juraj Bernáth || Gregora
|-
| [[Miroslav Táborský]] || Houf
|-
| Hans-Jörg Assmann || Dr Blaschke
|-
| [[Thure Riefenstein]] || Oberleutnant Hesse
|-
| [[Anna Massey]] || English Teacher
|-
| Čestmír Řanda Jr || Pavlata
|}

==Production==
[[File:Screen shot Dark Blue World.png|thumb|A combination of computer imagery and full-scale aircraft was used for the aerial sequences.]]
Principal photography for the film involved a large number of locations: [[Hradčany Airport]], Czech Republic, Dover, England, Germany and South Africa.<ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/453442/the-dark-blue-world#film-details "Original Print Information: Dark Blue World (2001)."] ''[[Turner Classic Movies]]''. Retrieved: 28 August 2014.</ref>

Dogfight footage from the 1969 film ''[[Battle of Britain (film)|Battle of Britain]]'' was seamlessly integrated with contemporary film footage using computer imagery and mastering to create the aerial sequences due to the prohibitively expensive cost ($10,000 per hour) of renting a real Spitfire. The scene of a train being attacked was the most expensive scene in [[Czech cinema]] history, costing more than the entire film ''Kolya''. Brief scenes from the 1990 film ''[[Memphis Belle (film)|Memphis Belle]]'' were also incorporated. Director Jan Svěrák played a number of roles, including practically all the crew members of an Allied [[North American B-25 Mitchell]] bomber in the scene where a damaged bomber is escorted.

==Reception==
''Dark Blue World'' opened in both the U.S. and Europe at major international film festivals in London and Toronto, to generally positive reviews, making it one of the most popular aviation war films made. 
[[Rex Reed]] described the film in ''The New York Observer'' as an "epic that blends action, romance and tragedy. Brilliantly directed and sublimely acted."<ref>''Dark Blue World DVD''. Los Angeles: Columbia Tristar Video, 2002.</ref> Animator [[Hayao Miyazaki]] was very positive of the film, praising it for showing the speed and fragility of aircraft and the historic tragedy of the Czech pilots after the war.<ref>Miyazaki, Hayao. 折り返し点1997～2008 [''Orikaeshi Ten 1997–2008'' Japanese]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2008. {{ISBN|4-00-022394-1}}.</ref>

However, other reviewers were not as enthused. [[Leonard Maltin]] commented that the love triangle provided a "more novel and interesting" aspect but the "surprisingly elaborate" flying scenes helped make the film less of a "capable but uninspired yarn", not very different from other World War II features.{{sfn|Maltin|2009|p=315}} [[Peter Bradshaw]]'s review in ''[[The Guardian]]'' echoed a similar view, "A by-the-numbers WW2 romantic tale of two Czech pilots in love with the same British woman, which plays like a mixture of ''[[Pearl Harbor (film)|Pearl Harbor]]'' and "[[Two Little Boys]]" by [[Rolf Harris]]."<ref>Bradshaw, Peter. [https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/89167/dark.blue.world "Dark Blue World."] ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved: 28 August 2014.</ref>

===Box office===
''Dark Blue World'' was the most popular Czech film of the year with admissions of 1 million.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=7|date=24 December 2001|title=Homegrown pix gain in Europe|last=Meils|first=Cathy}}</ref> It was released in the United States on December 28, 2001, and grossed $258,771.<ref>[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkblueworld.htm "Dark Blue World (2001)."] ''Box Office Mojo''. Retrieved: 28 August 2014.</ref> The film grossed $2,300,000 worldwide.<ref>[http://www.borovan.cz/1171/jan-sverak-dokoncil-slouceni-produkcnich-firem "Jan Vise completed a merger of production companies" (Czech).] ''Aleš Borovan'', 13 December 2012. Retrieved: 28 August 2014.</ref>

===Awards and honours===
''Dark Blue World'' was a major winner at the 2002 [[Czech Lion]] Awards with Box Office Award, Critics' Award
Jan Svěrák for Best Director, [[Vladimír Smutný]] for Best Cinematography, [[Ondřej Soukup]] for Best Music and [[Alois Fišárek]] for Best Editing. The film was also nominated for Best Film, Ondřej Vetchý for Best Actor, Kryštof Hádek for Best Supporting Actor, Linda Rybová for Best Supporting Actress, Zbyněk Mikulík for Best Sound, Věra Mirová for Best Costumes and Jan Vlasák for Best Art Direction.

''Dark Blue World'' also won the 2001 [[National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film|National Board Review award for Best Foreign Film]] and the 2002 Love is Folly International Film Festival (Bulgaria), Golden Aphrodite Award (Best Film) for Jan Svěrák. Ondřej Vetchý was also nominated for the Audience Award (Best Actor) in the 2001 [[European Film Awards]].<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244479/awards?ref_=tt_ql_4 "Awards: Dark Blue World (2001)."] ''IMDb''. Retrieved: 28 August 2014.</ref>

==See also==
*[[František Fajtl]]
*[[Nebeští jezdci]] aka Sky Riders

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |authorlink=Leonard Maltin |year=2009 |title=Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009 |place=New York |publisher=New American Library |isbn=978-0-451-22468-2 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{TCMDb title|id=453442|Dark Blue World}}
* {{IMDb title|0244479|Dark Blue World}}
*{{rotten-tomatoes|dark_blue_world}}
* {{mojo title|id=darkblueworld|title=Dark Blue World}}

{{Jan Svěrák}}
{{Zdeněk Svěrák}}
{{Czech submission for Academy Awards}}
{{Supermarine Spitfire}}

[[Category:2001 films]]
[[Category:2001 action films]]
[[Category:2001 drama films]]
[[Category:2000s war drama films]]
[[Category:2000s action war films]]
[[Category:English-language Czech films]]
[[Category:Czech action films]]
[[Category:2000s Czech-language films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s German-language films]]
[[Category:Films set in 1939]]
[[Category:Films set in 1950]]
[[Category:2000s Slovak-language films]]
[[Category:Battle of Britain films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jan Svěrák]]
[[Category:Czech war drama films]]
[[Category:Czech resistance to Nazi occupation in film]]
[[Category:Czech Lion Awards winners (films)]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Zdeněk Svěrák]]
[[Category:Czech World War II films]]
[[Category:British World War II films]]
[[Category:World War II films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Czech action war films]]
[[Category:2001 multilingual films]]
[[Category:Czech multilingual films]]
[[Category:2000s British films]]
[[Category:German-language Czech films]]
[[Category:Czech aviation films]]
[[Category:British aviation films]]
[[Category:Sony Pictures Classics films]]
[[Category:Buena Vista International films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ondřej Soukup]]
[[Category:English-language war drama films]]