Do you have a WWI movie idea?

[SirMike1983 3]

I would follow the story of one particular pilot who joins the war fairly early on. He joins with his friends early in the war in the army. After having numerous friends and comrades killed off or maimed, he joins the airwar to escape sharing his fate, naively thinking that the airwar is "above it all". Although a decorated infantry officer, he thinks he can cheat death by joining the airwar. As he becomes more and more enamored with this thought he becomes more and more remote and withdrawn from his new comrades in the trenches. His evolving attitude gradually damages the unit he's in and the new people begin to die off in greater numbers as a result. He earns admission to the air service, thinking he's escaped the trenches and that he is largely now above death. He proceeds quickly through training, and meets new people and makes some new friends. He continues to think this is the better path, and that death will not catch him, despite the loss of several friends to training accidents. He survives several brushes with death, though he attributes them more to divine protection or fate than to sheer luck.

 

As a combat pilot he excels almost immediately, quickly becoming obsessed more and more with being a the top scorer in his squad. He strikes up a friendship with several pilots, but also becomes bitter enemies and rivals with several other high scoring pilots who are ahead of him in kills. Several of these older pilots have more kills and act as tutors to him while he learns the tactics. Gradually, several friends are killed off and some of the higher scorers are too. However he continues untouched by death or injury and eventually becomes a top scoring ace and leader of the squadron. Once at the top he becomes even more obsessed with scoring, refusing to be satisfied until he is the top scorer of all pilots at the front. He clips newspaper articles of aces from both sides, often drawing bullseyes around their faces, including even aces on the same side. He has all but forgotten the tutorial attitude the older pilots took towards him. He does not help new pilots, and they die off in numbers. Eventually he takes to lone wolf missions, as he thinks the other pilots are holding him back. He eventually becomes numb to the concept that he is causing death to others, even though it might in some way be justified. He always justifies himself by saying "it's war, someone must die" or the like. He becomes the top scoring ace at the front among all pilots. But has no one to celebrate with because he's aliented everyone.

 

There is no love story present, but rather the story of continuing alienation, sheer luck, life and death. But what also is taking place, is the fact that the main character's mind is completely oblivious to the brutality of the war due to the fact that he himself has become brutal. Although thinking that in the air he is "above" it all, he in fact has merely descended to the war's level brutality. He is a supreme hypocrite, citing the war as his grand opportunity to succeed and make a mark for himself, all while being immune to the death and misery of the trenches. He has no awareness that he in fact leads a miserable existence, brought about as much by his own doing as the war itself.

 

In the closing weeks of the war he flies a lone wolf mission and downs a number of allied fighters alone. Thinking fully that he can cheat death and is above the war and all others he turns to fly home. Several lowly ground gunners open fire, and an AA shell hits his plane. Both pilot and machine are obliterated on the spot, proving he was never above death or anyone else, but that even the lowly ground gunners through cooperation, patience, and some luck have bested him. He is wiped out as his friends and enemies were, but with no moral resolution. He is unrepentant to the end, though no one will mourn him outside of hollow propaganda put out by the government. Where he believed himself a supreme ace and master of the skies, he has become a mere pawn for propaganda.

Edited June 1, 2009 by SirMike1983

[Bullethead 12]

One convert, so many more to go...

 

Well, I've give it a go, too ;). I found a copy of the 1st volume at B&N.