The Flight of the Phoenix

A sandstorm forces experienced pilot Frank Towns (James Stewart) to make an emergency landing in the Sahara. With no radio contact and limited water supplies, the chances of survival seem slim. But then German aircraft designer Heinrich Dorfmann (Hardy Krüger) suggests to the other passengers that they build a smaller aircraft from the wreckage of the cargo plane while they still have the strength to do so… Aldrich had considered adapting Paul Bowles’s novel The Sheltering Sky for the screen, but ended up making another existentialist desert film featuring a star-studded cast and a gripping narrative arc which hides surprising twists. THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX became a popular classic, the epitome of an epic cinematic portrayal of the struggle for survival. As a chamber piece set against the backdrop of an endless expanse, it is also a masterful expression of the paradoxical impulses in Aldrich’s multi-layered body of work. “It’s much more than an adventure story, although it has all the wonderful entertainment ingredients of an adventure story; superimposed on that is the survival dilemma of what men will and will not do to stay alive under pressurized conditions,” said Aldrich of this film, which remains one of his signature works. (Christoph Huber)

All retrospective films that will be shown at the Filmmuseum after the Viennale - from 04.11. - can of course also be reserved as usual at filmmuseum.at or by calling 01/533 70 54 and purchased at the box office of the Austrian Film Museum. The prices of the Austrian Film Museum apply.