In memory of the Russian pilots who courageously returned to fly in World War II with amputated limbs, The Pilot is an action film about one soldier’s intrepidness and courage. It is also an affecting love story about two people separated by war from director Renat Davletyarov. In 1941, on the northwestern front in Russia, snow blankets everything. The photography showcases both the beautiful winter setting and tough conditions for soldiers to endure.
Captain Nikolai Komlev (Pyotr Fyodorov), a Russian pilot, approaches an air raid shelter and hears a woman scream out for help. Olga (Anna Peskova) is being accosted by two men and Nikolai comes to her rescue. The two people meet again and introduce themselves. Olga learns Nikolai is a pilot and Nikolai finds out Olga is a performer with the Moscow Theater, but the war effort has halted performances. Olga invites Nikolai to come home with her and they fall in love. Nikolai reminds Olga he is a soldier and there is a war on, but she tells him to come back to her. Except for their first meeting, these scenes are played as flashbacks.
In a harrowing air fight, Nikolai manages to incur serious damage to a German tank convoy advancing toward Moscow and fighting off four other German fighter planes (Messers). Nikolai’s plane is badly damaged, the machine gun is stuck, and fuel begins to leak out the side, so he and his gunner crash land the plane in a small clearing in the forest. German soldiers pursue the aircraft on the ground. Nikolai releases a smoke bomb to give themselves cover to escape into the forest.
Nikolai passes out and his gunner carries him to the river where he chops out a hunk of ice along the riverbank, lays Nikolai on the ice, and sends him adrift into the river. As Nikolai gains consciousness, he hears German soldiers nearby. Hurriedly, he scrambles off the ice, makes his way in the frigid water to shore, but gets shot in the leg as he escapes.
Having only a pistol, matches, and a knife, Nikolai manages to light a fire, dry his wet clothes, and survive the night—only to have to fight off wolves and the freezing temperatures the next few nights. He scavenges for food. Finally, suffering from double pneumonia and severe frostbite on his feet, Nikolai is rescued by a Russian family who helps him return to the Russian front. After his feet are amputated, Nikolai is fitted with a prosthesis, reunites with Olga, and gains permission to return to the war effort.
With plenty of action, suspense, and romance, this film is recommended for war drama library shelves.