The Aeronauts (2019)

Determination, passion, inspiration.

Aeronauts is the story of a young Scientist called James Glashier with a dream. A dream of reaching new heights in a hot air balloon. He cannot achieve this dream alone and asks for the support and expertise of Amelia Wren, an aeronaut. With grit and determination, they embarked on a life changing journey higher than any man or woman had ever travelled before.

I had the Bechdel test in mind while watching the film as the film had a strong female lead character. There were two female characters, Felicity and Amelia, who were sisters. Both sisters were named, which met one of the Bechdel criteria. However, they talked predominantly about Amelia’s past husband as he and Amelia previously attempted to break the record, but on decent sacrificed his life for Amelia. Their conversation was not varied enough to meet the next Bechdel criteria. Overall, I don’t believe that this film met the Bechdel criteria although the character Amelia presented as a strong, independent female role model.

Amelia had her mind set on her goal, to pursue the dream that she could break a world record previously set by a man. Her character changed along the journey. At departure, she wore colourful show-girl clothes, had a face painted and a frivolous attitude. When the balloon was deep in the clouds and the public had lost sight, Amelia changed out of her colourful dress and wore clothes, like the ones worn by James. She wore the trousers. They became equals. As the balloon rose, James became occupied with looking at his gadgets, but Amelia had a very important task of piloting the balloon. By the end of the film, her actions saved James’ life and she proved to be hero. On the ground she lived the life of society woman under the strict Victorian conventions. Being the pilot of the balloon allowed Amelia to be the person that she really wanted to be.

For the scenes on the ground, the camera shots often faced upwards. However, the camera shots varied during the flight. Close face shots captured the emotions of James and Ameila. The long-distance shots highlighted the scale of their journey. The panoramic shots emphasized the drastic contrast of between the vast sky and their tiny balloon.

I would strongly recommend watching this film. It shares the story of a woman who had an impact on history. It is an inspirational film that is shot beautifully.