Vol De Nuit / Night Flight
People generally know Night Flight was written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. What surprised me is the fact that majority of them haven´t read it.
I felt urge to retell his story.
Antoine, j'espère raconter votre histoire du mieux que je peux.
The village rose up towards the plane and opened itself up. All lights represented pure joy of coming back from sky. Home.
He was crossing the Cordillera of the Andes. Over an area two hundred kilometres wide there was no sign of any human being, not a breath of life, nothing moving any more. Night was coming.
You´ve got good weather. Your route is paved with stars.
Intermezzo I.
Look, in life there are no solutions. There are forces at work. We have to encourage them, and the solutions will follow.
Intermezzo II.
This piece of paper folded in four would save him perhaps. Pilot unfolded it, his teeth clenched.
He looked around him: the heavy clouds were extinguishing the stars. "Buenos Aires, we´re blocked in on all sides, storm developing at a thousand metres, visibility nil."
To avoid at least hitting the hills he would release the one flare he had.
Her truth was such a strong one. She revealed the peace one can destroy without realizing it.
Even if we can´t put a price on human life, we still act as though there is something of higher value than human life... But what is it?
"My reasons carry weight. I will win. Failures only make the strong stronger. That´s the direction events naturally take."
I perceive Night Flight as a series of symbols representing the essence - the important aspects of life: joy, will, concentration, danger, decision, loneliness, hope.
Saint-Exupéry built a story in the attractive surroundings of airports, hangars, aircraft, dangerous weather conditions, all of which we often view as magnetic, even intriguing.
We live similar situations in our everyday life but perhaps we don't realize them. We have to make decisions and sacrifices, like the director of the airport Rivière or pilot Fabien.
Such decisions are not easy because of their uncertainty.
Courage is a primal need to get beyond ourselves; in the end it is each of us who fights with his own ideals.