Spread your Wings

Director: Nicolas Vanier
Starring: Jean-Paul Rouve, Melanie Doutey, Louis Vazquez, Frederic Saurel, Lilou Fogli, Gregori Baquet, Dominique Pinon, Philippe Magnan
Distributor: Icon Films
Runtime: 113 mins. Reviewed in Feb 2021
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc

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Rating notes: Mild themes and coarse language

This film is based on a true story with the central character – Christian Moullec – a technical adviser for the film.

It is also a movie for those who love nature films because at its heart is the life of a flock of geese. In fact, the movie begins with the delivery of eggs to Christian’s centre, their hatching and development.

Christian has asked for funds for an experiment where he will take the geese to Lapland, establish a site where, in future years, they will fly for nesting. However, the museum head refuses his application and, stealing an official seal, he forges documents and goes ahead with his experiment, relying on his burly Nordic friend, Bjorn, to supply the eggs.

But, as might be expected, there is also a personal story. Christian is separated from his wife, Paola, who asks him to take their son, Thomas, for three weeks of the summer vacation. Thomas, of course, is absorbed in computers and computer games, doesn’t want to go. Initially bored, Thomas gradually becomes involved, observing the hatching, and finding that one is a barnacle goose, he claims it has his pet, Akka.

Christian has an ultralight plane and the plan is to train the geese to be focused on the plane and follow it everywhere.

Christian, Thomas and Bjorn go to Lapland only to find that the authorities know about Christian’s forgery and want to impound the birds. The drama continues when Thomas, aged 14, takes the initiative to fly the ultralight, with the geese following (and Christian realising that it isn’t the ultralight that they are following but Thomas himself).

We follow Thomas as he flies the plane, landing on lakes, getting help in refuelling, a little girl photographing the flight with her phone, social media hits, a media event, the dangers of flying over the North Sea and the need to go above the clouds, Thomas’s mother hyper-anxious…

Since this is Christian’ story and he is advising on the film, we know that it will be a happy ending – although the group go back to Lapland the next year to wait for the geese, hoping that they will arrive… (Spoiler, they do!).

The film is directed by Nicholas Vanier who has a kinship to nature films including his Belle et Sebastien (and sequels) and The School of Life.