Mirage Eskader

Screening Details
Running Time: 93 min. (Colour) / Copyright Date: not given / Release Date: 18 August 1975 / Language: Afrikaans / Genre: Drama / Alternative Titles: none.

Synopsis
Lt. Gerhard Muller is the son of a pilot who was killed while flying with the South African Air Force in Korea. At the time his best friend and fellow pilot, Chris Fourie, was the only one to return from their mission and since then there have been various rumours about what happened. Now Gerhard is joining a Mirage squadron at Waterkloof Air Force Base, where Fourie is his immediate superior and his grandfather, Col. Greeff, is the base commander. Also joining the squadron is Gerhard’s best friend, Martin Bekker, who is the only one who knows about Gerhard’s recent dizzy spells. It also emerges that there was a relationship between Gerhard’s mother and Commandant Fourie before she and his father got married...

Context
The film is a fairly straightforward melodrama, with some nice flying sequences. Only towards the end do the pilots see action, when they are required to support ground troops repelling invading “terrorist” forces. Like its predecessor, Ses Soldate, which featured two of the same actors and was also directed by Bertrand Retief, this was an early example of what was to become an all out effort to boost the image of the military. Filmed at the Waterkloof Air Force Base and the one in Pietersburg (today's Polokwane), the film is dedicated to the South African Air Force.

Cast
Barry Trengove (Commandant Chris Fourie), Petru Wessels (Santie Muller), James White (Lt. Gerhard Muller), Lieb Bester (Lt. Martin Bekker), Danie Smuts (Col. Greeff), Sybil Coetzee (Ingrid de Villiers), Moira Downie (Sussara 1), Frances O'Linn (Sussara 2), Colin Sutcliff (American Colonel), Fred Wheeler (Flight Sergeant), Pierre Venter .Traffic Officer).

Crew
Production Company: Kavalier Films / Screenplay & Direction: Bertrand Retief / Producer: Ben Vlok / Cinematography: Ivo Pellegrini / Editor: Oscar Burn / Production Manager: Theo Theron / Sound: Peter Fokazi / Final Mix: Cas Odendaal.

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