“The sky hunters”, a useful review of Italian history – Corriere.it

«My name is Francesco Baracca. I am a pilot of the Royal Army. Before becoming an aviator, I was at Piemonte Cavalleria. Aviation was still in its infancy, very few ventured into the skies… One day I witnessed one of those very first flights and I was immediately struck by lightning! Seeing that plane soaring in the sky, seeing it enter and disappear into the clouds… I knew immediately that aviation was the future and I wanted to be a part of it. Then, on May 24, 1915, everything changed».

To celebrate the centenary of the constitution of the Air Force, Rai1 proposed “Sky Hunters”first docu-film on the history of the aviation ace Francesco Baracca played by Giuseppe Fiorello, directed by Mario Vitale.

Francesco Baracca (1888-1918) was the principal Italian aviation ace during the First World War. In addition to three silver and one gold medals, he received decorations of merit from France, Great Britain, Serbia and Belgium. It is said that when the Austrian incursions became threatening and the fighters of the 91st squadron took off, the reassuring phrase circulated from mouth to mouth: «..riva lù», he, Francesco Baracca, arrives. The airplane was a new weapon of war, capable of striking from above, not necessarily on the combat front. For this reason, Baracca’s flights were experienced as saving, protective, vengeful.

fluttering, “Sky Hunters” weaves three floors expressive: the fiction, supported almost exclusively by the skill of Giuseppe Fiorello, the repertoire, with material from Luce and other precious archives and, finally, the animation: many crucial scenes are solved through animated drawings. Obviously the celebratory intent prevails, a useful review of the history of Italian aviation and beyond.

Meanwhile, the images from the news they showed Giorgia Meloni at the controls of an F35 fighter-bomber, exhibited in the stands set up in Piazza del Popolo in Rome for the hundred years of the Air Force. A group of children cheered her: were they the protagonists of Piero Chiambretti’s programme?