Bride Flight

by Ben Sombogaart

A lavish romantic drama that charts the lives of three different women from different backgrounds, forever changed when they emigrate to New Zealand as war brides.

Eager to escape the damp and suffocating atmosphere of post-war Holland, the three young Dutchwomen Ada, Esther and Marjorie look forward to a better life in New Zealand. They meet on the immigration flight - the "Bride Flight" - to their new country, where they are to join fiancés and marry. During the flight, the three women form a bond of friendship among themselves, and with Frank, an attractive young man who wants to set up a winery. On their arrival, all four part ways to start a new life. Yet their paths continue to cross... Ada will one day leave her children and her puritan husband for Frank, an escape to freedom that is ultimately doomed... And the single career woman Esther will give her unwanted child to Marjorie and her husband after Marjorie suffers a miscarriage and will probably never bear a child again. As the boy grows up, Marjorie fears that Esther might break the pact of silence they made. An outing that reunites all four friends and the boy turns into a near tragedy that destroys one friendship, shatters a loving relationship, and nearly costs the boy's life... Only 50 years later do they all come together again, perhaps closer now than ever before...

Genre / Language / Length
Drama / English, Dutch / 130 minutes
Original title
Bride Flight
directed by
Ben Sombogaart
produced by
IDTV FILM in coproduction with SAMSA FILM and the NCRV
Cast
  • Karina Smulders
  • Waldemar Torenstra
  • Anna Drijver
  • Rutger Hauer
  • Pleuni Touw

Press Quotes

"Excellent acting and lensing"
VARIETY

"****! Exhilarating!"
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"Fascinating, beautifully acted and magnificently photographed."
NY OBSERVER

"A sweeping historical drama wrapped around a tale of star-crossed lovers."
LOS ANGELES TIMES

"The kind of lush, epic romance that Hollywood used to deliver."
NEW YORK POST

"A haunting masterpiece with the power of Doctor Zhivago…"
Moving Pictures

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