Because war is beautiful
2020 • 60 min • Switzerland
(E) From the dawn of humanity, and despite the misfortunes it brings with it, war has been one of man's most defining activities. It is about taking the measure of this deep impulse that throws so many on the paths of adventure and death. What is it that drives young people from their homes, leaving a family, a peaceful life, in short, safety, to embark on the painful ways of war? Almost entirely edited in archival footage that has fallen into the public domain, the film traces the story of Béla Kovács, an American aviator who went through World War II aboard his B-12 flying fortress, then participated in the Cold War and to conquer space. The first-person account shows his reactions to such experiences, paralleled with the tribulations of Ulysses, another great warrior and adventurer.