Blake (1969)

I wasn't really quite sure what to make of this documentary from Bill Mason. It follows the aerobatics of Blake James, who likes nothing more after his occasional time at his office job than to take to his beat-up VW Beetle and adjourn to his junk-filled and remote log cabin in the wilderness where he keeps his tiny biplane. Armed with little more than a set of goggles and a fur coat, he regularly sets off over the beautiful Canadian scenery with no agenda at all, no schedule and no pressure. It's all spontaneous. Except, well, it clearly isn't. The camerawork on the plane itself is quite impressive - the thing is made of little more than balsa wood; but too many of his "adventures" are clearly staged for that camera and that rather compromised the 'natural' nature of this free spirited man who knew exactly how best to blag a free tank of gas. Will he ever find his way home?