The film "Saint-Ex" explores the heroics, loyalty and friendship of the man best known for "The Little Prince"

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The film Saint-Ex is about the true story of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Louis Garrel, The Three Musketeers: D’Artganan & The Three Musketeers: Milady, AFFFF 2024, The Innocent, AFFFF 2023), who, before he went on to author the world’s most translated book The Little Prince, went on a dangerous, considered impossible mission to save his friend Henri Guillaumet (Vincent Cassel, also in The Three Musketeers: D’Artganan & The Three Musketeers: Milady, AFFFF 2024, and The Extraordinary, AFFFF 2020) in 1930. His friend is a fellow pilot for Aéropostale in Argentina and has gone missing over the Cordillera, Argentina’s enormous mountain range.

Aéropostale is competing with the mail trains, which can operate 24/7 whereas these planes cannot be flown at night because the pilots can’t see anything in the darkness. Things are already dire for the company but when Saint-Exupéry crashes another plane, the boss demotes him and says that only Henri can fly. Together the two come up with a daring plan to fit more deliveries and working hours into the day.

Unfortunately, on the day that Henri goes to execute the plan, he disappears. The boss at Aéropostale says that he would not survive the freezing conditions and orders Saint-Exupéry to deliver the mail, and not to go searching for Henri, as it will definitely mean the end of the business. Saint-Exupéry decides that he will defy that order as he has to save his friend.

The film Saint-Ex is about that daring and ambitious journey across Argentina’s mountain ranges to save his friend and co-worker. Henri’s wife, Noëlle (Diane Kruger, ) who is also a radio operator at Aéropostale mentions places and people Henri had spoken about from his travels in the hope that perhaps he has gone to visit one of these people or places when he got into trouble. The information comes in the form of somewhat cryptic clues for Saint-Ex to solve, such as there is a French family who had helped him once, and the child watched the wind turn. The likelihood of solving some of these clues is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

If these clues weren’t difficult enough to solve, Saint-Exupéry also needs to find a way to get over to the other side of the mountains with the single lot of fuel, in a plane that struggles to get above 4000m altitude.

The film depicts Saint-Exupéry jotting down little diagrams in his notebook on his travels, both the things he sees, or is told. This part of the film, obviously a nod to the story in The Little Prince and the fact that the illustrations in it were also done by him, felt a little over hashed and unnatural.

Saint-Ex is a moving story of friendship, loyalty, and perseverance in the face of danger. The fact that it is based on true events adds emotional weight to Saint-Exupéry’s daring mission, highlighting the lengths one will go to for those they cherish. This film will appeal to those who appreciate adventures, historical dramas, character-driven storytelling, and the enduring legacy of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

3.5 CROISSANTS

Matilda Marseillaise watched a screener of this film.

Saint-Ex was released in France in December 2024 under the same title.

KEY INFO FOR THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FILM FESTIVAL 2025

WHAT: Alliance Française French Film Festival 2025

WHERE & WHEN:

19/03 – 23/04 – ADELAIDE
06/03 – 08/04 – BRISBANE
06/03 – 02/04 – BALLARAT, VIC
08/03 – 02/04 – BALLINA, NSW
11/03 – 13/03 – BENDIGO, VIC
07/03 – 02/04 – BYRON BAY, NSW
06/03 – 09/04 – CANBERRA
25/03 – 15/04 – GOLD COAST
03/04 – 13/04 – HOBART
05/03 – 09/04 – MELBOURNE
03/04 – 06/04 – MOUNT GAMBIER, SA
13/03 – 16/04 – PERTH
26/03 – 31/03 – RENMARK, SA
04/03 – 09/04 – SYDNEY
02/04 – 09/04 – VICTOR HARBOR, SA
04/03 – 06/04 – PARRAMATTA, NSW
10/04 – 13/04 – BUNBURY, WA
12/04 – 21/04 – WARRAWONG, NSW