Szyb L-23: A dusty flight into the past

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you are the type of person who hangs out in aviation museums on a Tuesday afternoon. If you need explosions or a fast-paced plot, steer clear. It’s a slow, quiet, and very dusty look at early flight. People who love Ikarus, der fliegende Mensch might find some charm here, but everyone else will probably find it about as exciting as watching paint dry on a wing.

The film moves at the speed of a glider in low wind. There’s a scene early on where they’re just staring at the L-23, and it lasts forever. I actually checked my phone to see if the video had frozen. It hadn't. That’s just the movie.

The texture of it

The sound quality is rough. It has that crackly, distant feel that reminds you how old this thing actually is. Sometimes the dialogue gets drowned out by what I assume is supposed to be the wind or an engine, but it mostly just sounds like a static shower. It’s oddly soothing if you’re trying to nap, but frustrating if you want to follow the plot.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Szyb L-23 (1932) through its definitive frames.

The acting is very… theatrical. Everyone is standing in these stiff poses, like they are waiting for a photographer to yell 'cheese.' It’s not quite as hammy as some of the performances in The Green Archer, but it’s definitely from a different era of acting where 'being dramatic' meant looking intensely at a wall.

Oddly specific observations

• The shadow of the cameraman shows up on the grass for a split second. It’s hilarious.
• The lead guy’s mustache is truly a marvel of the era. It deserves its own billing.
• Every time someone enters a room, they do this little bow. It feels very repetitive.

There is a sequence in the middle involving a hangar that I swear lasts ten minutes. Nothing happens. They just walk around, touch some tools, and look at the sky. It’s not profound, it’s just there. It reminded me of that weird pacing in Stampede where you just want the scene to shift already.

Is it a classic? Probably not. Is it a weird window into a forgotten corner of cinema? Absolutely. I’m not saying it’s good, but I’m definitely not saying I regret watching it. Sometimes you just need to watch a bunch of guys in wool coats look at a propeller for an hour. ✈️