DAKOTA: Fly, Dick, Fly!

DAKOTA (Blu-ray)

1974 / 102 min

Cult Epics

Review by Mr. Paws😾

See Dick (Kees Brusse). See Dick’s plane. See Dick fly his plane. See Dick take a job because he needs the money. See Dick fly his plane some more. Fly, Dick, fly! See Dick spend the entire middle act refueling his plane mid-flight with a hand pump. Pump, Dick, Pump! See one of Dick’s engines overheat and stop working without impeding his journey whatsoever. See Dick land safely. See Dick share a blunt with his friend’s wife. Smoke, Dick, smoke! See Dick get paid so he can keep flying. The End.

There you go…almost the entire plot of Dakota, an obscure 1974 Dutch film by Wim Verstappen, who's probably best known in his home country for the sex flick, Blue Movie. But don’t go expecting any soft core shenanigans in this one. The sexiest it gets is when a nubile young woman, Claudia (Monique van de Hen), inexplicably throws herself at old Dick, who shuns her advances. In fact, he spends the first half of the film avoiding her efforts to charter his plane. This aspect of the narrative is then dropped altogether when old friend Helen (Theo van der Groen) hires him to smuggle some crates across the ocean. 

A couple of frequent fliers.

From this point on, Dakota features no conflict, antagonists or character development…just Dick flying his crusty old DC-3 to his destination. As the main character, he’s not particularly likable or interesting. All we really know about him is he loves to fly. The film occasionally teases us with a potential crisis - like the aforementioned engine overheating - but for the most part, Dick’s flight is about as eventful as the average morning commute. 

If Dakota is supposed to be some sort of metaphorical journey, I sure as hell never found any underlying theme. For Dick’s trip to represent anything beyond flying his plane, perhaps the first half of the film should have established him as a bit more than a cantankerous guy who smuggles stuff. Aside from decent cinematography (some of it by future Speed director Jan de Bont), Dakota drones on and on without ever taking off.

EXTRA KIBBLES

DAKOTA PRESS FLIGHT - Exactly what the title implies…a 20 minute promo film from 1974.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Peter Verstraten.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 1978 (Vara Visie)

PHOTO GALLERY

REVERSIBLE COVER