The Last Inch (Russian: Последний дюйм) is a 1959 Soviet drama film directed by Nikita Kurikhin and Teodor Vulfovich.[2][3][4] It is based on an eponymous short story by James Aldridge published in the U.S.S.R. in 1957, and in London in 1960 in the Gold & sand collection.[5]
| The Last Inch | |
|---|---|
| Russian: Последний дюйм | |
| Directed by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Ye. Bazhenova |
| Music by | Moisey Vaynberg[1] |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
The film is about an unemployed pilot named Ben Ensley, who decides to take dangerous underwater photographs to make money, and goes with his son Davy (who begged him to come along) to the distant Shark Bay. While taking the pictures, Ben gets bitten by a shark and bleeds heavily. The only chance for him to survive is to fly back to the small African town they set off from.
Davy carries his father into the plane and then follows his instructions to take off from the island and follow the route back. But the most complicated and dangerous part of the flight is the landing. Ben Ensley, who's half-conscious from loss of blood, instructs his son about "the last inch" that he must feel when landing a plane.
The "last inch" also references to the thin margin between life and death of the heroes.