The first step
Tushna Commissariat reviews First Man, directed by Damien Chazelle
Over the past few years, virtual reality and immersive technologies have made such giant leaps that you can now wander on the surface of the Moon, not to mention other worlds, in high definition. But imagine if you could literally step into the moon-dust-covered boots of NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong, as he became the first person to set foot on the Moon on 20 July 1969. This is what viewers will experience in First Man, the latest film from Whiplash and La La Land director Damien Chazelle. Armstrong is played by Hollywood star Ryan Gosling, while British actress Claire Foy, who starred in The Crown, plays his wife Janet, both of whom do a superb job.
An adaption of James R Hansen’s 2005 book by the same name, this stunning film is an in-depth look at the eight years in the life of Armstrong in the lead up to the legendary Apollo 11 mission that took humankind further than ever before. But viewer beware – this is no traditional biopic, following the lead character’s story from birth to death. Nor is this some glossy CGI star-scape with sweeping space vistas, à la Gravity, or even a straightforward telling of the Apollo 11 story. First Man is an intimate look at some of the most pivotal years in Armstrong’s life, as he sets out on a journey that will see his name go down in history.
While the film covers the extreme highs of Armstrong’s life – the Moon landing, of course, but also the somewhat complicated success of the other missions leading up to it, such as Gemini 8 – it definitely does not shy away from the lows. There’s the death of his two-and-a-half year old daughter Karen, as well as the loss of his fellow astronauts Elliott See and Charles Bassett, who were killed in a T-38 crash. There’s also the Apollo 1 fire that led to the deaths of Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.
The film opens in 1961, the year before Armstrong applies for Project Gemini and is accepted to NASA Astronaut Group 2, or the Next Nine. It is a grief-stricken Armstrong who applies to Gemini, as he attempts to help himself and his family move on after the loss of Karen, and while the family does seem happier following the move to Houston, Armstrong carries the loss and the memory of his daughter all the way to the Moon and back (a bracelet of hers is a particular talisman for him).
The Moon itself is arguably a character in the film, a sort of leitmotif for Armstrong, and there are numerous scenes of him looking at it from his backyard, while the viewer is left to ponder his thoughts. Director Chazelle said in an interview with IMDb that they wanted the Moon “to be sort of looming over all the on-the-ground interactions, and to really get at the messy reality of what going to the Moon actually took”.
Indeed, the film honestly portrays the true brutality and difficulty of winning the so-called space race and getting someone on the Moon as quickly as the Americans did. In many other space-related films there is a certain sterility to the whole process of space flight, and the viewer is convinced that NASA, with its rows of computer screens, mostly has everything under control.
First Man clearly shows how much of the time, the success of a mission was determined by the fast-thinking astronauts taking a chance and making a snap decision that paid off, as they hurtled into the horizon in their ramshackle crafts. I am not sure how many viewers were aware that after Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin (perfectly portrayed by Corey Stoll) had begun their descent to the lunar surface in the Lunar Module, Armstrong was forced to take manual control of the spacecraft as Aldrin realized the planned landing site was covered in massive boulders. Armstrong manages to successfully land the module, of course, but with minimal fuel remaining and the nail-biting scene was one of my favourites in the film. Although I knew precisely which of the many missions from Apollo 1 to 11 would succeed and fail, I nevertheless found myself at the edge of my seat, hoping that all would go well.
In large part, this was thanks to the filming style. Unlike most films of this genre, First Man mostly looks like a documentary, with all of the scenes on Earth and at the Armstrongs’ home filmed in 16 mm or 35 mm, with a hand-held camera, which zooms in for occasionally disorienting close-ups. This is even the case in many of the mission shots, filmed within the spacecraft, giving viewers a true appreciation of just how crammed and claustrophobia-inducing those spaces are. It is only once Armstrong and Aldrin get to the Moon’s surface that there is a sudden huge jump in perspective – the hatch of the lunar module swings open and, in an unforgettable shot, the sweeping lunar surface comes into view with crisp high-definition as the film changes to IMAX, and the Moon engulfs the entire screen.
Equally important to the film is its impressive and powerful score, composed by Justin Hurwitz and played by a 94-piece orchestra. If you hear a strange, hypnotic electric sound, that is the electronic theremin – an instrument that Armstrong was especially fond of, which led Hurwitz to add it to the score.
While First Man does an excellent job of depicting the huge advances in science and technology that it took to get humankind to the Moon, this film is ultimately about people; and each of the actors plays their part to perfection. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing next year, First Man is a poignant retelling of Armstrong’s legacy, but in a more honest and intimate way than ever before.