First Man (2018) - Movie Review

karofi (51)in #aaa • 5 years ago

First Man is based on the James R. Hansen 's book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong. It is American biographical drama film directed by Damien Chazelle and written by Josh Singer.

The film is about American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to take a step on the moon. The film continues to move back and forth between the calm, normal life on the ground and the deafening chaos above, without one of the two becoming more important than the other. That dichotomy also characterizes Armstrong himself, at least in the rendition of Ryan Gosling: his sober surface conceals a turbulent interior. When Armstrong's daughter Karen dies of cancer shortly after that near-fatal test flight, he withdraws even further. To the outside he is strong, a support for his wife Jan (Claire Foy, imposing in a crucial role), but in the cockpit of his head the alarm bells are constantly ringing and the screws threaten to rattle out.

Compared to Chazelle's two previous films, the smashing Whiplash (2014) and the energetic La La Land (2016), First Man is a more supercooled work - apart from the explosive scenes of test flights and space travel. There he emphasizes in hectic close-ups - an illuminated alarm lamp, a vibrating row of screws - how precarious it all is. Armstrong and his colleagues are sent into the stratosphere in rattling sardine cans that are placed on top of an explosion, and shortly before launch are screwed in with a Swiss pocket knife.

Chazelle focuses on trial and error on the way to the moon - the many small, painful, sometimes fatal steps that preceded that "one giant leap for mankind". And luckily, he does not adhere to the hero worship that this type of film radiates all too often (and which it would probably have contained even if Clint Eastwood had taken the scenario, which was briefly mentioned). Armstrong and his colleagues are not superheroes but just a set of pilots and engineers who are inventing the wheel together. It is precisely that sober look that makes what they achieved ultimately all the more impressive. We all know what's coming, know the famous first sentence that Armstrong speaks on the moon. The fact that Chazelle manages to give a lump in his throat with precisely that moment, shows his great skill as a filmmaker.

My thoughts

Nice, very nice, but not the 'of my feet swept' experience that I had hoped for.

The film mainly characterizes itself as a drama that focuses on the impact that such an insecure and dangerous job has on the spiritual system, and especially family life. And despite the load that the daughter's death entails, I must honestly say that after the film, I don't really have the impression of knowing the character Armstrong. In fact, I think it's a distant person, with a tunnel vision, and a little social and open attitude towards his family. I think it's just a strange man who seems almost unstable. Well, if he were like this and this comes close to the truth then it will ...

Furthermore, the film succeeds in terms of beautiful images. The test flights and the launch itself look beautiful. Just like the images on the moon itself. All this is accompanied by a soundtrack that shows its best side during the launch and on the moon. The acting performance is well ahead of Gosling, the unfortunate outcome of Apollo 1 and Pablo Schreiber comes across as Jim Lovell, the man who faced great difficulties in Apollo 13 and was shaped by Tom Hanks.

What really keeps me busy is that the film does not have a particularly clear course. It should be a biopic / drama, but in my opinion we don't get to see the real inner Armstrong, but the failing family life and of course the pressure that everything entails. As an aviation / NASA vehicle, it does not come out very well either, the film has too much eye for family life and there is not enough launch and technology. So it is not really a space film either. I think that the director stays safe in the middle between all genres without clearly choosing a course, which in my opinion detracts from the depth and catchiness of the film.