You will stop wondering about the awards buzz for the movie once you have watched it.
Movie: First Man
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Pablo Schrieber, Jason Clarke, Ciaran Hinds
Director: Damien Chazelle
Genre: Biography, drama
Duration: 2hr 21min
Story:
Everyone knows about one of the most iconic milestones of human history that is NASA's Apollo 11 mission which put the man on the moon. The name Neil Armstrong became immortal that day. The First Man is the story of what was going on in the life of this astronaut during that time.
It's a story about a couple that lost a kid early on in their life and is trying to get back to normalcy. As normal as it can get when you are Neil and Janet Armstrong (Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy). Among all the attention of the world, the growing tension of the civil rights movement, and many other things, the film focuses on Armstrong's humbled approach towards the mission. A run-up to the iconic moon landing of Apollo 11 in 1969, First Man takes us on a journey of a family, a crew that meant so much to humankind in the long run.
Review:
Just like his previous movies, director Damien Chazelle collaborated with composer Justin Hurwitz and cinematographer Linus Sandgren to bring one of the best movies of 2018 to life. Josh Singer's tight screenplay is simply the cherry on top. From the beginning, Chazelle offsets the tranquillity and silence of space with the deafening rattling of spaceships and planes when they return to surface. It makes sure that the fragility and high risk of the situation never leave the audience's minds. Music-wise there are quite a few exquisite moments in the movie. Two appearances of the 'Lunar Rhapsody' performed by Dr Samuel J. Hoffman feat. Les Baxter, one perfect shot in which we see the flaps (pardon my lack of knowledge and skills to Google) of Gemini 8 air capsule go into darkness one by one to the tunes of 'Docking Waltz,' and Leon Bridges' poem 'Whitey on the moon.' Tactful shots were taken by handheld cameras, stunning panoramas balanced with close-ups of quivering muscles only add to beauty onscreen. It's the small moments that stay with you. Like light shining through the mesh of Gosling's eyelashes or the boxes in boxes frame when Armstrong tells his two boys about the chances of him coming back safely after the mission.
Singer grounded the screenplay of the movie, based on James R. Hansen’s 2005 biography of Armstrong, and gives Ryan Gosling every tool to internalize the performance. With an event that big and names that famous, it is always easy to turn the subject of a biography into a superhero. But 'First Man' banks on the opposite and wins. Gosling's Armstrong is clinical. He is hands-on and methodical dealing with his daughter's cancer treatments. Even when mourning the loss of his daughter, he cleans up the desk first. We see him shut down bit by bit after the missions take away his friends Ed White, Elliot See, and other astronauts. (The Cape Canaveral cockpit fire scene is sublime.) He closes off from his family and resolves to make the mission a success. But not for a moment does cross the line into over dramatic. Yet, he holds command, be it in dealing with technical failures in the space or answering questions of an over-eager press.
Claire Foy shines in her role. The woman portrays the comforting, caring mother and wife in one scene and in the next her hands quiver holding a cigarette because she understands what these missions could cost her family. Her best scene is when she makes sure that Armstrong sits their kids down and explains what will be the chances of him coming home safe.
Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, and Ciaran Hinds do their jobs to the T.
It's the recurring setbacks and the struggle to overcome them to put a man on the moon that keeps the tension alive in the movie. Never getting into the jingoistic territories, the movie simply lets you feel what the man himself might have felt.
Verdict:
A masterclass in restrained filmmaking that should not be missed.
Critic's ratings: 4/5
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