FIRST MAN REVIEW
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award winning feature
La La Land, Oscar winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam
for First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon,
focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961 – 1969. A visceral, first person
account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the
sacrifices and the cost – on Armstrong and on the nation- of one of the most
dangerous missions in history. Written by Academy Award winner Josh Singer
(Spotlight), the drama is produced by Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. First Man co-stars
Claire Foy, Corey Stoll, Pablo Schreiber, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler,
Christopher Abbott and Ciaran Hinds.
After the commercial and critical successes of Whiplash and
La La Land Damien Chazelle continues to show his extreme maturity as a filmmaker
at the tender age of 33. Already an Oscar winner at 33, with First Man Chazelle
is continuing his upward trend to make, in my opinion, his best feature to
date. Not just is Chazelle a talented director but he is willing to branch out to
have a diversity of films. Going from a musical drama to a sci fi film about
one of the great human achievements is no mean feat.
First Man itself is a superb feat in filmmaking. The best
way of descrbing it would be Scorsese’s The Aviator meets Nolan’s Dunkirk. The
story in itself is very similar to The Aviator especially with the characterisation
of Gosling as Neil Armstrong. However, the shooting of the dramatic scenes is
more akin to Dunkirk. The scope and scale is impressive to behold. Back when
Nolan was promoting Dunkirk he spoke about the film being more of a suspense
film than war film. Similar can be said of First Man. Right from the opening
scene which shocks the audience right into the heart of the film. First Man opens
sharply introducing exactly what type of movie one is about to experience. First Man is exactly that. An experience with Chazelle entering new grounds as a director.
Chazelle is as much as star of First Man as
Gosling and Foy
For First Man Chazelle reteamed with his cinematographer
from La La Land and the results are outstanding. The cinematography is strong
in the opening two acts, but it reaches another level in the 3rd act.
Some of the imagery reflected on the screen is heart pounding. Linus Sandgren
manages to recapture the awe that would have experiences in July 1969. Therein
lies one of the major achievements of First Man. Even if an audience member
vividly remembers the moon landing, First Man creates the feeling of watching
the landing for the first time. Within the 3rd act and the climax of
the film Chazelle and Sandgren harken back to imagery in significant sci fi
films such as Interstellar or more notably 2001. First Man is wholly original
but is fully aware of previous films within the genre. Also reteaming with
Chazelle for First Man is composer Justin Hurwitz who somehow tops his previous
great work. Goosebumps, head standing and water from the eyes were most
definitely shed as the power of music kicks in. Hurwitz’ score is overpowering
and emotional. A Star Is Born will have competition for best original score at
the Oscars.
On the topic of the 3rd act First Man runs for
2hr20 minutes and some have levelled criticism at First Man for having pacing
issues. However, on this note I strongly agree. Chazelle gradually builds
tension towards the launch of Apollo 11. The audience realises that it is
coming but the characters within the film need to experience the loss and
failure in order to achieve the marvel of the climax. The same can be said of
the film in itself. First Man manages to blend a nice feel together. Firstly,
the movie is centrally a Neil Armstrong biopic but focuses fully on him as an astronaut
within the space programme. Furthermore, the space race is told well from the
American point of view. Notably, this is why the flag “controversy” is
nonsensical if you actually watch the film. It is American centralised through and
through, with this a good thing. If Chazelle tried to tell both sides the film
would have become muddled.
Failure leads to history
Having real life characters is sometimes a struggle as the
filmmaker tries to balance the fiction with the reality. In the case of First Man the balance is perfect. Neil Armstrong is a strong-willed character with a
fiery wife. More significantly both are shown to be very human. Prior to the
launch, Armstrong is seen as cold with his family though for me this was an
important part of his characterisation as seen later in the film. For both Gosling
and Foy Oscar nominations are on the cards. Foy is a rising talent and Gosling
continues to prove himself as one of the biggest talents working today. Hopefully
we do not see him snubbed like last year with Blade Runner 2049.
First Man is an accomplishment in filmmaking and one of the
years best films. Expect to see it in the running as we approach awards season.
Rating out of 5: *****
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