Esta entrada también se encuentra en Español.
There are many events that have changed the course of humanity, one of many occurred almost 50 years ago, a silent war or rather a competition between two nations to demonstrate which was better than another, thanks to the pressure that cosmonauts came to impose over the United States, the great American nation felt compelled to push itself higher than the rest.
The director Whiplash and La La Land,Damien Chazelle brings us a new tape, a biopic about one of the most important figures in modern history, Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), the first man on the moon.
You can think that this is just another movie about space, like the ones that come out lately every year and raise millions without stopping, but they are wrong – this movie is not like the others. His focus, really, is not space, but the context in which the first trip to the moon takes place, the problems of the people with their nation in a small, but remarkable subplot; and more importantly, the life of the man who made the trip, his losses and his achievement.
The film begins with strenght. Without a doubt, Chazelle wanted us to feel the rhythm of the space from the beginning, with a sequence of around 5 minutes, we embarked inside a space cabin towards the stratosphere, under the eyes of Neil, played by Ryan Gosling, suffering his stress and restlessness.
However, and for good, this is not the only one in the film. Although it begins with great intensity, it is not a movie that keeps you stressed, aswas Whiplash; but neither loses interest.
The film, naturally divided into three acts, presents us with a different range of tones in each of them. Starting with the first, we have a typical rhythm of films in space, type Interstellar or Gravity, you know, from the beginning, what the movie goes about. But this betrays you, because the trip tends to pass into the background of the narrative, since the protagonist is not the trip, nor the Apollo, but Neil. So in this way, we commit each other in an unexpected, disturbing and even more important, human narrative.
Without mentioning the most intense things in the film, to avoid spoilers (even if it is a biopic) we can move on to the second act, which, unlike many or almost all Hollywood movies, sets the true tone of the film; And, now, as always, it is the most substantial of all films. In this case: Neil’s life during the preparation for the trip to the moon.
In this second act, we begin to know more about the protagonist, his family, his colleagues, and the type of relationship he has with each of them. Regarding cinematographic style, we find many points of interest. We have the typical static cinematographic; but there are times when it is recorded with a Super 8mm camera, to have that old tone, in addition to an overproduced grain that sometimes looks good, and other times tends to be distracting, especially if the camera stops being static and is handheld. On the other hand, there are sequences that, beautifully, imitate that of a homevideo with the camera following Neil around his house playing with his children and living with his wife. Also, another notable aspect, but one that lasts less time, is the Sitcom style that happens inside Houston, with fast camera movements, in those funny and enjoyable moments that the film offers.
About the second act, we ran into a Neil, at first, sad, but motivated to move on, that little by little, begins to confuse his passion for an obsession, Chazelle’s leit motive, probably, since in all his films shows us characters of that nature. Due to the more documentary sense of the astronaut’s life, this act is the least stressful, with a different rhythm than the previous act, and a calmer, but substantial development.
Finally, the third act begins with another tragedy. Neil’s sanity looks shaky, but clinging to a purpose. This act is the smallest, but it also has its different tones. Continuing with the 35mm style, when reaching almost the end, the opportunity to use IMAX is given, but its use is quite disappointing due to the time it was given – that is why we do not recommend seeing it in this type of room. We are already here, with the objective accomplished. They have reached the moon,but that isn’t the important part, in the middle of this sequence, we see a montage of Neil’s memories, why he got to where he is and everything that has happened to achieve it. Neil is the first man on the moon, but beyond that, he is a person.
Photography may not stand out very much at first glance- either due to its constant movements or the fast pace it has – but as a hallmark of the cinematographer Linus Sandgren, with whom Chazelle had already worked in La La Land, photography has beautiful, symmetrical frames, full of life and the entire tape is reduced to the color palette of a Kodacolor, this palette seeks to implant the idea that we are in the 60s, and not only that, that this is the life of a person, and their memories.
Like all high-level directors, Chazelle has already formed his own team of filmmakers, one of the most important is Justin Hurwitz, a composer he has worked with since Whiplash. On this occasion, Hurwitz moves away from jazz and opts for a soundtrack rich in the inclusion of the theremin, an instrument that is generally used for science fiction and formerly for horror movies. The theremin is known by many as an alien instrument, and the fact that First Man is musicalized with it, not only seeks to feed an out-of-this-world story, but it was a decision made by Chazelle, since Neil Armstrong played that instrument.
Within the Chazelle team, actor Ryan Gosling, who also starred in La La Land (2016), was established. Gosling shows us another face very different from the ones he usually interprets, his emotions disappear completely, and he plays this man who forbids himself to feel something in a way that, although many do not like, is wonderful. Claire Foy plays Janet Armstrong, the astronaut’s wife, and she leaves nothing to be desired, her performance is brilliant, full of humanity and is the perfect contrast to Gosling’s character and continues to impress with how real it feels.
First Man is a project as unusual and special as its predecessors, and it extends the panorama that many of us have had in recent years about the mysterious hero of NASA.
This is not only a work about a great adventure, it is also the portrait of a figure as a person and his family.
This entry was translated from Spanish by Alan Camarena.
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