First Man

First Man is not your typical astronauts in jeopardy film. Its closest relative is Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 (1997), which set the standard for the NASA space film. Set during the same time period, it’s the true story of Apollo 11 and contains many of the same astronauts that were involved in the Apollo program and eventually went on to fly on Apollo 13 and other missions.

But where Apollo 13 glorified the accomplishments and sacrifices of NASA’s space missions and the astronauts who flew them, First Man is decidedly more cerebral showing us a more personal portrait of the psychological impact the astronauts and their families suffered during the space program, particularly Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and his wife Janet (Claire Foy).

The moon mission is actually more of a secondary story in the background here, focusing mainly on the intense psychological drama playing out through the mind of Neil Armstrong who is shown here as being a deeply focused, highly concentrated and a dedicated pilot, the embodiment of calm under pressure.

Neil is the kind of soft-spoken super human whose quick thinking and determination gets him out of the most difficult hair-raising situations. He was in many ways the perfect person to pull off such a dangerous undertaking.

But his stoicism did not always sit well with his family, particularly his wife who sometimes needed him to be more nurturing, especially during a family tragedy that occurred just before Neil was selected to be a part of the Gemini program, which is the precursor to the Apollo program.

Where Apollo 13 was sometimes criticized for not showing the social political atmosphere of the country in which these missions took place, First Man makes more of an attempt at showing some brief scenes of news footage covering Vietnam war protests and general public attitudes towards NASA’s moon missions.

Visually, First Man is more intimately concentrated on Armstrong the man, as opposed to the heroic pubic figure of our imagination, and his experiences dealing with the uncertainty and magnitude of the tasks he and the other astronauts faced while dealing with overwhelming pressure to succeed.

Based on his essential biography First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, Damien Chazelle decided to make very few cuts between the Houston crew on the ground and the astronauts in space, opting to keep our attention focused on Neil Armstrong’s first-hand experience.

The flag controversy surrounding the film is really a non-event as it’s clear that the film takes the perspective of Neil’s personal and private journey connected more to his suffering after a family loss than to the monumental task he has been given.

When asked by reporters if he will be taking any personal items up to the moon with him, Neil characteristically responds with a deadpan serious expression showing again his pragmatic dedicated focus that he wished he could take more fuel with him.

So, it was deeply satisfying when First Man ultimately culminated with a powerful emotional climax after arriving on the moon that is completely unrelated to being on the moon. While surveying the barren lifeless cratered surface, Armstrong flashes back to memories of his life back on earth and the moment becomes not about the moon or even the human achievement, but a personal object that Neil brought with him, which has haunted him since his journey began.

JP