"We need to Fail down here, so we don't Fail up There." First Man Review

First Man

4/5

Directed by: Damien Chazelle

Rated: PG-13

           In 2014 director Damien Chazelle made himself a name at the Oscars as the startup writer and director of the psychological thriller about a musician's pursuit of greatness known as Whiplash. Two years later, Chazelle again recieved high remarks around his name for writing and directing the original Hollywood musical smash hit La La Land. Chazelle's recent film moves away from his typical form, by using his directorial prowess to take audiences beyond the stratosphere. With Chazelle's First Man he tells the story of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, presented as a compelling psychological thriller.
           First Man stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong who plays the famous astronaught in a manner that is surprisingly introverted. As Armstrong was not the hotshot pilot most NASA astronaughts were, Gosling's depiction is startingly accurate if not also a little bit offputting. Gosling's counterpart is Claire Foy who portrays Armstong's headstrong wife Janet Armstorng with an indominatble spirit. While Gosling's character is taken to astonishing heights, Claire Foy's remians grounded. Gosling and Foy's characters share a tangible bond stronger than anything they face. This bond is shown strongest when Gosling and Foy are not being husband and wife but Father and Mother. The parental warmth and love these two extend to their two children, played exceptionally well by child actors Luke Winters and Connor Blodgett, is endearing. These scenes of the Armstrong's domestic life show how insane it is that this man, Neil "the neighbor with the pool your kids come over and play in" Armstrong, is going to be the first man on the moon.
           The dangers of putting an ordinary man into space have never appeared as intense and realistic as they do in Chazelle's First Man. These gripping scenes are shot by cinematogprapher Linus Sandgren, whose first person perspective visuals place audiences directly in the claustrophobic and accurately reproduced cockpits of the some of the fastest space crafts to breach Earth's atmosphere. Inside these cockpits anything can go wrong resulting in catastrophic consequences. An electical wire can ignite. A bolt can come undone. The cockpit can start rolling. Anything up there can fail, and when it does only an astronaught's training and their determination is the only thing that can save them. Building upon the dramatic tension in these scenes is Justin Hurwitz's subtle score comprised of unique instruments, such as the otherworldly thermin. This score of slowly intensifying anthems reflecting the characters' mindsets adds vitality and weight to First Man's engrossing atmosphere. This combined with the film's Oscar winning special effects make First Man's space flight scenes thrilling and strenuous for both those in and outside of the film.

An iconic image of Neil Armstrong on the moon.
Source: lights in the dark

           Beyond this film's compellling performances and intense scenes, First Man is remarkably accurate to real life events. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum describe First Man as "the most accurate fictional depiction of human spaceflight in the 1960s ever made," stating that "the care of the director, Damien Chazelle, and his team to respect the integrity of historical events is obvious to anyone with a solid knowledge of the Gemini and Apollo programs." The film's visuals also add historical accuracy to the film, as some of First Man's shots were created directly from historic archive footage. This footage is blended seemlessly with the film's cinematography. This film also features a wide range of interesting fun facts about Armstrong's personal life interspersed across the film. One of which is that Armstrong wrote showtunes for his alma mater, Purdue Univeristy. The film also accurately depicts the public's opinion of NASA and the various protests against NASA, including the reading of a spoken word poem that was written at that time. All of these historical elements are what make Josh Singer's screenplay historically vibrant. In combination with the rest of the phenomenal work put forth by this film's cast and crew, Damien Chazelle's First Man is a great psychologically thrilling piece of cinema. It is a worthy addition to Chazelle's repitoire and it can make audiences wonder where this filmmaker will take them next.

Verdict: Damien Chazelle's First Man is a compellingly performed and directed psychological thriller about Neil Armstrong, the first husband, father and neighbor to ever successfully step on the moon.