From Universal studios and director Damien Chazzelle comes First Man. A true epic, standing apart from his previous works, La La Land and Whiplash, First Man is an absolute tour de force and cements Chazzelle status as one of Hollywood’s best.
First Man tells the story of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), the first man to ever walk on the moon. The film follows Armstrong through the death of his daughter to cancer, then the loss of his coworkers in earlier missions, showing the personal stakes of the mission for the man.
The movie travels with us through Armstrong’s training, the paranoia around the space race and eventual mission to the moon. It beautifully portrays the relationship between Armstrong and his family, giving a deeply personal feeling to an extraordinary person. A scene of Armstrong landing on the moon in particular is an iconic moment breathtakingly captured in the movie.
This film being so good is no surprise—from preproduction to release, this movie was ready-made to win Oscars.
Chazzelle is one of the best directors working today. At just 32, he became the youngest ever winner of an Oscar for directing and is hailed by some as the next king of Hollywood.
In First Man, he teams up again with actor Ryan Gosling. The pair worked together on La La Land in 2016 and critics are already drawing the Scorcese/Dicaprio comparison. While this is maybe premature, the duo are incredible in First Man. Gosling’s non-verbal performance is well done and Chazzelle does a masterful job portraying him.
Chazzelle has a sharp cinematic eye and obsessive attention to detail. The production design, by Nathan Crowley itself is so beautifully done that it feels like you’re being sucked into the 1960s. The cinematography comes into its own once Apollo takes off into space, making the infinite expanse feel scarily small and personal.
Although Chazelle both wrote and directed his previous films, Josh Singer wrote the screenplay of First Man. Singer’s previous work includes West Wing, Spotlight and The Post.
Singer based his screenplay of a book by James R. Hansen of the same name. This book is the grounding factor the movie needs. Without the book and story of Armstrong, this movie could all too easily be a love song to 1960s America and NASA.
The movie’s true highlight is its incredible cinematography, handheld shots complete with glare and shake. The shallow depth of field that the majority of the film takes place in gives the story an intense and personal feel.
The man made glow of the spacecraft reflecting off Gosling’s face is haunting. The framing of conversations on earth is disorientating, driving the viewer into the drama of the space race.
This movie is a must-see, on as wide a screen as possible. The movie shows it’s also time to start saying Chazelle in the same breath as Scorcese, Nolan and Speilberg.
This film is one small step for the Oscars, and one massive leap for Damien Chazzelle.
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