- Actors: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll
- Director: Damien Chazelle
- Writer: Josh Singer
- Producers: Damien Chazelle, Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner, Wyck Godfrey
- Disc Format: 4K, NTSC, Subtitled
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
- Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
- Region: Region A/1
- Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
- Rated: Parents Strongly CautionedPG-13
- Studio: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: January 22, 2019
- Run Time: 141 minutes
Having another
film with a score filled with jazz music is not reason enough to consider
Damien Chazelle to be an auteur, but the themes of First Man connect to the filmmaker’s last two works, despite each
existing in a genre of their own. First
Man is a biopic, through-and-through, but one that doesn’t fall into the
usual narrative trappings. On top of that, First
Man contains further evidence of Chazelle’s worthiness as an Academy
Award-winning director, from the spectacular camera work to the effectively
nuanced performances he gets from the capable cast. Every year, there is at
least one film that is shamelessly ignored during award season. This year we
have several (in order to make room for the films that made a lot of money),
but I would put First Man at the top
of the list for under-appreciated films.
Although First Man certainly belongs in the
biopic genre, it purposefully limits the scope to only cover a certain portion
of Neil Armstrong’s life. We don’t see any of his early life, instead focusing
on the ten year period leading up to the historic Apollo 11 mission.
Painstakingly realistic in its depiction, there is a raw immediacy to the way
Chazelle tells the story of Armstrong’s journey to the moon. We get all of the
details of the mission training, as well as the painful losses along the way.
Elliptical in its storytelling, First Man
allows us to feel immersed in this era and NASA’s protocols without being
pandered to or underestimating the intelligence of the viewer. It is also far
more interested in what makes man decide to take these risks rather than about
the technological advancements that got us there.
A large part of
what makes First Man work so well is
the cast, starting with Ryan Gosling in another career accomplishment as
Armstrong. Just as effective is Claire Foy as his strong wife, Janet, and the
cast is also filled with an ensemble of dedicated actors stepping in to play
the real-life men and women who sacrificed for the mission to put a man on the moon.
At the top of this list is Jason Clarke as Ed White and Kyle Chandler as Deke
Slayton, but there are many more. First
Man does an excellent job of showing the Herculean effort this mission
took, and manages to do so while also keeping Armstrong the focus of the
narrative. In a lot of ways, Gosling plays Armstrong with walls up, pointing to
the loss of his daughter as the reason. Even if only for two brief moments, the
film allows the audience the privilege of seeing Armstrong in the quiet moments
that these barriers come down.
Along with the
performances, the way that Chazelle chooses to film First Man greatly impacts the effectiveness of the narrative. Shot
in mostly telephoto lens, the impact is a feeling that the audience is spying
on intimate conversations. This also allows for the actors to perform without
the constant intrusion of the camera, and it is incredibly effective. There is
also an intensity in the shakiness of the camera in the action, contrasted by
the stillness of the moon sequence shot with IMAX cameras.
The IMAX
sequence is easily the most impressive part of the 4K Ultra HD edition of the
film. The colors are more vibrant in the rest of the film, but there is also a
large grain in the visuals to make it appear more dated. The only part of the
film that doesn’t have this is the IMAX moon sequence, which looks absolutely
pristine in 4K, even if it doesn’t really match the visual style of the rest of
the film. The special features on the disc include a handful of deleted scenes,
along with several featurettes and a commentary track with Chazelle,
screenwriter Josh Singer and editor Tim Cross. Many of the featurettes also go
into the efforts to accurately capture the details of NASA in the filmmaking
process. The package comes with a Blu-ray disc that also contains all of the
special features, as well as a digital copy of the movie.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 9/10
Historical
Significance: 8/10
Special Features: 8.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment