First Man: A Technical Marvel but Lacking Emotion
First Man is the follow-up film after Damien Chazelle’s Oscar win for Best Director for La La Land. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. The film documents Armstrong’s journey through the various missions culminating in the famed Apollo 11 mission in which he would walk on the moon. His wife, Janet, played by Claire Foy, must watch from afar as her husband takes on dangerous and unprecedented missions, unsure if he will ever return home to her and their children.
What Chazelle does so well that makes First Man stand out from all the other space exploration films we’ve seen is that he framed the grandiosity of the mission by focusing so precisely on the minutia of each mission. From the very first shot of the film, we are thrown right into the intensity and immensity of their endeavors. The use of shaky cam and extremely close up shots allow the audience to grasp fully, perhaps as they never have before, the danger and the intensity of the missions these men undertook. Even as the astronauts make their landing on the moon, they focus more on the more intricate details such as the way that the light hits the fine particles on the surface of the moon or even through the reflection of the moon on the astronauts’ masks. The film stands out, not as a big budget space film with large sweeping images of a previously unexplored environment, but more a focus on the human lens through which we should see the missions. The visuals in the film are striking, not for their overly immense scope, but for their focus on the human aspect of it.
In the same turn, where I feel the film truly struggled was the emotional element. I had little to no emotional reaction to the characters and their struggles. Very early on, we are thrown into the lives of Neil and Janet Armstrong as they must say goodbye to their young daughter once she dies from cancer. This is intended to be a huge emotional point in the story but lacks the connection I needed to feel for these characters. Because of that miss, I don’t think I ever really connected to them. Perhaps this is because of their stoic performances and demeanor, but I just never felt any love or connection between them.
Similarly, with the other astronauts, there never seemed to be much of a connection or bond between them. There are scenes where they show Gosling dealing with the death of his fellow astronauts, but he never really allows the audience to connect and feel his pain or fear. This left me wanting much more in that regard.
First Man is so spectacular in its visual accomplishments that you can almost overlook the lack of emotion because it is technically so well executed. Each scene in the ship is intricately crafted to pull the audience in a way that is remarkable. A combination of phenomenal sound editing and visuals create an experience that is immersive. The sound editing and mixing are pitch perfect. The sounds of the creaking metal, the vibrating instruments around them and then the stark contrast with the emptiness and solitary confinement of their ship in the vast expanse of space create pure cinematic magic. Chazelle’s realization of this film reignites the audience passion and excitement for space exploration. The music in the movie, where sometimes it felt out of place, added a bit of mystery and whimsy to the story, reminding the audience that this truly is the unknown and to our brave astronauts, the ultimate unknown.
While I felt the film did struggle with the emotional aspects of the storyline, I really can’t fault a movie that was so effective in its portrayal of the personal experience of hurdling on the end of a rocket into space. Chazelle has created something truly mesmerizing and reminds us of the sacrifices of a few brave men and the impact it has had on the world. First Man is a true accomplishment in filmmaking and will give audiences an experience like no other.
