Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle shot First Man, his gripping chronicle of NASA’s Gemini and Apollo missions through the eyes of Neil Armstrong, on a blend of film stocks normally employed for elaborate Hollywood sets and sweeping vistas. But projected on a towering, true IMAX screen, the docudrama’s aggressive use of close-ups creates a suffocating and scorching effect. Instead of gifting star Ryan Gosling a glamour moment, the camera melts the actor’s face into a streaky wash of sweat and pulse as rocket boosters blast him into the great beyond time and time again. Chazelle gravitates toward the most claustrophobic images, whether trapped in an Apollo capsule, buckled into a test flight, or lying dormant in the backyard of a Houston rancher. Even insert shots of bolts and screws, and the little pieces that meant success or failure, life or death, become icons of abject terror under the large-scale microscope. A number of movies have recreated mankind’s space exploration, but First Man sends us on the mission with unparalleled immersion. We meet Neil on the edge of the atmosphere, flying a test craft at supersonic speeds — and a little too close to the sun. Breaking free of Earth’s invisible hold, Neil finds himself drifting out into the abyss of space. The 4,000 mph rocket engines that brought him to this point won’t do squat; the only thing standing between him and a death sentence are the backup propulsion system and breakneck maneuvers. Logic tells us Neil lives. The mounting tension… [Read full story]
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