Thursday, September 20, 2007

Movie review: In the Shadow of the Moon

It'll make you feel good again about being a U.S. American - and that's not bad.

By John P. Meyer

My message in regard to this film is simple and straightforward: go see it. Do it as soon as you can. If you hesitate and end up getting run over by a cell phone-distracted SUV-driving commuter after having put off going to see In the Shadow of the Moon, your pissed-off hovering spirit will regret it.

Hey, you'd plant the dang flag on the moon, too, if you'd spent $24 billion (in 1960s dollars) getting there

If you were alive and alert in the late '60s, seeing this movie will take you back to those strange days when we found ourselves mired in an unpopular war while - elsewhere on the national stage - those slide-rule pocket-protector geeks (or were they nerds?) at NASA were sweating big transistor-sized bullets to fulfill a dead president's pledge to land Americans on the moon (and bring them back) before the decade played itself out. Tall order, Mr. Kennedy.

If you were born too late to participate in the lunar landing drama at no temporal remove, then this production will give you a pretty good feel for what that extraordinary series of events was like.

[On the evening of July 20th, 1969, I was sitting in the back seat of my friend's dad's International Travelall in the parking lot of the tent city base camp at Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico; Ed Slane and I had hiked into base camp from our wilderness bivouac at the foot of Tooth of Time, ostensibly to obtain additional moleskin for fellow expeditioners' blistered feet but primarily because we wanted to hear the moon landing as it happened (the nearest television reception was probably 50 miles away at Springer). At the time I thought we were the unluckiest kids in the world, having to listen to these momentous events on an AM car radio while others watched in color; looking back, I wouldn't trade my place that evening with anyone, anywhere. Magical thing, that radio; magical place, those mountains.]

The deadly fire aboard the Apollo 1 command module stalled the manned spaceflight program for two years.

British director David Sington, in charge of mission control for the film, had a simple plan: put cameras and microphones in front of the astronauts who journeyed to the moon 35+ years ago and let them talk about their experiences, now that they've had plenty of time to mull things over; add thrilling NASA footage from the original spaceflights, much of it recorded by the astronauts themselves; then ice the cake with an emotional and uplifting symphonic score composed by Philip Sheppard.

What results is 100 minutes of quiet personal reflection by gray-haired men who once were young and fearless, punctuated by film footage of rocket liftoffs, stage separations, near (and complete) disasters and improbable cosmic successes that still beggar the imagination though we've seen the video countless times before.

Michael Collins turns out to be perhaps the most contemplative of the ten astronauts interviewed for the film - at least on camera; Buzz Aldrin has (just as surprisingly) mellowed considerably over the years, but still knows how to inject humor into the most solemn and momentous of occasions. Jim Lovell describes the experience of finding oneself at such a remove from one's home planet that the careful placement of an extended thumb can blot it from view entirely. Others of the retired spacemen describe how the experience of being "out there" had a deep spiritual impact on them and changed their views of "the world" forever. (The lunar experience as a trigger for epiphany emerges as a common thread.)

Buzz Aldrin prepares to join his lunar module pal, Neil Armstrong, on the surface of the moon. You may be surprised to hear what he was doing in his spacesuit on the way down the ladder. (Or you may not.)

The reason this film should be essential viewing for a) Americans and b) people everywhere is that it provides such a contrast to the perception of the U.S. as it exists today - both from within and without. These guys were heroes of a never-before-seen sort: ordinary jet jockies, strapped onto the tops of ICBMs and hurled into a hostile realm, dependent upon prototype and (by today's standards) primitive systems and their own quick wits and resourcefulness to complete their impossible missions of exploration. One false move (or system failure) and they were dead - lost forever to the stars. (Or - miraculously - not, as in the case of Apollo 13.) These guys carried no weapons; the enemy surrounded them just beyond the thickness of their space suits, to a distance of infinity.

The whole world was watching, and they liked it.

Have a look at the trailer; you'll see what I mean. The movie opens Friday, September 21 at both the Dallas and Plano Angelikas.

NO ARGUMENT THERE: "It was a time when we made bold moves." - Jim Lovell

ONE WORLD VIEW: "Everywhere (we went) they didn't say, 'you did it,' they said, 'we did it' - we the human race." - Michael Collins

ONCE A GREAT NATION, ALWAYS SO?: "Today, in an atmosphere of division and fear, it is good to be reminded of what humanity is capable of achieving. As an Englishman, I am happy to offer to an American audience ... a reminder of what this great nation can accomplish when it has the courage and the generosity to follow its best instincts." - director David Sington

Related stories

• New on DVD: 30 Days of Night, Beowulf, The Darjeeling Limited, In the Shadow of the Moon (Feb. 26, 2008)
• Documentary film review: The Wonder of It All (Nov. 11, 2007)

See more stories in:

• Arts > Movies / Film > Independent Films

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