First Man Shows Sacrifice, Risk of Apollo 11 Mission
On July 20, 1969, the world watched as black and white television images showed astronaut Neil Armstrong make history by stepping onto the moon. Now, a new movie shows Armstrong's bravery, love for exploration, and ability to deal with pressure.
The movie First Man is based on James Hansen's book titled First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong. Academy Award-winning Damien Chazelle directed the film.
The Apollo 11 moon landing is the high point of First Man. Chazelle's film lets audiences experience the difficult training, technical failures that caused deaths, and the personal sacrifices that led to the first steps on the Moon.
Actor Ryan Gosling plays Armstrong, who leads the moon mission. He struggles with the risks of space travel as a husband and father. Claire Foy, who plays Armstrong's wife, said the movie shows what the early moon missions were like for the men and their families.
Chazelle said his goal was to focus on the ordinary people who achieved something incredible.
The music for First Man communicates the excitement of the Apollo 11 mission and the emotional days surrounding it.
"Sound and music were [very important to] this movie. We wanted you, the audience, to feel that you had never been to space quite this way before," Chazelle said.
The film was first shown at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. "It seemed like such a perfect place to do it," Gosling said.
