a giant leap...

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2018)

From a story of a promising young drummer trying to achieve greatness, to a bold contemporary musical harking back to the golden age, and now a journey to the moon, Damien Chazelle has brought us innovative projects that have struck a cord in the film industry, and his latest feature, First Man, is a giant leap forward, no pun intended.
This is a story the world knows all too well about the man who takes the first steps on the moon. Neil Armstrong has become an icon ever since that pivotal moment in human history, but this personal look at his life is what leads the audience into a dramatic journey most, I'm sure, weren't quite expecting.
Ryan Gosling's thoughtfully internalised portrayal of Armstrong further solidifies his place amongst the greatest's of screen performers, this being his best work to date in my humble opinion. The subtleties and nuances his eyes alone express give simultaneously so little and so much that the movies emotional core lies with Ryan's performance. The loss, the sacrifice and the greatness, Neil Armstrong is no mundane character and Ryan Gosling peels away the platitudes of layers this man holds on his journey to that historic walk. Accompanying Gosling is the equally impressive Claire Foy, who doesn't lose herself in this male centred world, instead heightening the already elevated drama and feeding the emotionality of a final scene that is sure to have a few tears.
Damien Chazelle expertly handles some of the more suspenseful sequences with incredible ingenuity. One of which serves as a claustrophobic nightmare where the entirety of the scene is shot in the astronauts cockpit, giving you a first person perspective of a launch that will immerse you in the most frightening way. Combined with a cacophony of sounds meticulously engineered and jaw-dropping shots, First Man is a technical marvel that will leave you emotionally strained and visually bewildered.