First Man is a Chazellian study of obsession that is keen to understand the inner workings of Neil Armstrong. Ryan Gosling’s Armstrong is caught between his own personal dilemmas and the international space race during this sombre re-telling of the 1969 moon landing. Damien Chazelle’s intimate biopic puts American patriotism to one side as we […]
first man
Flagging First Man: Cinema’s loose relationship with history
It doesn’t feel like a hyperbole to state that the controversy regarding First Man’s American flag moment has caused something of a media circus. Damien Chazelle’s most recent film, after his continuing success with Whiplash and La La Land, follows the lead-up and eventual landing of the Apollo 11 mission. He makes the choice to […]