History Come to Life
There isn’t much left to learn about the mission that put man on the moon, at least not in the broad strokes. Films like Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 accurately capture the experiences had by the astronauts and ground control teams of the era, and Damien Chazelle’s recent First Man dug deeply into what personally drove and shaped Neil Armstrong. Director and editor Todd Douglas Miller’s new documentary, Apollo 11, won’t unveil long-hidden secrets, or find new ways to tug at your patriotic, aspirational heartstrings, but it still offers an experience unlike almost any other. Without special effects, sets or actors, this film provides the most intimate portrait of the July 1969 mission available on film.
A great deal of Apollo 11, especially footage from before and after the mission (and during in Houston), is comprised of 70mm film that in the past has either been reproduced at lower quality, or never before used. 70mm being the standard for particularly clear, big pictures in the film world, the footage seen here is absolutely breathtaking. From helicopter shots of the rocket at Cape Kennedy to scenes of anxious crowds waiting for the launch, so many of the images are so bright and crisp, you’d think they were filmed yesterday. The opening of the film, which features the massive treads of the vehicle that transports the rocket to the launchpad, is jaw-dropping. Here are images that look like they’re right out of Apollo 13, but which are actually 50 year old footage of the real machines at the real site of the real mission. Some of this footage could be swapped into any major space movie, even Men in Black 3, and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
There are plenty of images in Apollo 11 that don’t meet this standard, most of it being footage shot in space. The moon walk itself is presented predominately through high resolution still photographs, all the while “narrated“ by the live audio of the astronauts and mission control crew (the rest of the film is similarly guided by either authentic NASA recordings or broadcast audio of the time). Nonetheless, the “fly on the wall“ approach that the film establishes before the rocket even leaves the ground makes the restricted visuals of the actual mission all the more appropriate. This is a documentary telling a straightforward story with very little flash or trickery; your constant awareness that everything you see and hear is real is its own special effect. Footage of the lunar module floating toward the capsule, although banal by the standards of dynamic filmmaking, is fascinating because this footage was captured by a real camera attached to a real spacecraft actually in space.
It may seem crazy that a documentary’s authenticity, let alone one about such a well-documented moment in human history, is what left me so impressed, but it’s true. I’ve never believed the theory that the moon landing was faked, but Apollo 11 left me flabbergasted that this actually happened. In Apollo 13, Jim Lovell and his crew broadcast from space to who they think is the whole planet, but which is actually just the folks at NASA Houston. It’s explained that moon missions are old news at this point, and people just don’t care that much. I would never tell a NASA employee that I don’t care about their work, but I also wouldn’t blink if we sent another crew to the moon tomorrow. In an age where I carry a supercomputer in my pocket, it’s easy to forget that space flight is an incredible task. Apollo 11 covers well-tread history, but its revelatory vantage point makes the mission a fresh and vital reminder of the feats we can accomplish when we set our sights high.