I get the impression that First Man is not as highly regarded as Damian Chazelle’s other films, but I personally found it to be the most rewarding emotionally.
@@mehakm5709 It's like when Lisa, *ironically about jazz (*La La Land), said, "You have to listen to the notes she's not playing," in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Simpson" (3/8/98, 4F24, s09e17, #195). Gosling's performance is about the acting you don't see. Its power is in his reservation.
It's a bit dry. A good film but not one I'd wish to watch on a regular basis. It's not a hugely commercial film which means it passed by some folk too.
The scene in which he talks with his children to say goodbye and you can see how the older kid has grown up to see his father as a complete stranger, to who he is even unable to hug just broke me up at the theater. It is indeed a movie that portrays not the heroic journey of space exploration we have seen over and over, but the journey of a man that had so much grief, that he had to literally go to the moon to realize what trully matters: family. I would have loved if the movie ended with the phrase "After Apollo 11, Neil never flew again". And damn, I loved the whole soundtrack, specially the Launching, Landing and the Crater scores.
This is my personal favourite film of the year, I adore the cinematography and the 16mm with imax choices. I think the acting is incredible by all involved but in particular Claire Foy and Gosling. But most of all, the direction in this film is outstanding I do not have a single fault with the film. Also the score is my favourite of the year, I think the partnership between Chazelle and Hurwitz is already one of the greats. Great video as always.
The Moon scene really sticks with me. The deafening barren nothingness as both Armstrong and the audience look around, before the wonderfully other-worldly music kicks in, and he stares up at the Earth silently. It felt like everything else had been transcended, and there was no proper emotion to describe standing there on the surface
Not a huge Gosling or Damien fan. My brothers dragged me to the movies to see this. Turns out I loved this movie and was absolutely beside myself. Arguably best movie of 2018! Excellent review that has me liking this flick even more.
I find first man seriously underrated. I consider it the best film I saw in 2018 by a long shot. Ryan Gosling did an amazing performance. Despite the trauma that Neil has had to go through, he still managed to make it ooze out, just not directly, but exactly how a "proper" man in the 60's would. That's what's so brilliant with Ryan's performance. You can see that Neil is suppressing his feelings, yet, they still come through with such power through the acting of Ryan.
Exactly the word I’ve always thought when watching his films, sacrifice. There are few directors as good as Chazelle at creating realistic and flawed characters but he is even better at showing how our passions and obsessions can strain and destroy our relationships. To me his films are tragedies. Neil accomplishes his goal of going to the moon and when he returns he has nothing left to live for, he has lost even his wife. Mia and Sebastian both achieve their “goal” but end up without each other, him sitting in a stage alone with a piano and her married to a man who she doesn’t seem to love. Andrew literally ends all his relationships to be the greatest and the film tells us on numerous occasions that tragedy had befallen those who had walked the same path as him. The question we are left with as an audience is, Are these characters really better off after they achieve their goals? Maybe what they wanted was not what they needed. Great video as always!
This is my first time catching one of your videos. I like the way you reviewed this movie, thoughtfully, and excellant usage of the scenes and the amazing soundtrack.
Better than Roma, Cold War, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Favourite, Widows, Annihilation, Private Life, Hereditary, and The Rider? Respectively, I don't think so.
Year by year Ryan is becoming one of the greatest actors. First, he comes with Lost river then The big short then The nice guys then BR2049 and now First man. Truly a talent guy
the moon sequence and final shot of this film are so powerful. great video essay once again jack, keep up the good work! as for my favorite of Chazelle, i'd consider whiplash and la la land to be perfect 10/10 movies, with first man being my least favorite (which isn't really saying much lol)
Really good Video. I definitely got more from this. I can't wait to rewatch the film. One of the best FIlm of the year and in my top 5. I think whiplash is my favorite of Damien.
Interesting take, i would say he struggled with the grief of those he lost on the way. Would also say he has yhe stoic personality to persevere which some people struggle to gauge
Whether he knew it or not, the goal was detachment from the lingering attachment to his daughter. Attachments on the moon don't exist, not even an atmosphere. This is one of the problems when we rely our sense experience to tell us who we are. To change our self-definition we have to change the sense experience. If that be so, then how to detach ourselves from a self-definition based on same. Go to the moon provides the perfect flush, but not necessarily the understanding. He suffers because he is attached. Therefore the attachment is the problem, not the daughters death.
my only bit for it would be more noted days leading up to launch cause the death of 3 day was easy to see coming because we barely spent time outside niel
I'm guessing he didn't give the speech in this movie. Wouldn't be suprised this version of niel couldn't pull off that optimistic speech at that point in time. Perhaps a good indicator that the creators biases trumped the reality of the situation is that if this was accurate the real Niels a better actor than the guy that portrayed him.
Wow the point about the common thread running through all three movies hit me so hard. Didn't appreciate First Man as much before but you've made me see it in a new light. Thank you!
Hey man, would you consider doing an analysis of Hereditary? IMO it’s the best film of 2018 but may be too disturbing for some people or not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s got a lot to say about the nature of abusive families and how the children of abusive parents are doomed to unwittingly inflict the same abuse upon their own children.
My ranking of Chazelle’s films 3. La La Land 2. First Man 1. Whiplash La La Langd is still great even though it’s not on the level of the other two. Whiplash is a masterpiece and one of the best films of the decade.
I think mine are in the exact opposite order! I think that shows how great of a filmmaker he is, each one connects with different people in different ways!
The problem with the movie is that suffering isnt drama. We just basically watch him pain himself onto the moon as he mopes around while people are dying around him.
Maybe his sacrifices are questioned through suffering but that does not make it drama. For me at least, drama comes from conflict and change. There is no conflict in suffering but the suffering does change in time as it deepens and deepens but he makes no effort to end the suffering only at the end sort of. The problem is that is not good enough. Its almost like he didnt even really want to go to the moon, frankly they told him he is going to go near the end of the movie. He is also portrayed very very shut off, which is perfectly fine but the problem again that he cant be shut off towards the audience.
Great review Jack. This is one of my favorite movie of 2018 And here for everyone who thinks the moon landing is fake, watch this : ua-cam.com/video/_loUDS4c3Cs/v-deo.html
Well, I didn't like La La Land and did not like First Man. I also found Ryan Gosling to be so understated as to wonder why he came to work. First Man was so emotionally unsatisfying to this viewer, and disappointing. Except for brief moments I felt a great loss. If the journey was to lead to no sense of wonder on the way, what was the point? He made a film about sacrifice, but at the end the message was it wasn't worth it. Terrible message.
I know what the theme was about but I didn't enjoy it at all. I wanted something clever and I instead got drama. My favorite part of Apollo 13 was about them solving problems and the stakes. Where here I was like the kid, your dad is going to the moon... OK, in emotional investment. However, I did need the courage to watch that scene where they all died in the test capsule as I seen a way better version of this on PBS' NOVA.
I think I have to agree with Jack here, especially considering that sacrifice is a major theme of every feature film Chazelle has made before First Man.
"Going into the film every audience member with a hint of common sense knows the end result: Armstrong is going to the moon." Oh snap! I hope no conspiracy theory nut jobs are watching.
@@allenhoward758 Haha. When I saw First Man in theaters a part of me was expecting a twist ending where somebody would shout 'CUT!'. Then the camera would zoom out and Kubrick would appear on screen with a grin on his face.
@keflar5 No because there wasn't "hidden layers" in this history. The Project Apollo went to the Moon 9 times with 6 landings and more than 400,000 people worked in the project, the international community knew that was happening and any country with the right tech could track these guys going to the Moon. The "Moon hoax conspiracy" is one of the most stupid things side with "flat earthers", "anti vax", "global warming hoax" and etc.
The point, about sacrifice being the common theme running in all the three films, is a spot on! Keep it up.
THank you!
I get the impression that First Man is not as highly regarded as Damian Chazelle’s other films, but I personally found it to be the most rewarding emotionally.
I think I'd give that to La La Land, but it still is a great one!
First Man is definitely my favorite of his and has ended up being my favorite film of the 2010s
I found it profoundly boring. Which is sad, considering the subject matter.
First Man is the most underrated film of 2018!
Tommy P Delanuit exactly! So is Ryan Gosling’s internalised performance.
@@mehakm5709 It's like when Lisa, *ironically about jazz (*La La Land), said, "You have to listen to the notes she's not playing," in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Simpson" (3/8/98, 4F24, s09e17, #195). Gosling's performance is about the acting you don't see. Its power is in his reservation.
Say that 2 more times and you'd have said 3 absolute truths today.
Every movie Ryan Gosling is in is underrated or under appreciated
Try the whole decade. In 2020 we can go ahead and say that
First Man was such a great film. It's sad it didn't get the recognition it deserved.
It's a bit dry. A good film but not one I'd wish to watch on a regular basis. It's not a hugely commercial film which means it passed by some folk too.
Give it about 6 or 7 more years and people will rethink it
The scene in which he talks with his children to say goodbye and you can see how the older kid has grown up to see his father as a complete stranger, to who he is even unable to hug just broke me up at the theater. It is indeed a movie that portrays not the heroic journey of space exploration we have seen over and over, but the journey of a man that had so much grief, that he had to literally go to the moon to realize what trully matters: family. I would have loved if the movie ended with the phrase "After Apollo 11, Neil never flew again". And damn, I loved the whole soundtrack, specially the Launching, Landing and the Crater scores.
"some may view it as a giant leap and others may view it as just another step"
what makes one step a giant leap is all the steps before
This is my personal favourite film of the year, I adore the cinematography and the 16mm with imax choices. I think the acting is incredible by all involved but in particular Claire Foy and Gosling. But most of all, the direction in this film is outstanding I do not have a single fault with the film. Also the score is my favourite of the year, I think the partnership between Chazelle and Hurwitz is already one of the greats. Great video as always.
Thanks William!
I honestly had to check to see if what you said was a comment i made because thats 100% how i feel about first man
Absolutely brilliant movie.
The Moon scene really sticks with me. The deafening barren nothingness as both Armstrong and the audience look around, before the wonderfully other-worldly music kicks in, and he stares up at the Earth silently. It felt like everything else had been transcended, and there was no proper emotion to describe standing there on the surface
Not a huge Gosling or Damien fan. My brothers dragged me to the movies to see this. Turns out I loved this movie and was absolutely beside myself. Arguably best movie of 2018! Excellent review that has me liking this flick even more.
Thanks Kevin!
First Man is an editing masterclass from Tom Cross
Let's hear some love for Hurwitz's excellent, moving score.
First Man is such an underrated masterpiece. Maybe it didn’t gain widespread appeal because it’s not really about American exceptionalism but grief.
I find first man seriously underrated. I consider it the best film I saw in 2018 by a long shot. Ryan Gosling did an amazing performance. Despite the trauma that Neil has had to go through, he still managed to make it ooze out, just not directly, but exactly how a "proper" man in the 60's would. That's what's so brilliant with Ryan's performance. You can see that Neil is suppressing his feelings, yet, they still come through with such power through the acting of Ryan.
Nailed it
Exactly the word I’ve always thought when watching his films, sacrifice. There are few directors as good as Chazelle at creating realistic and flawed characters but he is even better at showing how our passions and obsessions can strain and destroy our relationships. To me his films are tragedies. Neil accomplishes his goal of going to the moon and when he returns he has nothing left to live for, he has lost even his wife. Mia and Sebastian both achieve their “goal” but end up without each other, him sitting in a stage alone with a piano and her married to a man who she doesn’t seem to love. Andrew literally ends all his relationships to be the greatest and the film tells us on numerous occasions that tragedy had befallen those who had walked the same path as him. The question we are left with as an audience is, Are these characters really better off after they achieve their goals? Maybe what they wanted was not what they needed. Great video as always!
Thank you! Love the write up by the way!
Ryan goslings eyes in this movie performed more than his face....
Huge HUGE Damien Chazelle fan here! Wonderful analysis of First Man. Great catch on the Constant Thread of all 3 films. Keep going JMR!
This movie was an absolute masterpiece
Holy crap, what a great review!
This is my first time catching one of your videos. I like the way you reviewed this movie, thoughtfully, and excellant usage of the scenes and the amazing soundtrack.
The throughline you drew between the 3 films is amazing. I nvr noticed it before.
Thank you!
Best cinematography in a film this year by far.
Better than Roma, Cold War, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Favourite, Widows, Annihilation, Private Life, Hereditary, and The Rider? Respectively, I don't think so.
Only the scenes on the moon had the best cinematography, but arguably Roma was still better.
Kuddlesworth NA I respectfully disagree. I think Roma has the best cinematography of the year
One of the best as far as I'm concerned!
Such a brilliant film. Easily one of my favorite films of that year.
Year by year Ryan is becoming one of the greatest actors. First, he comes with Lost river then The big short then The nice guys then BR2049 and now First man. Truly a talent guy
There is La La Land in between too.
Best movie of 2018, imo. And a great analysis of the theme of sacrifice in Chazelle's movies.
Thank you!
Excellent review. Something incredibly special about that movie. I watched it four times to capture every emotional component in it.
the moon sequence and final shot of this film are so powerful. great video essay once again jack, keep up the good work! as for my favorite of Chazelle, i'd consider whiplash and la la land to be perfect 10/10 movies, with first man being my least favorite (which isn't really saying much lol)
Good job. Have you seen You Were Never Really Here? That’s a great film.
I agree. One of my favorites of the year by far
I liked it, but didn't love it, I would like to revisit it though!
The best film of 2018 that explores death and grief within the context of the space program.
-Hereditary
-First Man
-The Favourite
Really good Video. I definitely got more from this. I can't wait to rewatch the film. One of the best FIlm of the year and in my top 5. I think whiplash is my favorite of Damien.
Thank you dude! One of my favo(u)rites as well!
All of Damien’s movies are stunning
Balance the message I got from this, you can grind for success but must have balance which is hard
I saw it in a real Imax theater at the space museum. It was beautiful and frightening. Especially that Gemini take off.
Interestingly while others choose the Moon I actually like the Gemini scene/s the most
Interesting take, i would say he struggled with the grief of those he lost on the way. Would also say he has yhe stoic personality to persevere which some people struggle to gauge
Whether he knew it or not, the goal was detachment from the lingering attachment to his daughter. Attachments on the moon don't exist, not even an atmosphere. This is one of the problems when we rely our sense experience to tell us who we are. To change our self-definition we have to change the sense experience. If that be so, then how to detach ourselves from a self-definition based on same. Go to the moon provides the perfect flush, but not necessarily the understanding. He suffers because he is attached. Therefore the attachment is the problem, not the daughters death.
Everything you said here is pretty much what I was thinking after seeing this movie. It's a great character study.
Awesome movie
I agree!
Why the hell can't people reach up again? Instead of wittering about celebrities we should be colonising space.
In my top ten favorite movies. Great video about the movie not just a typical review 👍🏽
Is it worth it?
ABSOLUTELY
Your point about sacrifice in his films is spot on.
Thank you!
Jack's Movie Reviews you’re so welcome. Love your videos by the way.
This soundtrack-theme
The tragedy of a successful man.
It's not worth it when your legacy is placed in things, not humans.
You have a great channel man keep it up
Great analysis!!! Thank you 🙏
Great video man, loved it
Thanks Charlie!
This seems to be in a similar vein as "Ad Astra" and "Lucy in the Sky". It sounds very interesting.
Great video, Jack
Thank you!
I don't really think the silence on the moon means something like a question of wether it was worth it.
Everytime he says go to the Moon take a shot
my only bit for it would be more noted days leading up to launch cause the death of 3 day was easy to see coming because we barely spent time outside niel
381st view, 8th comment!!!!!!!
Claire Foy should’ve won Best Supporting Actress
happy birthday!
I'm guessing he didn't give the speech in this movie.
Wouldn't be suprised this version of niel couldn't pull off that optimistic speech at that point in time.
Perhaps a good indicator that the creators biases trumped the reality of the situation is that if this was accurate the real Niels a better actor than the guy that portrayed him.
θα πηγαινα να δω την ταινια, αλλα επειδη εχω εγκεφαλο δε βλεπω ταινιες με τον ραηαν γκοσλι. και ευχομαι ταχυ θανατο στον τσαζελ. ειναι καρκινος.
I didn’t like First Man as a movie but I appreciate your perspective shown in the commentary... Thank you for your insights.
Jack first of all, I just want to say that I fucking love your voice man!...
By the way, can you do an analysis on "Murder On Orient Express" movie?
Thanks Henry! Maybe, no immediate plans, but its a possibility!
First man's my favourite.
It's a shame Gosling or Foy weren't nominated for oscars.
At the end of the day, the movie will have its legacy live much longer than The Oscar
A-
On my top 10 favorites of the year
Whiplash is still his best for me tho
Wow the point about the common thread running through all three movies hit me so hard. Didn't appreciate First Man as much before but you've made me see it in a new light. Thank you!
Thanks Nicholas!
Hey man, would you consider doing an analysis of Hereditary? IMO it’s the best film of 2018 but may be too disturbing for some people or not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s got a lot to say about the nature of abusive families and how the children of abusive parents are doomed to unwittingly inflict the same abuse upon their own children.
It's on my shortlist!
My ranking of Chazelle’s films
3. La La Land
2. First Man
1. Whiplash
La La Langd is still great even though it’s not on the level of the other two. Whiplash is a masterpiece and one of the best films of the decade.
I think mine are in the exact opposite order! I think that shows how great of a filmmaker he is, each one connects with different people in different ways!
Fab 👌
The most underrated and underseen movie of 2018!!
1. Whiplash
2. First man
3. La la land
I think mine would literally be in opposite order!
@@JacksMovieReviews I am not a big fan of la la land . Whiplash was much more intense .
Whiplash is my fav. No doubt about it!
It's a tough one to beat!
. My second fav from Chazelle is actually his first film, Guy and Madeline.
J
isn't weird that they tell very little about him.
The problem with the movie is that suffering isnt drama. We just basically watch him pain himself onto the moon as he mopes around while people are dying around him.
Definitely an interesting perspective! It's clearly a very subjective movie, but you make a great point!
I beg to differ. Suffering isn’t NECESSARILY drama, but it can be. In this case it’s used to question the nature of and value of Neil’s sacrifices.
Maybe his sacrifices are questioned through suffering but that does not make it drama. For me at least, drama comes from conflict and change. There is no conflict in suffering but the suffering does change in time as it deepens and deepens but he makes no effort to end the suffering only at the end sort of. The problem is that is not good enough. Its almost like he didnt even really want to go to the moon, frankly they told him he is going to go near the end of the movie. He is also portrayed very very shut off, which is perfectly fine but the problem again that he cant be shut off towards the audience.
Great review Jack. This is one of my favorite movie of 2018
And here for everyone who thinks the moon landing is fake, watch this : ua-cam.com/video/_loUDS4c3Cs/v-deo.html
:D
:D
Dogecoin To The Moon！
There are some decent pro-war films... Sorry Stevie.
Well, I didn't like La La Land and did not like First Man. I also found Ryan Gosling to be so understated as to wonder why he came to work. First Man was so emotionally unsatisfying to this viewer, and disappointing. Except for brief moments I felt a great loss. If the journey was to lead to no sense of wonder on the way, what was the point? He made a film about sacrifice, but at the end the message was it wasn't worth it. Terrible message.
I know what the theme was about but I didn't enjoy it at all. I wanted something clever and I instead got drama. My favorite part of Apollo 13 was about them solving problems and the stakes. Where here I was like the kid, your dad is going to the moon... OK, in emotional investment. However, I did need the courage to watch that scene where they all died in the test capsule as I seen a way better version of this on PBS' NOVA.
That's alright, not everyone's cup of tea!
Whiplash is the best film!
i think you are proyecting way too much, I cant agree not even one bit with this. good vid tho
I'd love to hear your perspective!
I think I have to agree with Jack here, especially considering that sacrifice is a major theme of every feature film Chazelle has made before First Man.
Did the director CG in a Chinese flag on the moon yet?
"Going into the film every audience member with a hint of common sense knows the end result: Armstrong is going to the moon."
Oh snap! I hope no conspiracy theory nut jobs are watching.
Well said! But Stanley Kubrick is undoubtedly reading your review in England!
@@allenhoward758 Haha. When I saw First Man in theaters a part of me was expecting a twist ending where somebody would shout 'CUT!'. Then the camera would zoom out and Kubrick would appear on screen with a grin on his face.
@keflar5 No because there wasn't "hidden layers" in this history. The Project Apollo went to the Moon 9 times with 6 landings and more than 400,000 people worked in the project, the international community knew that was happening and any country with the right tech could track these guys going to the Moon. The "Moon hoax conspiracy" is one of the most stupid things side with "flat earthers", "anti vax", "global warming hoax" and etc.