Apollo 11's unseen moon landing footage rivals Hollywood dramatisation

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Apollo 11's unseen moon landing footage rivals Hollywood dramatisation

By Aja Styles, Sandra Hall, Jake Wilson, Paul Byrnes and Genevieve Rota

In this round-up, our reviewers look at a handful of movies released this week, from Hollywood blockbusters to foreign, local and sometimes obscure films that deserve some of the spotlight. Which ones are worth the cost of a ticket?

Apollo 11 ★★★★

Comprising solely of previously-unseen archival footage from the 1969 moon landing, this documentary produced and directed by Todd Douglas Miller paints a vivid picture of one of the most famous moments in modern history. Defying its genre by forgoing narration, recreations and interviews, the film was commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the momentous occasion. As Sandra Hall finds out, Apollo 11 lets the footage speak for itself and its quietest moments are among its most remarkable.

“As the first men to reach the moon, the Apollo trio became particular media favourites, frequently mused about. Aldrin was characterised as the most brilliant of the three. Before the launch, he had already studied space mechanics and geology, as well as practising his moonwalk underwater.

But if you were stranded on a desert island, we were told, you would probably have a better time with Collins, an unassuming individualist with a philosophical attitude, and a wry sense of humour. In the end, however, you’d be wisest to choose Armstrong because he could get you off the island.

The crew of the Apollo 11, from left, Neil Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, module pilot; Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot. Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to the surface of the moon.

The crew of the Apollo 11, from left, Neil Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, module pilot; Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot. Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to the surface of the moon. Credit: NASA via AP

You won't find too many of these light touches here. Nor is there any of the heightened drama that fiction has bestowed on those crucial seconds as Armstrong finessed the touchdown, switching to manual control and straining to avoid the large boulders and the crater in their path.

It was hair-raising and last year’s Armstrong biopic, The First Man, (also four stars) made the most of it by filling the scene with flashing red lights and a chorus of warning bleeps before a visibly rattled Ryan Gosling felt safe enough to smile.

Ryan Gosling stars in suspenseful true story First Man.

Ryan Gosling stars in suspenseful true story First Man.Credit: Universal Pictures

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Yet this film tells us that the moment was remarkable only for its aura of unshakeable calm. The voices sound untroubled. The only sign of tension is the arrow on the fuel gauge as it moves inexorably towards the empty sign.

And as you watch, you realise that Miller and his team have made their own excursion along the space time continuum. They have gone back to July, 1969, and brought the past into the present."

Read Sandra Hall's full review of Apollo 11 here.

The Lion King ★★★½

Disney's "live-action reimagining" of The Lion King may prove to be the biggest film opening of the year, but it has very big paw prints to fill in the wake of the success of the 1994 original; as well as coming among a string of remakes from Disney’s archives. So how did it do? Reviewer Sandra Hall found The Lion King to be Disney’s most spectacular – and strangest – reboot so far.

“Disney’s new version of The Lion King could pass itself off as a BBC nature documentary until the fauna start ruminating on the meaning of life.

Taking off from the CGI techniques that he employed in his successful re-working of The Jungle Book, the director, Jon Favreau, has crafted a canny hybrid of old and new, ringing a few changes but sticking fast to the basics. All the songs from the 1994 animated version are here. So, too, are the small details that the fans remember most fondly. Yet the film’s attachment to the real world produces an oddly sobering effect.

Real scary: Chiwetal Ejiofor is the voice of Scar (centre) and Florence Kasumba, Eric Andre and Keegan-Michael Key voice the hyenas  in The Lion King.

Real scary: Chiwetal Ejiofor is the voice of Scar (centre) and Florence Kasumba, Eric Andre and Keegan-Michael Key voice the hyenas in The Lion King.Credit: Disney

The scary scenes work best – especially those set in the Elephant Graveyard. And wicked Uncle Scar is no less menacing in translation.

Similarly Simba and his love interest, Nala, don’t differ much from the originals as it’s clear that Donald Glover and Beyonce have been cast for their talents as singers.

Nala, voiced by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and Simba, voiced by Donald Glover.

Nala, voiced by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and Simba, voiced by Donald Glover.Credit: Disney

It’s extraordinarily clever. There’s no doubt about that. But all that’s really new is the technology. And impressive as it is, it fails to set the spirits soaring. It looks as if they made it only because they could.”

Read Sandra Hall's full review of The Lion King here.

Sink or Swim ★★★½

Based on a British documentary (Men Who Swim), French actor-director Gilles Lellouche's comedy has borrowed heavily from British feel-good formats (think The Full Monty), much to reviewer Paul Byrnes's surprise.

"Sink or Swim (original title, Le Grand Bain) is set in Grenoble. Mathieu Amalric's Bertrand has been depressed for two years, after losing his job. In the swimming group, he finds many kindred spirits: an executive whose wife has left him (Guillaume Canet), a failed rock star with 17 self-issued albums and no hits (Jean-Hugues Anglade), a salesman slipping into his fourth bankruptcy (Benoît Poelvoorde) and a couple of other misfits.

Sink or Swim is a French version of a British comedy, but it works.

Sink or Swim is a French version of a British comedy, but it works.

Their coach Claire (Marina Foïs) is an alcoholic former champion who's as lost as they are. Various women gloat and jeer as the men waggle their legs in the air; they push on regardless towards the World Championships in Norway.

You can guess the rest, but I was surprised by the film's deep-seated concerns about the lives of these men of a certain age. That's its real reason for being. In the era of #MeToo, a film that demands sympathy for the psychological plight of men in their 40s is likely to cop a certain amount of derision.

No matter: the film boldly goes where no French film has gone before, and with enough humour and heart to defuse such ungenerous thinking."

Read Paul Byrne's full review of Sink or Swim here.

The White Crow ★★★

As Ralph Fiennes’s third leap into directing, The White Crow hasn’t strayed far from the British actor’s theme of choosing portraits of revered men, who are not-so-charming in real life. This time his focus is on celebrated Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, played by Ukranian dancer Oleg Ivenko. But as reviewer Jake Wilson found, Fiennes’ insistence on casting a ballerina rather than a known actor had its drawbacks.

“With this project Fiennes may have bitten off more than he can chew. The White Crow leaps, not very elegantly, between three periods: Nureyev’s drab childhood (shown in glimpses), his time at a dance academy in St Petersburg, and his visit to Paris in the early 1960s as a dancer for the Kirov Ballet.

Oleg Ivenko plays Rudolf Nureyev as a sulky beauty in The White Crow. 

Oleg Ivenko plays Rudolf Nureyev as a sulky beauty in The White Crow. 

For the film’s purposes, this last period is the most central, introducing Nureyev to various friends and lovers and confirming his desire to become a citizen of the world.

In a word, he’s a brat, full of himself and his own gifts, yet deeply insecure and any sense that he’s being slighted for his “peasant” background will send him flying into hysteria. The film gives the impression that much of Fiennes’ attention went into working with Ivenko on shaping the details of this portrait.

What about the dancing? In truth, there isn’t much of it. Putting ballet on screen is notoriously costly and difficult, even when your star is an actual dancer rather than an amateur whose limitations must be covered up."

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