In the Shadow of the Moon

In my new circumstances as a temporary bachelor, I have gained more regular access to a television. Unfortunately, the television does not have cable or satellite access. The charmingly retro rabbit ears sitting atop the set manage to pull in six television stations, two of them well. As a result, my evenings are now spent watching DVDs as I try to get my money's worth out of Netflix after months of neglect.

For those with any interest in the space program, particularly the Apollo missions, "In the Shadow of the Moon" provides a fascinating insight into the minds of the men who traveled to the moon. Armed only with contemporary NASA and news archive footage, as well as present-day interviews with several of the astronauts, the filmmakers weave a compelling story out of events that are already well documented. Not only do the astronauts narrate the film with their recollections of events that took place more than 35 years ago, which they have undoubtedly done countless times before, but they provide insight on how the experience affected them.

The archival footage is often familiar, but sometimes spectacular, and endlessly fascinating as we draw farther away from that era of bold exploration. The astronauts themselves, however, are the stars of the show. Although the astronaut corps was generally viewed as universally tough, terse and supremely competent in their unique test pilot way, it seems that time has eroded some of that veneer, allowing the innermost personalities of the men to be on display. Michael Collins, the command module pilot of Apollo 11 (i.e., the one who didn't walk on the moon), steals the show with his erudite commentary, twinkle in the eye and playful sense of humor. Among others, no less memorable is the matter-of-fact intensity of Gene Cernan who nevertheless marvels, gruffly, about his certainty about the role of a Creator in what he had seen; the smiling joy of Alan Bean whose playful jealousy that he was not the first to walk on the moon is leavened by his awe at having been chosen to go to the moon at all, which he now channels into remarkable artworks; and the down-home nature of avuncular Charlie Duke, who was the person designated to communicate with the Apollo 11 crew as well as someone who walked on the moon in a later mission. I would gladly spend a day in the company of any of these men (well, maybe not Cernan -- he kind of scares me) listening to them spin the tales of their days in the Apollo program. In the sunset of their lives, they all seem to have reached a point of deep appreciation and wonder that they were given the opportunity to participate in such a momentous effort.

True to his reticent nature, Neil Armstrong did not sit for interview for this film. Armstrong is famously private, and advised the filmmakers (as they revealed in the director's commentary) that he did not want to place himself above the history of the missions themselves by talking about himself, as has been the inevitable since the day he became the first man to set foot on the moon. The ironic result is that although the other astronauts interviewed for the film show their age (for which the film is all the richer), Neil Armstrong remains forever young and confident, perhaps unintentionally burnishing his already towering legend.

"In the Shadow of the Moon" is great fun for space buffs. I think it will have to be required viewing for my children as well.