In the cinema to the moon: the documentation "Apollo 11" | Movies | '
Wherever you have the opportunity, watch this movie in an IMAX theater. Or at least on a big movie screen. Because "Apollo 11" relies entirely on the power of the pictures – and the sounds. Director Todd Douglas Miller and his team have opted for an unusual concept in their documentary film: They refrain from any commentary, on overvoice, on interviews, on ordering sequences.
"Apollo 11" uses only original footage, chronologically mounted, with the appropriate audio accompaniment: the original sounds of the historic space mission from the Apollo capsule and NASA headquarters.
Director Miller: Experience from space and prehistoric times
"Apollo 11" is something like the "official" film for the anniversary. The American news channel CNN commissioned director Miller three years ago to stage the film for the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. Miller was in the post-production of his short film "Apollo 17" about NASA's last moon landing. Previously, the director had completed his spectacular dinosaur documentary "Dinosaur 13". So he seemed the right man for big tasks.
Neil Armstrong: the first human on the moon
If you look at the finished film on a big screen, it's a bit as if time had stopped. Of course, very few people have seen the preparations and the work behind the scenes as close as the film presents them now. The vast majority of those on July 20, 1969 may have just seen the slightly blurry black-and-white footage of that legendary first step by Neil Armstrong on the moon.
In "Apollo 11" you are a close-up spectator
The film shows the days immediately before the launch of the launcher with the Apollo 11 capsule. It shows the work of hundreds of technicians in the NASA control centers, the preparations that finally led to the launch. The audience witnesses the last hours before the start of the three astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins up close. When the three spacesuits and helmets are put on, he is in the process of receiving the last instructions from the technical staff. How to take the lift up to the capsule, squeeze into their tight seats.
Last steps on the way to the start: Technicians help Neil Armstrong in his spacesuit
Although there have been some documentary films about the Apollo 11 mission, feature films have condensed the successful and failed Mondlande missions dramaturgically (last impressive "First Man" / 2018). Cinema history has made a spectacular trip to the moon with French pioneer Georges Méliès at the very beginning ("A Journey to the Moon" / 1902).
The movie "Apollo 11": With 70mm on the moon
"Apollo 11" by Todd Douglas Miller adds something new to the story. It has been made possible by the digital age. Miller and his helpers buried themselves in the archives, revealing all that was still slumbering there and rarely or never been shown to a wider audience. The biggest treasure: previously unreleased 70mm material. This has been polished to the highest gloss using the latest digital processing methods. There were also 11,000 hours of audio material.
The launcher with the Apollo 11 capsule takes off
"Experience the moon landing as if you were there yourself." With this slogan the rental company advertises "Apollo 11" – and a little bit is true. Even the first scene of the film impressed: Huge wheels, on which the launcher is mounted, move infinitely slowly to the launch terminal on Cape Canaveral. This is overwhelming in its size, its slowness, its grandeur.
The first moon landing became a media event worldwide
A few kilometers further thousands of people have gathered, with their cars and caravans. There is a mood like a big open-air rock concert. Families, men, women, children, space fans – they all want to witness the launch of the Apollo mission live. The film captures that with impressive shots from the helicopter perspective.
Viewers watch the action from afar
And so it continues. Until the launch of the rocket. Finally to the moon. Of course, the original recordings are sparse – the flight, for example, is shown with short animated scenes, the sole concession of the filmmakers to classical documentary film. These cinematic spaces are filled with sequences from the control center. There, hundreds of specialists sit in front of their computers, evaluate, recalculate trajectories, plan the next steps – and smoke. This small, incidental detail perhaps reminds the audience the most that this is an event from 1969. At that time everybody was smoking – but really everybody.
"Apollo 11" shines with brilliant color
But the most amazing thing is the brilliant colors of the film. The moon landing is remembered in black and white – and, of course, the sequences of the first steps and the astronauts' stay on the moon can still only be seen in this way. Everything else, however, shines in color, captivatingly sharp, rich in contrast, intense in color. Digital editing makes it possible.
In the movie "Apollo 11" you are always very close to the protagonists
"Apollo 11's mission is one of human history's greatest achievements – hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of companies and businesses, all focused on one goal at a time to bring people to another world," director Miller says of the pioneering spirit of the times , He captured him in his movie. Above all, the achievements of the digital age helped him a lot, from which, back in 1969, hardly anyone suspected something.
After the world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the film will be released worldwide on 27.06.2019. The start of Germany is scheduled for 7th July. "Apollo 11" is occasionally also shown in IMAX movie theaters (partly in a shorter version).
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