To mark the 50th anniversary of humanity's first journey to the Moon, the documentary Apollo 11 arrives in cinemas. An event film that, through original and previously unseen footage alone, lets us relive the most celebrated and thrilling mission ever undertaken by humankind.
Reliving "live" one of the greatest adventures ever undertaken by humankind. Hearing again the most stirring words and phrases spoken during an unprecedented mission. Observing the faces and expressions of the protagonists and spectators of an event destined to enter history forever. This is the experience we can have at the cinema, thanks to the documentary film Apollo 11, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing on 20 July 1969, giving us back, through a unique viewing experience, all the key moments and unforgettable emotions of those historic days.
A result made possible by the exceptional discovery of hundreds of hours of footage, shot in 70 mm format and uncovered only recently by an archivist at Nara (National Archives and Records Administration), the United States agency responsible for preserving governmental and historical documents. A genuine treasure trove, which director Todd Douglas Miller described as "the highest-quality collection of footage on the Apollo 11 mission" and which, once digitised in 4K, enabled him to make this film.
Following the exploits of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, we will witness the celebrated space feat, from the countdown to the spacecraft's launch from Cape Kennedy (today Cape Canaveral) through to the Moon landing in the Sea of Tranquility and the return to Earth, with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
To see it in Italy, audiences will have to wait until 9, 10 and 11 September (the list of cinemas will shortly be available on the Nexodigital website), but to avoid missing it, it will be possible to book screenings from 20 July onwards, exactly 50 years after the Moon landing.
The great value of the documentary film Apollo 11 lies in the extraordinary quality of the recovered footage, which was conceived and shot from the outset with cinematic viewing in mind. The 70 mm film stock makes it possible to expose a larger frame than the standard 35 mm, giving the images greater definition.
What makes the film even more gripping and realistic is also the meticulous use the filmmakers made of approximately eleven thousand hours of Nasa dialogue about the mission, likewise found in the same archive.
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Stitching all this material together and giving it a rhythm was evidently a complex undertaking — one that earned the documentary the special jury award for best editing in the documentary section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The achievement was also recognised by American critics, who proudly called it "One of the most extraordinary space films ever made" (The Guardian US) and even a work capable of "revolutionising the concept of documentary" (New York Post).
Alongside the beauty of the images, the director demonstrates a remarkable ability to convey to the viewer the many perspectives from which that event was experienced and observed during those days. On one side, the adrenaline and tension of the astronauts and Nasa technicians involved on the front line; on the other, the emotion and pride of Americans and of all humanity, for once perceptibly united under a single sky.
Thanks to the precious recovered material, the film Apollo 11 manages to reconstruct the entire mission step by step — a mission that had to fulfil the ambitious objective declared in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy: "To land on the Moon and return safely to Earth".
The archive footage allows us to witness and take part in a collective event that, half a century ago, brought together millions of viewers around the world. The launch was broadcast live on television in 33 countries, while thousands camped on beaches and along motorways around the launch site in Florida. Through their faces, their binoculars and their camera lenses, the film manages to convey the adrenaline and intense emotions of those moments.
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At the same time we also experience the tension, concentration, fear and pride of the technicians and operators who were following and monitoring the mission from the Nasa base. Their coded conversations mark every stage of the journey, from the launch on 16 July to the splashdown of the three astronauts, who returned to Earth eight days later, on 24 July.
The audio recordings and video transmissions between the spacecraft and the Space Center serve as the narrative thread, interspersed with graphic reconstructions that illustrate and simplify the technical phases of the mission. To ease the palpable tension that accompanied every manoeuvre, recorded exchanges between the astronauts and the control team are also included, along with images of everyday life on board the spacecraft.
Without disappointing expectations, the film gives us all the most thrilling moments of the mission. From the historic words spoken by commander Neil Armstrong as, first of all, he descended the steps of the lunar module: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"; to the planting of the American flag and the stainless steel plaque, which read: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind".
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Also memorable is the telephone call made to the Apollo astronauts during the journey by the then President of the United States Richard Nixon, who described it as: "The most historic phone call ever made from the Oval Office of the White House" and spoke of the ongoing mission as "the most priceless moment in the whole history of man, in which all the people on this Earth are truly one".
The film Apollo 11 offers a precious opportunity to people today. Not only because it recalls and celebrates the historical and scientific importance of the space mission, but also because it invites reflection on its symbolic value. In the collective imagination, that first journey by man to the Moon represents both an arrival and a departure. A true emblem of progress and of the immense potential and aspirations of humankind.
That is why reliving that achievement today could represent a precious infusion of courage for a humanity compelled to face its greatest challenge: that of survival. It is significant that the most thrilling moments of the film are not so much those in which we observe the "magnificent desolation" (in Armstrong's words) of the unexplored lunar surface, but those in which, suspended in space, we see our Earth appear in its entirety and in all its beauty. A breathtaking vision that, in an instant, erases every border and bestows a profound and total sense of belonging.
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They say nothing happens by chance, and perhaps looking back at the Earth from up there and reflecting on the "conquest" of the Moon today, as we teeter on a suffering and exhausted planet, can generate the propulsive force needed to reach the goal more quickly. To save ourselves and our home. Without needing to go who knows where, but remaining firmly anchored to the Earth, simply by taking care of it.