Moonwalking

It’s now more than a quarter of a century since human beings walked on another world. In the Shadow of the Moon, which recently touched down in cinemas, is a moving, first-hand chronicle of those years when human beings explored the lunar surface.

The visuals alone make this award-winning documentary stand out. The truly astounding footage, digitally restored from the reels of film recorded on and above the Moon, demands big-screen viewing. But the real triumph is that this imagery is accompanied by revealing new commentaries from ten of the Apollo astronauts.

Now old but sprightly men, their reminiscences are as fresh and clear as the accompanying pictures. Emerging at last from the formality of military rank and convention, a real sense of wonderment, humour and humanity comes across. Never boastful, they express modest bemusement at Tom Wolfe’s conceit that they possess the “right stuff”.

Further insights tell of guilt at their avoidance of the Vietnam quagmire, anxiety at the prospect of a single mistake being instantly recognized across the world, and finally, the spiritual effects that their lunar experiences have exerted on them over the subsequent decades. Having eclipsed the Earth with their thumbs, their appreciation of our fragility is humbling.

Neil Armstrong is notably absent, but his fellow astronauts take time to explain his reclusiveness, which ultimately benefits the film. Of all the participants, it’s Armstrong’s Apollo 11 colleague Michael Collins who leaves the strongest impression. His wry wit and genial temperament prove that it really is the journey that matters, not the destination.

It’s astonishing that it took a British documentary crew to assemble the astronauts and make this majestic and inspiring feature. What on Earth have NASA been doing all these years? This is a very special piece of film-making that, in a world riven by internal conflict, provides a refreshingly positive perspective on human potential.

by Stuart Wallace