Who is a man among the stars – review of the film “Ad Astra”

What about this ad?

While I was pleasantly surprised by the image of James Gray, so many viewers may feel disappointed, as can be seen on the Rotten Tomatoes website. The culprit are the marketers who run a poorly targeted promotional campaign. On the trailers of Ad Astralooks like another, full of swing work about a brave, American astronaut exploring space in line with the startreki’s sentence: “To boldly go where no human has gone yet.” Indeed, the main character undertakes a risky mission to discover the secret of mysterious discharges that threaten civilization. Also shown are fragments of a spectacular shooting on the moon. The spots also emphasized the search for the missing father, a very popular theme in blockbusters. Add to that Brad Pitt in the lead role, and he seems to have the recipe for a box office hit with the general public. Truth?

Cosmic loneliness

Well, nothing could be more wrong. Maybe there will be a lot of spectacular scenes in the film, but it is an extremely modest and intimate production. The factors mentioned in the previous paragraph are present, but in completely different proportions than one might suppose. The mission is the starting point for the story, but this focuses on the emotions of the main character – Ray McBride. While there are acclaimed actors such as Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones, it is Brad Pitt’s shoulders that bear the greatest burden. Ad Astraseems to be mostly about … depression and the search for meaning in life. Ray has to face the legend of his father – an astronaut who is considered a hero by many. For him, however, it is a man who has abandoned his own family. A mature man who keeps his cool in dangerous situations is often left with a lost boy, almost shouting, “Dad, why did you do this?” After all, it is the protagonist who has to deal with the consequences of his parent’s sins after many years.

The borrowings from Apocalypse Now work on the plus side of such a convention. Like in the work of Coppola, the camera accompanies Ray almost all the time, rarely showing other characters. However, we often see close-ups on the face and it must be admitted that Pitt is great in the game with his eyes, reflecting the state of his hero. Most of our thoughts, however, come from our inner monologue. Rarely, something like this works for good and is not boring, and here it turned out really great. It’s hard not to see some ground in the bitter words of a lonely astronaut. Have none of us felt at least once that we are putting on a metaphorical mask to adapt to society, and the choices are often illusory as others expect us to make specific decisions? Are people really alone in the universe, and if so, is it really bad? Maybe we should appreciate what we already have instead of risking our lives not even knowing what we are looking for in space? Is it worth leaving others for higher purposes? There are a lot of bothering questions, but the answer to most of them is not straightforward. This idea is perfectly reflected in the poster slogan: “The answers we are looking for are beyond our reach”.

The beauty of nothingness

It is also captivating how the world of Ad Astra was presented . Rarely, the term “near future” in the opening credits is actually reflected in its entirety. The technology used by the heroes is not abstract (well, except for laser guns, present in two scenes), and it seems “ours”, only slightly more developed. Even the base on the moon intended for tourists does not differ much from what we can see at airports or in shopping malls. I am able to believe that the vision presented by the creators will become a reality in a few decades.

Most of the action takes place inside spaceships, creating a feeling of stuffiness. In contrast, we also see a wider space where rockets are only small points, which emphasizes the loneliness and little importance of man in the context of the whole of existence. After just a few minutes of the screening, the production evokes associations with Interstellar and these thoughts are the most accurate. Hoyte Van Hoytem, ​​who also worked on Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster, is responsible for the cinematography. I am all the more glad that I had the opportunity to watch the movie in the IMAX room – Cinema City, where it looked great. The take-off and landing sequences stick to the seat (probably only First Manhe did it better), and that’s not the end of the visual flair. The documentary-style shots, which fit into the intimate nature, definitely stand out. The same applies to music. We will not hear loud sounds in the style of Hans Zimmer here. Max Richter focused on gentle, melancholic sounds, which in total harmonizes very well with the slow narrative.

Reaching for the stars

 Ad Astra is currently on the list of my favorite movies of the year. It is not a work without flaws. The relatively simple storyline can still be filled with holes, and not everyone will like the unhurried pace. Personally, however, it does not really matter to me, because what matters is that James Gray has created a fascinating portrait of a man in which emotions play the leading role. I hope that the picture will meet the financial expectations, because recently the chamber science fiction seems to be a dying genre. I will definitely come back to this production myself.

You can watch the film Ad Astra in the Cinema City cinema network all over the country.