Space on Film

I own a telescope.

Not that I use it much anymore. It's sitting in the study at home, gathering a bit of dust. Where I live there's often too much light from street lights and houses to see much, though I have had some pretty spectacular looks at the moon at times. My Dad bought it for me at the height of my Star Trek phase, when I was maybe eleven or twelve. I was watching a Trek film at least once every weekend for months. Around this time was when I wanted to be an astronomer (hence the telescope). I'd tell everyone who listened that I'd go work for NASA one day. Then I figured out the sheer scale of math and physics and science type subjects that was involved in this and decided 'Nahhh.....' Wasn't for me after all.

I still retained an interest in space, and more particularly, a love of space on film. It took me a couple of months, but today I finally got around to seeing ACMI's Star Voyager exhibition - an exploration of Space on Screen, encompassing the writings of Jules Verne, clips from documentaries and archive footage of people such as John F. Kennedy during the 'space race', and clips from such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Duncan Jones' Moon. 

Scored a new poster for my wall too!

The very first thing we got to see when we walked in was George Méliès A Trip To The Moon (I had to think what a coincidence, considering I saw Hugo not too long ago). I walked in just as my favourite part occurred, when the rocket crashes into the eye of the Man in the Moon. There were many clips from early, silent era films, and one that caught my eye was Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon; 1929) - a scene in which a group of people look down on Earth from space for the first time. 

It's this kind of wonder that I love to see, and for the most part is the type of wonder that you can only get from science fiction. Frau im Mond provided very real inspiration for scientists in imagining how a trip to the moon might be undertaken, and Lang himself consulted heavily with scientists when making it.  Art and science and imagination are able to blend and mesh like never before in this genre, each one influencing the other. 

Of course, in the plethora of space films out there, we can't ignore films about the Apollo missions. If I could choose to be witness to any historical event, it'd probably be the moon landing. Rob Sitch's The Dish is a pleasant little Australian film and one of my favourites, is not focused so much on the astronauts or their journey, but that of the team at Parkes Radio Telescope that helped bring the TV images to people all over the world. It is, in itself, a tribute to space on film and the power those images had to move people (indeed, I always found the films climax of people all over the world, gathered together to watch the moon landing in silent awe, incredibly moving).

Amongst other clips, I saw one from the Oscar nominated documentary For All Mankind (1989) that had me hooked in less than a second - another film to add to my 'must watch' list.

(Not this clip, but you get the idea)

Life beyond Earth has also provided plenty of fantastical stories to be brought to the screen, and is the focus of many films, whether this life forms be friend or foe. As for me, I tend to prefer films where they're friends.

Close Encounters rocks, you should watch it.

Of course, the exhibition wouldn't be complete, and I couldn't call myself a fan, if I didn't get to see a bunch of stuff from iconic films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris, Moon, Star Trek and many others. Sci-fi films about the future usually go one of two ways - a utopian human society, exploring and adventuring into space (Trek pretty much) or films like Moon and 2001 - a darker look at the isolation and psychological effects of prolonged stays in the blackness of space. That's another thing I like so much about this genre - the scope of stories that can be drawn from it. I've yet to see Tarkovskiy's Solaris, but as for the others - I would be lying if I said I didn't have a minor geek out when I saw letters between Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, discussing the possibility of making 2001, or when I saw space suits from Moon and one worn by Spock in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (maybe not the best of the Trek films, but some super visuals!)

He shouldn't have gone towards the light.

The stars have been the source of human interest and inspiration far longer than we began to chart the sky, and films like these are simply the latest example of how they continue to fascinate us. It is one of the oldest genre's out there, and is still going strong. We can have exciting, action adventures or thought-provoking dramas. I've got a new list of 'space' films that I need to explore. 

"To set foot on the soil of the asteroids, to lift by hand a rock from the Moon, to observe Mars from a distance of several tens of kilometres, to land on its satellite or even on its surface, what can be more fantastic?" - K.E. Tsiolkovsky, 1896 (Rocket Scientist and theorist).