The new American movie Fly Me to the Moon, released in early July is dedicated to the first landing of humans on the surface of our moon. However, this is not a documentary, but an adventurous comedy. And the focus here is not as much on the flight itself as on a fictional attempt to film a version of the pavilion landing.
Fly Me to the Moon
On July 12, 2024, a few days before the 55th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon, the Fly Me to the Moon movie was released worldwide. The events take place on the eve of and during the historic Apollo 11 flight directly to NASA.
However, while the movie shows hundreds of engineers spending months assembling the world’s most complex 6 million-piece puzzle to then pump a bunch of liquid explosives into it and send three people on the Moon and back, that’s not what the movie itself is about.
Because the engineering team led by Cole Davis played by Channing Tatum lacks the support of the public and the government. Those sincerely don’t understand what NASA does and why the result of incredible spending is often explosions and loss of life.
That’s why slightly demonic government agent Moe (Woody Harrelson) finds a publicity agent for NASA, Kelly Jones, played by Scarlett Johansson, who is tasked with solving their PR problems. Despite her dark past she is a true professional and soon not only develops a close relationship with Davis, but also helps the space agency gain everyone’s support.
The movie is a romantic and adventurous comedy in terms of its genre. “Fly Me to the Moon” is the title of a romantic song sung by Frank Sinatra.It was extremely popular in the 60’s and was firmly associated with the space program. It plays in the movie and sets its overall light and entertaining mood. This is a movie that is enjoyable to watch just by itself.
Why does a space agency need PR?
As a comedy, Fly Me to the Moon may not be the best representative of the genre. It does have some laugh-out-loud moments. However, there are too many serious topics in it. And the main one is why does a space agency need PR people? And the answer is given in the movie itself. Whatever incredible things you do, people won’t react to them or recognize them at all if you don’t present them correctly.
Most people just don’t understand the importance of spaceflight and creating a pretty picture out of real but unimpressive accomplishments is also an important part of the job. Davis says to the main character in the movie: the Russians don’t broadcast their landings and that is okay. She answers that we are a democratic society and that even space flights take place not only by order, but also because the people have been convinced that it is cool.
By the way, smart PR solves not only the support but also the funding problems in both the movie and real life. The story of the watch brand Omega, which is shown in the movie, is based on real events. This company really worked very closely with NASA throughout the moon race and supported the Apollo program in every way possible.
In response, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins flew to the moon with her watch on the arm. Then there were queues for the corresponding model for many more years. Because it was the very watch that flew to the moon.
The movie touches on many serious topics in general. For example, the story of the deaths of three astronauts during ground tests is absolutely real. Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were indeed burned alive and it became one of the worst tragedies in the American space program for years to come. The remains of the launch table near which the main character of Fly Me to the Moon plants flowers are the remains of the disassembly of Launch Complex 34, where it happened in real life.
Was the Apollo 11 landing filmed in the pavilion
In general, Fly Me to the Moon, for all its levity, shows the lunar program very accurately. The vertical cleaning building in it looks as it looked when it was being prepared for the Apollo-11 launch. The flight control center is shown very accurately. And even events like the image of Earth hovering over the surface of the Moon taken by Apollo-8 a few months before the monthly landing are conveyed very accurately.
And that brings the audience and the filmmakers to a question that has confused many for decades. If PR and cinematographers are so adept at creating pretty pictures, and engineers are so good at thinking things out in advance, then perhaps the whole landing was just filmed in the pavilion?
The filmmakers made this the main intrigue of the movie by literally forcing the characters to shoot the same thing in the studio in parallel to the actual flight. Without revealing the details of the final movie we can say that they succeeded in achieving authenticity. The problem turned out to be that it was more difficult to make everything go according to plan on a movie set than on the real Moon. It is also shown that keeping all of this an absolute secret is simply impossible.
In general, the theme of truth and lies is one of the most important in the movie. Because a beautiful picture is of course very necessary. But there’s a line beyond which you just have to expect real results. When you have to tell the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
Overall, the movie is very interesting, positive and fun. It is worth watching.
