I took this low-level planetary geology class in college ("Moons for Goons," the unofficial sequel to "Rocks for Jocks"), and one day we had Apollo astronaut Dave Scott as a guest. Everyone's questions were hilariously insipid ("What was the food like?"), and nobody seemed to care about what it was like, emotionally, to go to the frickin' moon. Maybe that's why it was Moons for Goons, but in any event, I felt a frustration mitigated recently by seeing Scott and his fellow moonwalkers answer that unasked question in the new documentary In the Shadow of the Moon, which blends spectacular remastered footage of the Apollo program with moving testimony from those who lived it.
The format is the usual archive film plus talking heads, but the particular quality of the talking heads stands out. You realize, watching these sharp, striking faces, how rarely older men get this kind of dignity on screen. (Not to mention older women — but that's a different story.) Some of the ten astronauts get more time than others, but several particularly shine; it's nice to get a a lot of time with the delightful, rarely seen Mike Collins, whose solitary voyage around the moon while his Apollo 11 colleagues walked below is surely among the most evocative tales of mankind in space. Neil Armstrong is notably absent, but somehow, that works; his friends and colleagues emphasize his reserve, and in a way, you get more of an idea of him sight-unseen.
Some of Armstrong's restraint might've been visited on the music, which sometimes strains for feeling. But then, I seem to be mysteriously moved by all things space-related; I was already feeling emotive, so the music went overboard. It's odd; I remember reading in my Moons for Goons textbook something to the effect of "It is unlikely that we will learn significantly more about Neptune in our lifetimes," and I actually got a little choked up. Yeah, I'm gay for planets. But if you are too, In the Shadow of the Moon will serve you well. It's a spiritual journey that even we godless types can share. — Peter Smith
