GAGARIN
Russia, 2013, 108 minutes, Colour.
Yaroslav Zhalnin.
Directed by Pavel Parkhomenko.
In the early 1980s, the American film industry celebrated the pioneers of space exploration in the classic version of Thomas Wolfe’s book, The Right Stuff. This Russian film is somewhat belated in its tribute to the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.
The film was made in a time of Russian nationalism, especially inspired by Vladimir Putin. While the atmosphere is that of Russia in the 1950s and 1960s, with flashbacks to earlier decadence, especially during the German occupation in World War II, the film style is celebratory, very popular in manner, very reminiscent of American filmmaking and American films for television.
The film highlights the final candidates for the first journey in space, their age, in their 20s, their enthusiasm, their training, the group from whom the selection was made, the military authorities, the scientists and engineers behind the construction of the space vessel.
There are flashbacks to Gagarin’s childhood, to his family, to the sufferings during the time of the Nazi occupation, the humiliations. While his mother is supportive, his father is much more sceptical, not even believing that his son was circumnavigating the earth in space. There are also sequences of Gagarin’s courtship, marriage, the beginnings of his family – sad that he was to die in an accident at the age of 34.
There is a cheerful presentation of the Russian recruits, the details of their training, their lives together, their friendships, competitiveness as well as the final choice as to who was to go into space.
Commentators note that the running time of the film is 108 minutes, the exact time of Girgarre’s journey in space.
1. Audience knowledge of Yuri Gagarin and his flight in space, the late 1950s, the early 1960s – and after the experiment with the dog in space?
2. The rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, audiences familiar with the American competitiveness in The Right Stuff? Allusions to the competitiveness here, the pride in the Soviet Union, the building of the spacecraft, the memory of the Sputnik, the dog in space, wanting to have the first human in space?
3. The creation of the atmosphere, the training of the men, the signs, the engineering, the spacecraft, the controls, the offices, decision-making, the engineers, hesitations?
4. The flashbacks, the story of Yuri Gagarin, his family, the humiliation by the Nazis during the war, his mother and her love, his father’s hardship, his father’s not having faith in him? His courtship, marriage, the beginnings of family?
5. The scenes with his close friend, competitiveness, the issue of who was to go into space? Together, the candidates, the final choices, the final decision?
6. The training, the preparation, the details?
7. The flight in space, 108 minutes, the effect on Gagarin, the achievement? The consequences and all the developments in the Soviet Union as well as in the United States during the 1960s?
