The Right Stuff; drama, USA, 1983; D: Philip Kaufman, S: Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Barbara Hershey, Lance Henriksen, Kim Stanley, Veronica Cartwright, Kathy Baker, Jeff Goldblum
In '47, pilot Chuck Yeager becomes the first human who manages to break the sound barrier with his plane. In '57, the Soviets send the first satellite into orbit, and soon afterwards even the first man, Gagarin. In order to not stay behind, the US government start their own space programme, "Project Mercury". The status of the astronauts is given to Gordon, Gus, Schirra, Slayton, Carpenter, John Glenn and Alan Shepard. Despite numerous difficulties, including unstable test rockets that constantly explode, they manage to send the first American in outer space, Shepard, and bring him back alive to Earth.
Philip Kaufman's magnum opus is an incredibly smooth and even achievement looking from any angle, since it eloquently handles the beginning of the "Space Age" in the US and portrays several layers of the time and society in question. Even though "The Right Stuff" is excellent, it does start to become slightly overstretched in the final act due to its three hours of running time—and it also feels at times like a dry historical documentary lesson, not a true cinematic story—yet as a whole it is a wonderfully set up story where the best parts are humorous, like when an Astronaut is in the rocket, waiting and waiting, until he finally asks for the permission to urinate in his space suit because he can't "hold it anymore". Director Kaufman avoids any kind of patriotism and cynically shows the US government whose only goal is to be first in everything, while he even inserts a sly metaphor about grasping and trying to achieve a human dream, even the impossible one, which forms a process of expanding the borders of possible as a whole and causes a transformation of the society. While the opening segment with the pilot Chuck Yeager was questioned and disputed by some film critics, it forms the theme of the passing of the torch through time: the innovation of each generation reaches a ceiling which then, in turn, becomes the laying foundation of future generations. Full of passionately directed scenes and aesthetic cinematography, this is a thoroughbred depiction of the beginning of the modern age. An excellent role was achieved by Dennis Quaid as Gordon (when a nurse orders him to bring a sperm sample, he jokingly asks her to "help him"), but all other actors aren't weak by any means either, while the montage including Chubby Checker's song "La Bamba" is simply perfect.
Philip Kaufman's magnum opus is an incredibly smooth and even achievement looking from any angle, since it eloquently handles the beginning of the "Space Age" in the US and portrays several layers of the time and society in question. Even though "The Right Stuff" is excellent, it does start to become slightly overstretched in the final act due to its three hours of running time—and it also feels at times like a dry historical documentary lesson, not a true cinematic story—yet as a whole it is a wonderfully set up story where the best parts are humorous, like when an Astronaut is in the rocket, waiting and waiting, until he finally asks for the permission to urinate in his space suit because he can't "hold it anymore". Director Kaufman avoids any kind of patriotism and cynically shows the US government whose only goal is to be first in everything, while he even inserts a sly metaphor about grasping and trying to achieve a human dream, even the impossible one, which forms a process of expanding the borders of possible as a whole and causes a transformation of the society. While the opening segment with the pilot Chuck Yeager was questioned and disputed by some film critics, it forms the theme of the passing of the torch through time: the innovation of each generation reaches a ceiling which then, in turn, becomes the laying foundation of future generations. Full of passionately directed scenes and aesthetic cinematography, this is a thoroughbred depiction of the beginning of the modern age. An excellent role was achieved by Dennis Quaid as Gordon (when a nurse orders him to bring a sperm sample, he jokingly asks her to "help him"), but all other actors aren't weak by any means either, while the montage including Chubby Checker's song "La Bamba" is simply perfect.
Grade:+++
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