Ah, we here go! First review. First damn review to post on this bloody blog! If you think a British rant is due, you sir would be a fool because I’ve decided to pull out from the pits of cinema obscurity to say a few words on the wonderful little flick; The American Astronaut. I chose this movie because I constantly tell people to seek it out but my advice is normally ignored due to apathy or the other person isn’t sober enough to understand what exactly what I’m saying. Therefore, I think this would be an appropriate time to spat my opinion of a relatively unknown gem that makes me glow with speech bubbles filled with hyperboles, something that you probably would see a schoolgirl in a manga. I mean, seriously! This is great movie! There are few movies that make me feel as giddy as this one (just the opening logo makes me giggle). But enough with me gloating my Fanboy enthusiasm, it’s time to explain why this small movie is such a visionary tale that relies primarily on imagination like a Terry Gilliam flick but has its own distinct voice.
I’ll try not to bore the fuck out you by focusing too much on the plot but that’s main charm of the movie. See, Samuel Curtis (the astronaut that is referred to in the title) is told by a fruit thief in a bar to go on mission to retrieve the remains of a wealthy land owner on Venus (which is a planet that is dominated by women who can reproduce and just need a male to have “fun” with). Before doing so, he has to trade the seeds of a real live girl for the boy that saw a woman’s breast on Jupiter (which is a planet dominated by male factory workers) so he can trade the women the boy for the remains. While some of the story is told through musical numbers and Professor Hess is trying to kill Samuel Curtis. If you didn’t crack a smile while this reading then you probably don’t have a soul or you have some type of mental condition that can’t perceive the simple joys of life (clinical depression, maybe?). Either way, you seriously need medical attention immediately if you can’t understand the creative ecstasy that's at work here. Very few movies actually attempt to evoke more than what the budget allows and limit themselves but The American Astronaut goes far above it's million budget by doing little as possible. This movie is a perfect example of what you can do with the limited resources and be able to create an engaging piece of artifice. It also feels like if the movie had a larger budget that it would lose it's eccentric charm because you probably wouldn't get the same care for attention of small detail in something that the major players in hollywood would ignore. The whole movie is about suggesting a larger picture in a small unique way.
Who ever the hell shot this deserves to a place on MT Olympus because each frame of this flick is mastered to what seems like through the eyes of a spanish dadaist artist. The black and white cinematography shows that this movie wouldn't work if it were in color because it would lessen the theme of alienation. The blackness within the frames suggests a larger lonely world inhabiting what the minimal white is focusing on. Critics have compared this use of Black and White photography to Eraserhead which, honestly, I think it's a lazy comparison because the aesthetic is so broad. Eraserhead used its minimal composition to create a postmodern nightmare and while The American Astronaut used it to create a lonely dead pan world that seems at times to exist in an episode of Courage the Cowardly dog.
The-60s-beach-rock-musical-numbers throughout the picture oddly fit it's unique dead pan style (with lyrics like "the baby in the bottle with the glasses on… is holding a gun" and "you have a vagina made of glass"). Each musical sequence is choreographed differently with a go for broke charm to it and still finds a way to remain confine to the character that is dancing and singing. Like my favorite musical number; "I'm going to have a party." Shows Professor Hess on stage in the middle of the spotlight singing and then slowing venting his psychopathic verges on the dirt remains of all the men he had just killed by dancing like someone out of interruptive dancing recital. I know, CRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPYYYYY but Trust me, the whole scene is fun… in an erie way.
The acting is primarily theatrical (since the director, Cory McAbee used various stage actors like Tom Aldredge to recite a joke from the future) but fits the style of the movie well. Cory McAbee plays the title character and he brings subtle nuances especially with the Rocco Sisto, Professor Hess. Which brings me to the main reason why I love this movie so much, the character dynamic between Samuel and Professor Hess. Professer Hess (also known as a birthday boy) kills for no reason. He will only kill you if he doesn't have a reason to. So, if he does have a reason, then he can not commit the act. Throughout the entirety of the movie, he tries to find a way to be able to kill Samuel Curtis but can't because he is in love with him. Thus brings the underlining conflict; Nihilism Vs. Meaning. How in the face of acting without reason can lead to the discover of something that can undermine the whole premise. This is probably main the reason why I return to this movie so often because it's so optimistic without copping out with a forced happy ending that you too often see! The movie takes the simple innocence of the sci-fi flicks of the 50s and early 60s and navigates it into a more humanistic level of championship. Both of antagonist and protagonist of the story end up finding a son to raise. It shows that even in the loneliest parts of the universe, you can find whatever is needed to fill your void.
As the tagline of the movie states: "space is a lonely town". Which echoes throughout the entire movie but eventually, even with space travel, you need a buddy to share experience with. The sincerity of the movie what makes this movie so much fun to sit back on a friday night and enjoy and I think nahsayers of this movie that just view as a piece of absurdity would agree on those terms. It's a damn shame that it only has 1,328 votes on IMDB. This really needs a wider audience, eventhough commercial appeal is completely out the door. But I urge you! If you are opened minded to a western/sci-fi/noir/musical please go out of your way and see this. The very least, it would be a good conversation piece during a pottery class.
