A Trip To The Moon: Review

17th February 2019

My immediate thoughts with regards to A Trip to the Moon are subtle disappointment that it isn’t the 1902 Georges Méliès short inspired by the work of Jules Verne. I have an admission to make, and it’s a little embarrassing considering I have the audacity to call myself a film fan, but I’ve never seen it, and when I was sent the link I thought, “Hey! Here’s an opportunity to finally watch this movie!” Not that I really need an excuse, the film is nine minutes long and in the public domain, so… probably shouldn’t be so lazy.

Anyway, the point is; I was wrong. It isn’t the 1902 movie, but rather a 2017 Argentinian comedy-drama directed by first time director Joaquin Cambre, that tells the story of young outcast, Tomas, who, feeling trapped by his life, his family, and his school work, plans to literally take a trip to the moon. If that sounds a little bonkers it’s because… well, yeah, it is!

So, the film starts off kind of slow, with little inkling as to where this is all going. Personally, I was unaware of the synopsis or even really what the film was because I hit play (hence my confusion over the fact that it wasn’t that other movie) so I was sort of cautious about it. It reminded me of the sort of mellow calm we see from films like Little Miss Sunshine or the work of Alexander Payne, whereby characters sort of just do their thing, and although we can see that something is quite right in their relationships, it’s almost like watching real life slowly unfold.

But A Trip to the Moon has more up its sleeve than that… sort of.

This opening third of the film is beautifully shot and wonderfully performed. Argentina makes for a wonderful backdrop, and Cambre shoots it assuredly and with confidence. Things slowly unfold and we learn about the characters and their struggles in a way that feels well crafted. It’s a good piece of filmmaking and, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s so similar to countless other coming-of-agers that I’ve seen over the years, it would be fine.

Unfortunately, the film begins to come apart at around the same time it starts to separate itself from the crowd. Tomas’ desperation to escape (with escapism being a key theme of the film) begins to take a darker turn when he stops taking his medication in favour of focusing on his project. As a result the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur, and while the film realises this in a series of interesting and somewhat engaging ways, the fact that it’s never made clear just what young Tomas’ condition is, nor what the real side-effects of it are, outside of, presumably, hallucination, it’s hard to get to grips with just what it all really means.

Perhaps it’s because of the lack of clarity that it feels as though the film almost downplays Tomas’ illness despite also trying to present it as a series condition. The film feels muddled here, unsure of what balance it’s supposed to strike, as though someone had a great idea but didn’t stop to think it through, make it work or inject logic into it.

The blurred line between the real world and the fantasy world Tomas creates isn’t as carefully crafted as any of the character stuff that comes during that assured, but quiet first third, and so the film rather disappointingly falls flat, failing to live up to the promise set at the beginning.

An extended sequence that involves the titular trip to the moon winds up becoming almost superfluous, which is quite bizarre considering it’s where the movie literally derives its title from. Characters begins to act out of line with their previously established personality, and certain moments actually feel more unsettling than they do anything else.

Visually the film is gorgeous, and there is absolutely no doubt that Cambre is a talented filmmaker. He makes great use of colours, landscapes, locations and lighting, and even does some downright interesting and clever stuff that really does grip and engage. Unfortunately, it’s the script that ultimately lets it all down. Unable to come up with a satisfying conclusion to all these grand and rather bizarre ideas the film has presented us with.

The ending winds up coming off more anti-climactic than it does anything else, and so what ultimately emerges is a film that is pretty to look at and has some genuinely sweet and thought-provoking moments, but fails to become more than the sum of its parts and can’t quite decide what it wants to say, or what it wants to be. When all is said and done, I can’t honestly say I’d recommend it when, truthfully, there are better examples of this kind of idea elsewhere, but I wouldn’t label it a total write-off either, with Cambre definitely being someone to keep an eye on.

Still, maybe Georges Méliès short is the safer bet this time round.

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