Christopher Nolan Praises ‘First Man’ & Says Damien Chazelle Is “One Of Our Most Exciting And Accomplished Filmmakers”

Back in 2017, filmmaker Damien Chazelle went to bat for fellow director Christopher Nolan and talked about how “Dunkirk” was simply incredible. Well, now that the tables have turned and Chazelle has a new film that’s in the awards conversation, Nolan has returned the favor and written a lovely piece praising “First Man.”

As part of Variety’s Directors on Directors series, Nolan doesn’t mince words and gets right to the point, not only singing the praises of Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic, but also commenting on the filmmaker’s place in modern cinema.

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“Three features in, Damien Chazelle has emerged as one of our most exciting and accomplished filmmakers,” writes Nolan.

Nolan goes on to talk about how lovely “First Man” is and what an accomplishment the moon landing film is. And the filmmaker doesn’t shy away from talking about the big controversy that sprung up about “First Man” – the lack of American flags.

Nolan explains, “Discussions about the film’s portrayal of the flag on the moon largely missed the point: the choice was not about forms of patriotism, it was about a filmmaker presuming to leap over the collective sense of this great event to land on a genuine understanding of what stepping onto the farthest point of mankind’s reach might have actually felt like to the individual who did it.”

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Ultimately, the “Dunkirk” director talks about how “First Man” is truly a great film today but time will be the true test, and will probably show the new film for the classic that he feels it is.

“‘First Man’s’ true significance, not unlike the momentous events which it dares to interpret, may not come into focus for some time,” he concludes.

“First Man” was a box office disappointment but has earned a fair amount of awards recognition late in 2018 and in early 2019. We’ll have to wait and see how the Academy Awards treats Chazelle’s film when the Oscar noms are announced soon.