By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Alice Winocour
Starring: Aleksey Fateev | Eva Green | Lars Eidinger | Matt Dillon | Sandra Hüller | Zélie Boulant
Country: france, germany
Year: 2020
Running time: 107
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7374926/reference
Diane says: “What’s more difficult—training to be an astronaut or beIng a single mother with a demanding job? Combine the two and you get something as tense as FORD V FERRARI but as intimate as HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD.
“PROXIMA, which just played the Boston Women’s Film Festival, doesn’t go all the way down the paths it tantalizes us with, thank goodness. But it does explore ambition, sexism, family ties, and sacrifice.
“I learned from Ivy that lead Eva Green did all the actual astronaut training shown in the film. Yipes! And PROXIMA was shot at the actual International Space Station facilities in Russia.
“Director Alice Winocour co-wrote 2015 Chlotrudis favorite, MUSTANG. 5 cats.”
Bob says: “A French astronaut, training for a year-long mission to the International Space Station, has to deal with separation from her young daughter. I can’t really think of this as science fiction (and I’m fine with that), as it’s more about the relationship and the separation than anything else. That could have involved a mother in any other potentially dangerous line of work that required her to be away for a long time, such as the military. However, the film does make a point of paying homage to previous female astronauts, including the fact that she has a cat named Laika, after the dog the Soviets shot into orbit.
“The film is almost ruined by Matt Dillon as the standard issue sexist Murcan lunkhead and a decision made by the protagonist just before the end.”
Michael says: “An intense film about a French woman training to spend a year on the international space station. Sarah Loreau must spend a month separated from her eight-year-old daughter, with whom she lives alone. After the month of training, she will be gone for a year. While her daughter will be under the care of her ex-husband, the separation wreaks havoc on the mother daughter relationship. As the only woman on the team of astronauts being trained, Sarah must work extra hard to dispel any doubts as to her right to be among the men, one of whom, Mike Shannon, is a seasoned astronaut with kids of his own, and has his own doubts about Sarah’s ability to pull her weight. While the physical training is intense, it is the mental and emotional struggles that Sarah has the most difficulty contending with.