Three years ago, the entire world kept dancing and singing on the awesome La La Land soundtrack from Justin Hurwitz. Boy, how surprised was I to experience a totally new and original score from him in First Man.
I also discovered the theremin, an instrument that Neil Armstrong himself was playing. The scene of the crater with this music simply crushed me. I kept weeping and couldn't sustain this emotion of emptiness and void and loneliness. This man thinking about his dead daughter on a planet that no one else ever walked on. There is so much beauty in this idea that I can only want to rewatch the film and live again this beautiful climax.
The theremin is incredible! It really characterizes science fiction movies from the 1950s and 1960s, which is why I thought Hurwitz used it here but I didn't know that Armstrong played it.
Bernard Hermann's soundtrack for The Day the Earth Stood Still is a timeless classic:
Of course! Now that you say it, it seems so obvious. I don't understand why it took me so long to discover this instrument. Thanks a lot for sharing that video, Kimmy! Much appreciated and fascinating.
