This article was written by Thomas Hodgkins.
Robert Stone’s newest documentary, Starman, shares a title with a famous David Bowie song, but Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” would also be an apt namesake for the film.
Starman is about the life of Gentry Lee, a space engineer who led NASA’s Viking project. The project was the first mission to successfully send spacecraft to the surface of Mars. Lee tells the story of his life and work, starting from his childhood, when his love of math sprouted from calculating the batting averages of Brooklyn Dodgers players, to today, when he still cheers on his Dodgers at the ballpark in Los Angeles. Throughout the film, Lee examines the big question in his life: Are we alone in the universe?
The film is not afraid to heavily lean into the science. For example, at one point, Lee describes the composition of other planets’ moons and explains why they can or cannot feasibly sustain life. The heavy science sections could confuse or bore the common viewer, but will certainly be appreciated by those interested in the subject. I appreciated the film’s reluctance to make it feel like an introductory astronomy lesson by dumbing down the science. Instead, Lee holds nothing back when discussing the possibility of other forms of life in our universe.
Another large throughline of both the film and Lee’s life is his enthusiasm for science fiction. In fact, Lee has co-written novels with renowned science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. In the film, Lee claims there is a connection between science fiction and engineering. He also believes science fiction allows people to open their minds about the real possibilities of science. He thinks that, through a film like Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind or Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, humans can speculate about how humanity would actually react if it made contact with extraterrestrial life. In addition, Lee cites the Star Trek series and Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as influential science fiction stories in his life.
Lee is the only interviewee in Starman—the entire story is told through his eyes. This allows the narrative to be a singular, first-person account, but it also makes the film feel monotonous at times. Lee is an interesting and entertaining personality, but the lack of secondary voices becomes more noticeable as the film progresses. However, the film’s short runtime prevents this from becoming too big a problem, and Lee’s firsthand retellings of historic scientific events—like the Viking missions—are tense, fascinating and engaging.
To compensate for the lack of secondary interviews, the film utilizes archival footage very well. For example, we see and hear a lot of Carl Sagan throughout the film. Lee forged a partnership and friendship with Sagan and even helped launch the television series Cosmos. Because the archival footage shows the viewers so much of this partnership, the legendary scientist Sagan feels like a supporting character in the film.
Overall, Starman makes it easy for the viewer to connect with Lee as he shares his personal stories, beliefs and accomplishments. He is clearly painted as a passionate and energetic individual. At the start of the film, he says he thinks he has the best job in the world. At the end, Lee shares that he truly believes life on Earth is a miracle and a blessing that should be relished. The man who led the first successful mission to another planet and spent his life obsessing over the possibility of extraterrestrial life ultimately concludes that he loves life on Earth and sees it as “paradise.” As the film closes with David Bowie’s vocals, it’s impossible not to feel moved and inspired by Lee.
Starman screens Monday, March 2 at Music Box Theatre with filmmaker Robert Stone and subject Genry Lee in attendance.
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