-Written by Kyle Bain.
When one travels to space, there is far more to consider than the physical struggles that are to be faced. The psychological aspect of traveling into space, being separated from your loved ones and your home can be far greater than any physical issue that may lie ahead. Space: The Longest Goodbye discusses the psychological preparation and trauma that exists in both the astronauts and their families–something that some are never able to overcome.
Let me start by saying this: I feel that I’m getting tired of documentaries. The typical storytelling structure of the average documentary is becoming cumbersome and repetitive–making it more and more difficult for me to remain focused when watching this type of film. Writers and Directors of these documentaries are leaning heavily into a terribly simplistic style of storytelling, one that simply presents viewers with facts and captures the visual basics of said story. Space: The Longest Goodbye adheres to this, keeping it simple and doing very little to appeal to viewers. If you’re not in love with the idea of space travel or human psychology, it’s likely that Space: The Longest Goodbye will be a hard sell for you. I don’t fall into either of those categories, and I struggled to remain focused or to appreciate the content present in the film as a result.
With my current negative opinion of documentaries, it’s safe to say that my expectations of documentaries are drastically different than what they used to be. I used to be the person who simply wanted facts, and I didn’t need much more than that in order for one to appeal to me. Now, however, I need something more. Space: The Longest Goodbye, again, doesn’t do much to appeal to a wider audience, and that hinders the film’s ability to be truly successful.
Furthermore, Space: The Longest Goodbye is a challenging film to analyze and critique because it doesn’t do anything unique or particularly interesting. The only question that I could really ask in regard to the film is if it was thorough in its venture into the world of space and psychology. I believe that it was. There seems to be no stone left unturned, no corner of this story that isn’t explored at great length–and I have to give kudos to Writer-Director Ido Mizrahy and Co-Writer Nir Sa’ar for being able to fully flesh out this story for the world to hear about (maybe for the first time).
Word of the day = SIMPLE. Nothing about Space: The Longest Goodbye will enthrall you, nothing about it will entertain you more than the simplest of documentaries. Mizrahy and Sa’ar aren’t looking to entertain, however, they are looking to educate. They do just that; nothing more, nothing less.
*The film is available to stream on the PBS App and also accessible via PBS’s flagship YouTube channel.
Directed by Ido Mizrahy.
Written by Ido Mizrahy & Nir Sa’ar.
Starring Dr. Al Holland, Kayla Barron, Tom Barron, Dr. Jack Stuster, Cady Coleman, Jamey Simpson, etc.
5.5/10 = WORTH THE RISK, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
