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| Starman |
| Reputations |
| UK: BBC, Europe: Canal+ |
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| Seen in over sixty countries worldwide, Starman relates the moving tale of the young son of a peasant who became the first human being in space. This film, and the book written to accompany it, tells the extraordinary true story behind the legend of Yuri Gagarin. |
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Atlantic Celtic Films is proud to offer this important and critically
acclaimed film for the US market, in celebration of the world's first space hero. |
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On April 12th, 1961, Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin became the first human to leave the Earth and venture into space. His one-orbit flight lasted barely 108 minutes, but in that brief span of time he became the most famous man in the world.
Back on the ground, his good looks and easy charm captured the hearts of millions around the world. International film stars, politicians and pop stars queued up to shake his hand. Meanwhile, Russia enjoyed a period of glamour and global prestige that it has never since matched.
Yet, despite Gagarin's fame, almost nothing is known about the man himself, or the many people who contributed to his flight. Starman tells for the first time Gagarin's personal odyssey from humble peasant to international icon. We also explain why his flight was more dangerous than the Russians have ever admitted.
Our film charts Gagarin's rapid decline as his marriage, his space career and his personal life fell apart under the pressures of fame. We also discover his growing disillusionment with the Russian State, as he gradually discovered the cruelties that the Communist regime often heaped upon its citizens.
For the first time we reveal our hero's drinking binges and his reckless
love for women; his career-threatening adventures at an élite holiday
resort; and his dangerous struggle against the authorities to save the life of another cosmonaut, blasted into space on a horrifying test flight that could only end in total, deadly disaster.
Gagarin's epic flight spurred US president John F. Kennedy to send America to the moon. But when Neil Armstrong made his famous walk on the lunar surface eight years later, the young Russian spaceman was already dead, aged just 34. We explore the murky circumstances behind the air crash that killed him.
The Soviet bosses, led by Leonid Brezhnev, attended the State funeral to mourn Gagarin's death. But privately, there was considerable relief. Gagarin was easier to handle as a dead hero than a living troublemaker. Our film reveals the flawed but brave and dedicated man behind the bland Soviet propaganda images.
Candid, emotionally moving interviews with Gagarin's relatives, friends,
colleagues, secret KGB minders and rivals (few of whom have spoken before) run throughout the film, with superb and previously unseen archive footage and photographs.
All the British newspapers highlighted our film as the lead national network TV review item. In fact Starman was so successful in Britain, and right across Europe, that a tie-in book was published by Bloomsbury (in hardback and paperback) written by Starman's producer and originator, Jamie Doran, and science writer Piers Bizony (nominated for the 1999 Eugene Emme Award for Astronautical Writing in the US). Like the film, Starman the book received a wonderful critical reception. |
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| 01 March 1998 |
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Starman |
| Reputations |
| Trailer 00:04:59 |
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