[Limelight] Even a Remote Islet in the Open Sea Needed a Story

Movie 'The Moon' Kim Jae-guk Center Director Role Seol Kyung-gu
Difficulty Simplifying the Process of Being Captured by Guilt
Foreshadowed in the Tragic Apollo 1 Incident
"Not a Role Seeking Salvation. Even in Self-Confession..."

In the movie 'The Moon,' Naro Space Center experienced a tragedy five years ago. The Naraeho, which flew toward the moon, exploded mid-air and was shattered into pieces. Center Director Kim Jae-guk (Seol Kyung-gu) resigns from his position. Consumed by guilt, he spends the rest of his life in torment. Director Kim Yong-hwa does not delve deeply into this series of events. He simplifies them through flashbacks and the like. Nor does he focus solely on astronaut Hwang Sun-woo (Do Kyung-soo), who was left alone in space. It is unlikely that the stories of these two characters effectively intertwine.

The resulting burden falls entirely on the actors. Seol Kyung-gu prominently portrays loneliness and helplessness. He acts as if on a remote island in the middle of the ocean, striving to fill the gaps left by the absent backstory. He said, "I wanted my face to be filled with solitude and silence." "Even when conflicts with Hanbyeol (Hong Seung-hee), a researcher at the Sobaeksan Observatory, or Yoon Moon-young (Kim Hee-ae), the main director of NASA's manned lunar orbiter, were resolved, I thought the loneliness was unbreakable. Even in the relationship with astronaut Hwang Sun-woo... it was an emotion that could not be concluded."

The complex emotions can be glimpsed more clearly in the tragedy of Apollo 1, which ended in disaster rather than in 'The Moon.' Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were not only preparing for the launch of the spacecraft on February 21, 1967, but also trained together in simulators. At first glance, piloting seemed easy. NASA and its subcontractors had promoted it as the most robust and excellent spacecraft ever built.

In reality, it was quite the opposite. From the astronauts' perspective, Apollo 1 was a machine hastily assembled. It was difficult to handle and prone to breakdowns. Whenever they tried to do something, it often malfunctioned. Communication systems failed, instrument panels went blank, and even life-support systems broke down, frequently interrupting training. These were all critical issues that could endanger lives in space. Repairs were mostly done hastily. Ideally, faulty systems should have been removed, redesigned, and reinstalled. However, they only made superficial fixes or added patches to previously repaired parts. Because President John F. Kennedy had declared the goal of sending astronauts to the moon before 1970, the proper resolution process could not be followed.

Frustrated by repeated malfunctions, Grissom confronted the technicians. He also protested to their supervisors and NASA officials. However, even the condition of the Apollo simulator, the only place where they could train for flight, did not improve. In his frustration, Grissom placed a lemon on the spacecraft and quietly left. The lemon symbolized a defective or faulty product.

The tight schedule was a difficult problem to solve. McDonnell Aircraft, which built the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft, had been working on Apollo 1 long before the last Gemini spacecraft returned to Earth. Due to a shortage of manpower, they could not fully focus on it. Having worked continuously since 1960, it was difficult to operate the production lines for Gemini and Apollo simultaneously. According to NASA's schedule, only three months were allotted between the launch of Gemini 12 at the end of 1966 and the planned launch of Apollo 1 in February the following year.

The fact that the same company kept receiving contracts was also problematic. Space development is a public project like road or dam construction. NASA had to explain to Congress why it needed to renew contracts with McDonnell Aircraft. Those who failed to persuade had to give the work to North American Aviation. North American Aviation prioritized speed over safety at every stage of production. Jeffrey Kluger, the author of the book 'Apollo 8: The Greatest Adventure in Human History' and the original author of the movie 'Apollo 13,' described it as follows:

"Many engineers at North American Aviation gained experience in a specific program called the 'Black Program' in the military, whose main task was to build unmanned machines such as satellites and missiles. Of course, this work was quite demanding and required deep patience, but designing systems to protect the survival of occupants was not considered at all. (...) They just stayed in the hangar, flew up, and exploded at the designated place."

NASA had little time to examine various problems. Rather, with the moon exploration date promised by President Kennedy approaching, they had to rush the schedule as much as possible. At that time, the U.S. Congress was flooded with criticism that spending money on the moon exploration was wasteful while pouring funds into the Vietnam War. NASA had no choice but to either start flights immediately or halt flights and wait until a perfect spacecraft was ready.

Center Director Kim Jae-guk chose the former amid similar conflicts. Seol Kyung-gu said, "(Although not explained in the movie) I thought there must have been government pressure. Even after identifying problems, there was probably an unspoken atmosphere that tacitly agreed to the launch of Naraeho." He added, "I hoped the courage to seek forgiveness amid fateful helplessness and misery was expressed." "I couldn't smile even at the end of filming. The fundamental problems were not solved at all. This role was not meant to seek salvation from the start. Even in the miserable self-confession... it was an inconsolable loneliness and solitude."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.