Conspiracy theorists rejoice … for man didn’t really land on the Moon. At least that is the contention we have to work with in the mockumentary Operation Avalanche.
The year is 1967. It is the height of the Cold War. The CIA suspects there is a Russian mole inside NASA, sabotaging the Apollo program so the Ruskies can get there first. Although most reluctant at first, the agency sends two young operatives on an undercover mission to infiltrate NASA, where they pose as documentary filmmakers to capture the race to the moon. The real mission though is to use their access and technology to track down just where the leak is coming from. But what they discover is far more shocking than Soviet spies. Their government may be hiding a secret about Apollo that could define the decade … and the White House will stop at nothing to silence anyone who uncovers the truth.
Development on Operation Avalanche started in early 2013. On the flight home from Utah where his debut film The Dirties had won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature, Matt Johnson and his team were thinking ahead, but in so doing they kept being pulled back in time. Excitement mounted as soon as the idea started percolating to take the production model from The Dirties and apply it to a period film. Johnson soon determined he would make a documentary about the greatest conspiracy theory of them all, the idea that NASA faked the moon landing. Incidentally, The Dirties was a fake doco set in a contemporary high school.
Johnson had assembled a team that was used to working in a quick, free-flowing, highly improvisational style. The challenge was to maintain this environment, which allowed for “the magic” to happen, while significantly expanding the scope of the project. Research began immediately and the team dove into all the conspiracy theories, NASA documentation and hours of archival footage. Unlike most conventional filmmaking, Matt Johnson’s first two features have been shot without scripts. In place of these, Johnson works from a detailed outline (this time penned with the help of Josh Boles). The 30-page document provided the bible for the Avalanche shoot and the production schedule and plan were based upon this outline.
Appropriately, Operation Avalanche has a special look and feel, reminiscent of the grainy footage with which we are familiar from that period. The use of vintage 16mm documentary lenses gives the piece a level of authenticity it would not otherwise have had. The cinematography is undoubtedly a feature. As I sat there watching (not knowing anything about it going in), I was thinking “no, this can’t be true, surely not!” Although I didn’t realise at first that I was watching a mockumentary I was pleased I didn’t. The brazenness, clunkiness and ineptitude of the players is immediately apparent and you put that down to how the world was then, as distinct from what you perceive as being a far greater level of sophistication today.
The key cook and bottle washer, the Matt Johnson character, is unashamedly ambitious and is seemingly willing to use every trick in the book to curry favour and win a peachy assignment. He is a “look at me” kind of guy, who has a decidedly uncomfortable relationship with his more conservative “buddy” and fellow agent, Owen Williams. Both have been engaged fresh out of Princeton, as part of the Bright Recruits program. Johnson isn’t exactly flavour of the month with his immediate boss, nor with the CIA director. Those awkward relationships are part of what make Operation Avalanche so wickedly enjoyable.
The whole thing carries a touch of the Maxwell Smarts (think the highly popular comedy TV program of the 60s, Get Smart) about it. By that I mean, I was constantly thinking these guys can’t be serious. And yet, unlike Get Smart, the tone of Operation Avalanche is decidedly more dramatic and conspiratorial. I liked the tone and flavour. It exudes creativity and enterprise … and is also fun to watch. Rated M, Operation Avalanche is in very limited release and scores a 7½ out of 10.
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
