"Bourgeois, for those who have not had the absolute pleasure, is a 25-year-old engineering graduate who came to prominence on social media by making TikTok videos about his great passion: trains. The unforced joy on his face when a locomotive goes by (any locomotive, though his favourite classes are the 37 and 158 and his least favourite the 170), and his ease with his geekiness, quickly made him a star."
"The animating feature of this overgenerously apportioned documentary (two parts of 45 minutes each) is the question: can a trainspotter become an astronaut? The answer, too obviously and from the very start of the film, is no. It becomes more and more likely that the makers were labouring under the delusion that to be a passionate geek is synonymous with being a savant."
"I mean, I get it. I'm an arts grad, too, and anyone who can look at an engine or a sum and make any kind of sense of it seems to me like a god as well. But as Bourgeois meets experts in various aspects of space exploration and we watch him fall flat on his face, sometimes literally, time and time again while he is put through some of the physical paces required of astronauts, the optimistic vibe begins to wear off."
Francis Bourgeois is a 25-year-old engineering graduate whose viral videos show exuberant fascination with trains, particularly classes 37 and 158, and disdain for class 170. He pursues a parallel interest in space and undergoes a two-part, feature-length attempt to determine whether a passionate trainspotter can become an astronaut. Bourgeois meets space experts and endures physical testing, including G-force trials at the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine. Repeated failures during technical assessments and physical paces expose the gap between enthusiastic amateurism and astronaut standards. Television framing and imposed challenges amplify strain and temper initial optimism about his suitability.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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