David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones doing great things for sci-fi – ‘Moon’ Review…

Posted on July 21, 2009 - 8:22pm by michael One of the most effective accomplishments of a good science fiction film is to use the future to comment on the present. Duncan Jones' brilliantly moody futuristic drama Moon goes far beyond that, using a possible future to not only comment on the present, but to explore some of the most fundamental aspects of human life.  It presents a unique space-age situation and focuses intently on a single individual, not only exploring what several years of lunar isolation has done to him mentally and physically, but also analyzing what has become of the human race through the frightening actions of the corporation that employs him. So here’s the plot in 100 words – Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is just finishing up a three-year contract manning a lunar space station that harvests Helium-3 from the surface of the moon (the sun’s energy trapped in rock), providing 70% of the power used on earth. He is eager to get back to his wife and baby, until an accident leaves him confined to the infirmary under the care of his robotic colleague Gerty. He has no memory of what happened, and strange occurrences, such as stumbling upon his own unconscious self at the site of the accident, begin to make him question everything about his entire existence. My first question was why 70% of the earth’s fuel supply would be left under the supervision of a single guy, but this point is the root of one of the central themes of the movie, which is about the effects of isolation and the human needs that are highlighted by an extended period of it. There is a scene where Sam stands next to another man, the first he has seen in years, and in an anguished plea for human contact, he quietly but desperately asks to shake his hand. His reaction to the man's refusal is one of the most effectively heartbreaking movie moments I've seen in quite a while. This is stupendous acting. Sam Rockwell gives an astonishing performance in the movie. He is almost the only person in the entire film, and the way that he presents different mental states, different personalities, even different people, is one of the most impressive pieces of acting I’ve seen this year. Also of note is the music, by veteran composer Clint Mansell (I recommend checking out the movies that Mansell has scored over the last decade or so – this guy's gonna be a major musical force in the future of movies, I’m telling you), which adds a hypnotic tone and depth to the rest of the film. The movie is beautifully shot and uses a static simplicity to create a simple but highly effective extra-terrestrial atmosphere that is clearly, and purposefully, reminiscent of that created by Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kevin Spacey also lends his voice to Gerty, sort of a mobile version of HAL (and slightly less creepy, but only slightly), creating a fascinating character of questionable trustworthiness but who maintains a high level of control over Sam’s daily necessities. Gerty doesn’t seem as inherently sinister as HAL, but his power over Sam provides for a unique tension to permeate the already claustrophobic atmosphere of the movie.   Moon has not gotten nearly the attention that it deserves, and I hope that you will take my advice and go check it out in the theater while you still can. With his feature film debut, director Duncan Jones has made a thoughtful and intelligent addition to the science fiction genre that is not only a solid piece of filmmaking, but a powerful assertion that there is still much to be done in the sci-fi realm. The Bean Meter [caption id="attachment_46437" align="aligncenter" width="334" caption="4.5 Beans out of 5."][/caption]