In the arena of futuristic sci-fi movies, Moon is the antithesis of Avatar in almost every conceivable way. Moon’s budget of $5m wouldn’t cover the craft services bill on Avatar and in stark contrast to the cutting edge 3-D effects on James Cameron’s film, Moon’s director Duncan Jones was forced to keep things simple. The result however is no less absorbing, and indeed Moon’s plot is infinitely more intriguing than the rather trite one underpinning Avatar.
Making an independent science fiction film is a challenge, but Jones embraced the budgetary constraints when creating the story. He chose to keep the number of actors to a minimum and essentially Moon is one-hander featuring Sam Rockwell. But by making cloning an integral element of the story, it enabled the brilliant Rockwell to play two different versions of the same character. Jones also pays homage to the classic sci-fi films of the past, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey, including the presence of a talking computer and an enigmatic quality. That Jones’ father, a certain David Bowie, made his breakthrough with his hit Space Oddity, inspired by Kubrick’s 1968 classic, is perhaps just a nice coincidence. Perhaps!
Moon is the character study of a man, Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), who has lived in isolation on the Moon-based space station Sarang for nearly three years. His mission there is to mine Helium-3, a non-radioactive isotope that has become Earth’s prime source of energy. His contract is nearing its end and Sam, whose only company has been a talkative but pedantic computer “Gerty” (voiced by Kevin Spacey), is looking forward to returning to Earth and reuniting with his wife Tess (Dominique McElligott) and young daughter.
But as the time for his departure nears, Sam starts becoming sick culminating in him crashing one of the lunar rovers. The next thing he knows he wakes up back at the base and is disturbed to see a fit and slightly younger clone of himself standing over him. From that point on, in collaboration with his clone, he attempts to find out the reason for his cloning and how to get back to Earth.
The film’s deliberate pace and sparseness draw you in. The sets appear dated and almost deliberately corny by way of homage to what the director refers to as the “golden era” of science fiction films, such as Alien, Silent Running and 2001. Sam for instance prefers nothing better than to relax back in his beaten up old armchair. Adding to the film’s reflective mood is the atmospheric and understated score by Clint Mansell, former singer with Pop Will Eat Itself.
Jones has done an extraordinary job with limited resources. He has shrewdly picked his cast and crew, who have created a work that provides a welcome alternative to the typical effects-laden futuristic films Hollywood serves up. It offers a more prosaic take on how things will look while highlighting the possible ramifications man might face in the future depending on how we answer a fundamental moral question being posed now.
Kevin Murphy
