Moon

Moon

Director: Duncan Jones

Main Cast: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

Country of origin: UK

Certificate: 15

Running time: 97 mins

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Smells Like a Classic Has Landed

It’s frustrating when films like Moon come along. After all the hype it received this year at Edinburgh, Sundance, Tribeca etc it looked like a must see film. It is, but I’m only finding out now because it’s just come out on DVD. Could I see it at my local multiplex? No, only Transformers 2. Moon is one of the best films of the year, and one of the greatest sci-fi trips since Solaris. It’s lovingly made, with a great respect for the genre, and full of heavy themes all swirling round perfectly realised performances from Sam Rockwell in a dual role.

Sci-fi dominated the summer – there was plenty of Star Trekking, Terminating and Transforming going on - but, although fun, the films were somewhat hollow. With big, slick effects and frequent explosions, modern sci-fi has lost some of its charm, the ability to say ‘what if’ and explore the impact of theories and possibilities on the human soul. Thankfully, in amongst the noise, there are films out there still doing that, such as Duncan Jones’ Moon.

Receiving a limited release earlier this year, Moon is handcrafted for fans of proper science fiction. It’s retro but modern, big on ideas but intimately handled. Those who yearn for the 70s desperation of Silent Running or Alien will feel right at home in Moon’s isolated setting and cold, corporate dystopia. Those who admired the vision of Kubrick’s 2001 get a similarly realistic and rich experience, but without Kubrick’s detachment as Jones combines conceptual ideas with very human and engaging characters.

Obviously Moon is set on the Moon, where a lonely astronaut, Sam Bell (Rockwell), looks after harvesters that send energy back to Earth. Coming to the end of a 3 year contract, Sam is only weeks away from going home. With no live feed from Earth, he’s survived on occasional taped messages from his wife and…

Continued on The Smell of Napalm

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 12:22 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can trackback from your own site.

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