Moon

Duncan Jones's Moon, which rightly earned him a Brit for best newcomer this year, sees Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) as astronaut working for Lunar Industries on the dark side of the moon. He is reaching the end of a three year contract mining for energy deposits in the moon rock, and longs to return home to his wife and young child. But an unfortunate accident causes Bell's situation to take a turn for the worse, and suddenly the comfort of his moon-base is transformed into a hall of riddles.


I don't want to spoil a plot that unfolds fairly linearly but is a delight nonetheless with a couple of great revelations. Instead, it has to be noted that Rockwell's performance is nothing short of consummate. He shows off a diversity and depth that is demanded by what is practically a one man film, and rises to the challenges of isolation impressively. Jones also captures that mood of isolation very effectively, with scenes of silence as Bell wanders the station, filling his time as best he can as he counts down the final two weeks.


As for the style of the film, it was something reminiscent of Danny Boyle's 2007 Sunshine, a modern sci-fi thriller that re-explores what our future beyond Earth might be like. But while Sunshine went out of its way to invert expectations as to what space travel or space-suits might be like (remember these?), Moon sits more closely to traditional expectations. Food is boil-in-the-bag; Bell plays ping-pong and does woodcarving. There's a simplicity and a lack of sci-fi shockers that heightens the sense of tension and isolation that Jones has strived for, and attained. 


And all this complemented by a lovely, repetitive score, which, of course, mirrors something of Bell's own situation, and gives that sense of loneliness, and is only broken by three moments in the film: twice his alarm clock blares out a garish song, and once when he insists on dancing rather maniacally for thirty seconds or so. All told, the elements of this film pull together towards a mood, a sensation, an intensity, that is rarely seen. It was a shame it didn't receive a broader release.


~~~
2009
Sam Rockwell
dir. Duncan Jones