I have an odd relationship with sci-fi movies. For one raised on a staple diet of the Star Wars and Alien franchises, perhaps there’s a bit of latent rebellion. Growing up we named our Siamese cat Nute, our bullmastiff pooch Ripley (seriously) and these days our second cat Lilu is still kicking around (although, to be fair, I named her).
And so it was with an irrationally wary eye that I ventured to see Duncan Jones’ Moon. And now, by God, my love of sci-fi has been reaffirmed. What a film! What an amazing achievement by Jones and an absolutely gobsmacking performance by Sam Rockwell. Moon is grimily cinematic, poignant and nigh on perfect. Really. My family’s next pet may have to be called Sam…or GERTY.
Jones essentially presents us with a one-man play; the tale of a futuristic blue-collar existence mining moon rocks to power Earth. The brilliantly retro production design conveys this dirty, meagre and monotonous post from which Sam is impatiently counting down his final days. His only companion is GERTY (voiced by an appropriately named Kevin Spacey), a clunky HAL style computer complete with emoticons; simple yellow faces are all Sam has to emotionally engage with, except for the infrequent, recorded messages from his loving wife Tess (Dominique McElligott).
Mere days from returning to Earth, Sam has an accident, which sets him on a marvellously simple and devastatingly confronting path. It’s remarkable to watch Rockwell and Jones play this out to its moving, bitter conclusion. More remarkable still when you consider this was all achieved with a budget of US$5 million.
As a debut, Jones astounds. Although avoiding his famous father’s shadow by changing his name from Zowie Bowie, Jones doesn’t disappoint with the film’s soundtrack. From top to bottom, Moon is a confident, restrained and stunning addition to a genre already replete with greats. It’s not often one can bandy about Tarkovsky comparisons, but I wager Moon warrants a mention alongside Solaris.
Go and see for yourself.
Australian release date: 8 October 2009
2 comments:
Just saw this last night and really enjoyed it. Kept wondering how he was going to end it!
Thought Sam Rockwell was superb.
Wondered if the plot couldn't have had another twist later, but no spoilers here!
x
Glad you liked it! It's a crying shame Rockwell didn't get an Oscar nomination.
I see what you mean about having another twist, but I actually quite enjoyed the simplicity of the one reveal, then letting that play out to its logical, dramatic conclusion.
Can't wait to see what Jones serves up next.
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