One of my favourite anecdotes involves the moon; a group of 18 year old girls are away on holiday by themselves for the first time (ooh exciting). As they lounge about at night, staring at the stars, sipping brightly coloured cocktails from too large glasses, one looks and says - "do you think that's the same moon they're all looking at back home?".
To get to the point: 'Moon' is a nice little film; proud to be smart and far more appealing than most of the dross that's circulating. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a man who's been working alone on the dark side of the moon with only a legoblock robot for company. Mercifully he's due to go home after three long years. Of course nothing is that simple: he's been all alone (and looks twitchy and ill), he should be walking away free, the robot has a sinister emoticon 'face', and worst of all the sets are all post modern minimal shiny white...
Let's all scream silently, there's about to be some impeding doom of a familiar nature. So what's 'Moon' got going for it?
The solipsistic plight of Sam Bell presents some interesting quandaries, with close camera work and Rockwell's acting skill hammering home the demand for empathy. Despite being more or less on his lonesome, Sam Rockwell is compelling enough to make the film watchable, and the one man aspect, off putting though it may seem at first, really does work.
Yes, script nods to other great sci-fi flicks, notably Space Odessey and Solaris, dealing as it does with typical psychological space trauma/cabin fever. However, even though it doesn't break any new ground, it is very, very well written, with a certain deft humour punctuating the bleak plot. 'Moon' is clever enough to stand up for itself; giving the general impression of being a lucid Philip K Dick imagining, contradiction in terms though that is.
Moon manages to feel like a complete (albeit small and tidy) package; there's the distinct conceit of a future world, but one that is not totally divorced from ours. Costume and set design is utilitarian rather unfeasibly futuristic. Best of all the cinematography is sharp and creative, if (again like the script) deliberately referential. The brief sojourns around the lunar surface have a distinctive look of calculated artificiality, and indoors there's an implicit feeling of claustrophobia and isolation.
If you do go see it then it's my guess you'll feel engaged, entertained, and you'll enjoy the mull it provokes afterwards. If you're a sci-fi nut (and like spotting homages) then there's probably at least two thousand and one that I missed.
Thursday 23 July 2009
Film Review: Moon
Directed by Duncan Jones, written by Nathan Parker, starring Sam Rockwell, and featuring the vocal talents of Kevin Spacey.
One of my favourite anecdotes involves the moon; a group of 18 year old girls are away on holiday by themselves for the first time (ooh exciting). As they lounge about at night, staring at the stars, sipping brightly coloured cocktails from too large glasses, one looks and says - "do you think that's the same moon they're all looking at back home?".
To get to the point: 'Moon' is a nice little film; proud to be smart and far more appealing than most of the dross that's circulating. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a man who's been working alone on the dark side of the moon with only a legoblock robot for company. Mercifully he's due to go home after three long years. Of course nothing is that simple: he's been all alone (and looks twitchy and ill), he should be walking away free, the robot has a sinister emoticon 'face', and worst of all the sets are all post modern minimal shiny white...
Let's all scream silently, there's about to be some impeding doom of a familiar nature. So what's 'Moon' got going for it?
The solipsistic plight of Sam Bell presents some interesting quandaries, with close camera work and Rockwell's acting skill hammering home the demand for empathy. Despite being more or less on his lonesome, Sam Rockwell is compelling enough to make the film watchable, and the one man aspect, off putting though it may seem at first, really does work.
Yes, script nods to other great sci-fi flicks, notably Space Odessey and Solaris, dealing as it does with typical psychological space trauma/cabin fever. However, even though it doesn't break any new ground, it is very, very well written, with a certain deft humour punctuating the bleak plot. 'Moon' is clever enough to stand up for itself; giving the general impression of being a lucid Philip K Dick imagining, contradiction in terms though that is.
Moon manages to feel like a complete (albeit small and tidy) package; there's the distinct conceit of a future world, but one that is not totally divorced from ours. Costume and set design is utilitarian rather unfeasibly futuristic. Best of all the cinematography is sharp and creative, if (again like the script) deliberately referential. The brief sojourns around the lunar surface have a distinctive look of calculated artificiality, and indoors there's an implicit feeling of claustrophobia and isolation.
If you do go see it then it's my guess you'll feel engaged, entertained, and you'll enjoy the mull it provokes afterwards. If you're a sci-fi nut (and like spotting homages) then there's probably at least two thousand and one that I missed.
One of my favourite anecdotes involves the moon; a group of 18 year old girls are away on holiday by themselves for the first time (ooh exciting). As they lounge about at night, staring at the stars, sipping brightly coloured cocktails from too large glasses, one looks and says - "do you think that's the same moon they're all looking at back home?".
To get to the point: 'Moon' is a nice little film; proud to be smart and far more appealing than most of the dross that's circulating. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a man who's been working alone on the dark side of the moon with only a legoblock robot for company. Mercifully he's due to go home after three long years. Of course nothing is that simple: he's been all alone (and looks twitchy and ill), he should be walking away free, the robot has a sinister emoticon 'face', and worst of all the sets are all post modern minimal shiny white...
Let's all scream silently, there's about to be some impeding doom of a familiar nature. So what's 'Moon' got going for it?
The solipsistic plight of Sam Bell presents some interesting quandaries, with close camera work and Rockwell's acting skill hammering home the demand for empathy. Despite being more or less on his lonesome, Sam Rockwell is compelling enough to make the film watchable, and the one man aspect, off putting though it may seem at first, really does work.
Yes, script nods to other great sci-fi flicks, notably Space Odessey and Solaris, dealing as it does with typical psychological space trauma/cabin fever. However, even though it doesn't break any new ground, it is very, very well written, with a certain deft humour punctuating the bleak plot. 'Moon' is clever enough to stand up for itself; giving the general impression of being a lucid Philip K Dick imagining, contradiction in terms though that is.
Moon manages to feel like a complete (albeit small and tidy) package; there's the distinct conceit of a future world, but one that is not totally divorced from ours. Costume and set design is utilitarian rather unfeasibly futuristic. Best of all the cinematography is sharp and creative, if (again like the script) deliberately referential. The brief sojourns around the lunar surface have a distinctive look of calculated artificiality, and indoors there's an implicit feeling of claustrophobia and isolation.
If you do go see it then it's my guess you'll feel engaged, entertained, and you'll enjoy the mull it provokes afterwards. If you're a sci-fi nut (and like spotting homages) then there's probably at least two thousand and one that I missed.
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