'Moon' Movie Mines Inner Space

FYI,

"'Moon' Movie Mines Inner Space"
New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17335-moon-movie-mines-inner-space.html

: In the new film Moon, working on the lunar surface is an
: unglamourous affair.

: Sam Bell, played by Sam Rockwell, toils alone in a stark-white
: base, working as a glorified handyman for Lunar Industries, an
: ominously glossy corporation that extracts helium-3 from the lunar
: surface to fuel fusion reactors back on Earth.

: In this vision of the future, helium-3 supplies the majority of the
: world's energy needs, a scenario that is not entirely outlandish,
: as some suspect the moon contains a wealth of the material (see The
: mine on the moon). While the cost of retrieving the material may be
: prohibitive, in the world of Moon, Lunar Industries has found a way
: to make a profit, using mostly autonomous, regolith-munching
: machines.

: Sam is there to make sure the helium-3 gets home, and he seems to
: have adapted well to the isolation, sustained by video messages
: from his wife and limited conversations with his sole companion, a
: remarkably low-tech robot named Gerty.

: But just as Sam nears the end of his three-year contract, the
: tedium suddenly seems to take its toll. It begins with headaches
: and hallucinations, followed by an accident. Then he meets a man
: who looks and sounds just like himself.

: Corporate depravity

: The bizarre scenario seems a fitting debut for director Duncan
: Jones, who might be better known as David Bowie's son. Filmed for
: $5 million in just 33 days, Moon is not an eye-popping,
: special-effects bonanza. But it is arguably even more transportive
: a lean, intense rumination on the effects of isolation, the depths
: of corporate depravity, and the nature of individuality.

: The film's biggest twist, which centres around Sam's collision with
: a seeming carbon copy, is revealed fairly early on. Jones spends
: the remainder of the film mining the messy aftermath, exploring the
: interaction between the two Sam's as they come to terms with the
: truth of their existence.

: The pace does flag in places as the two characters seek to piece
: together their fractured lives and plan their next steps. But a
: powerful, always simmering soundtrack helps sustain the energy.
: Gerty's even voice, supplied by Kevin Spacey, eerily conjures the
: homicidal computer Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey and helps keep
: suspicions high.

: Shared memories

: The film masterfully transforms the lunar landscape from the joyful
: playground of Apollo days into a barren, industrial outpost. Inside
: the base, Sam survives on memory, as he dreams about his wife and
: whittles a wooden model of his hometown. When his ownership of
: those memories is threatened by the presence of the second Sam,
: both must find a way to make sense of the new information.

: Although they share memories, the two Sam's are startlingly unique.
: The first has spent three years living alone, while the latter is a
: new arrival, highlighting how critical experience can be in shaping
: personal identity.

: Rockwell excels in portraying both of these hapless characters as
: they struggle in an Orwellian future where a corporation has the
: means and the desire to manipulate mind, memory and genome.

: Ways and means

: This vision of corporate corruption is the basic premise of the
: film, but it's also its most unrealistic touch. Lunar Industries
: seems to have outfitted their base with enough supplies and spare
: Sam's for many decades of work. But it's hard to imagine this
: would be cheaper than training and sending workers from Earth every
: three years.

: A minor detail gravity isn't given consistent treatment
: throughout the film. When outfitted in his spacesuit, Sam bounds
: with a slow-motion gait that matches the environment on the moon,
: whose gravity is one-sixth as strong as that on Earth. Back on the
: base, though, he walks as if he were on Earth. This feels odd, as
: the future the director paints seems just a tad too gritty for a
: sleek work-around like artificial gravity.

: But this is a minor transgression. 'Moon' is a stirring vision, and
: it will linger long after most big-budget sci-fi confections have
: faded from mind.

: Moon opened in New York and Los Angeles on 12 June, and will later
: expand to other cities.

Mark Reiff