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Moon (film)
Encyclopedia
Moon is a 2009 British science fiction
drama film
about a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3
on the far side of the Earth's moon. It is the feature debut of director Duncan Jones
. Sam Rockwell
stars as the employee Sam Bell, and Kevin Spacey
voices his robot companion, GERTY. Moon premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released in selected theatres in New York
and Los Angeles
on 12 June 2009. The release was expanded to additional theatres in the United States and Toronto on both 3 and 10 July and was released in the United Kingdom
on 17 July.
This film was the British Independent Film Awards
(BIFA) winner of the 2009 award for the Best British Independent Film
. Director Duncan Jones was also awarded the BIFA Douglas Hickox Award.
The film was also nominated for two BAFTAs at the 2010 awards. It won the award for "Outstanding Debut by a British writer, director or producer".
) is contracted to work for three years at the largely automated "Sarang" lunar base ("sarang" means "love
" in Korean
and is written in hangeul on the walls of the base), with only an artificial intelligence
assistant named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey
) for company. His job is to oversee the automated harvesters which extract helium-3
from the lunar regolith
. He periodically sends full canisters to Earth, where the helium-3 is used to generate much-needed clean fusion energy. Chronic communications satellite problems limit him to occasional recorded messages to and from his wife Tess (Dominique McElligott
), who was pregnant with their daughter Eve when he left.
Two weeks before he is to return to Earth, Sam begins to hallucinate, briefly seeing a teenage girl on the station. During a routine rover excursion to retrieve a full canister from one of the harvesting machines, he sees a figure standing on the lunar surface. Distracted, he crashes his rover into the harvester and starts losing air. Sam hurriedly puts on his helmet before losing consciousness.
Sam awakens in the base infirmary, with GERTY asking if he remembers the accident which put him there. Sam does not, but GERTY assures him that this is not uncommon. Sam's suspicions are aroused when he eavesdrops on a live communication between GERTY and Lunar Industries executives and learns that GERTY has been instructed not to allow him outside the base. A message informs him that rescue team "Eliza" is on the way to repair the damaged harvester.
Sam sabotages a gas pipe in the base to convince GERTY to allow him outside to check for "micro-meteoroid damage". He heads for the damaged harvester and finds someone barely alive in the crashed rover: himself. Sam brings the person back to the base, where GERTY identifies both him and the injured person as Sam Bell.
The two Sams struggle to come to grips with each other's existence, each believing the other to be a clone
. Eventually they are forced to realize they are both clones after GERTY confirms as much, and that the real Sam is back on Earth, after finishing his mission 12 years earlier, not realizing that clones of him are being put to work so as not to have to continually send up new workers. GERTY also revealing that the "accident" the second Sam recovered from is simply part of the standard clone awakening process, and that their memories of Tess and Eve are implants taken from the real Sam Bell.
Exploring outside, the Sams find a series of antennas jamming communication with Earth. The injured Sam becomes progressively weaker, forcing him to return to base after he vomits blood and, later, loses a tooth. With GERTY's assistance he discovers video logs of previous clones working and becoming increasingly ill, with symptoms including hair loss and spontaneous bleeding. Ultimately the clones are shown getting into what they are told is a "hibernation" pod for the journey home, which instead incinerates them once they are asleep. After some searching, the two Sams find a previously unsuspected lower level, which houses an extensive cache of unawakened clones.
The sick Sam then takes a rover beyond the range of the jamming and calls home. Obscuring his videophone
's camera, he is shocked when his daughter Eve, now 15 years old, answers. He learns that Tess died "some years ago". Before Eve can get her father to deal with her mysterious caller, Sam hangs up.
With the "rescue" team only hours away, the Sams know that they will be killed if they are both found at the base. The healthy Sam proposes sending the sick one back to Earth in a helium delivery vessel, reasoning that he is the more deserving since he "did the three years". He gets GERTY to start awakening another clone to put in the damaged rover to take the sick Sam's place. However, the sick Sam insists that the healthy Sam go instead while he returns to the rover to die, with the third clone left to man the station when the rescue team shows up.
GERTY points out that its records must be erased for the scheme to work; it gets the healthy Sam to wipe its memory by rebooting it. Before leaving, the second Sam also redirects a harvester to crash into a jammer antenna to ensure that all new clones can freely communicate with Earth. The helium-3 delivery vehicle containing Sam launches for Earth, and is seen by the sick Sam in his final moments, giving him the solace of knowing that his clone had made it off the Mining Base.
Newscast voice-overs in many languages detail the consequences of Sam's return to Earth: Lunar Industries' stock price crashes following accusations of criminal activities, and "Clone 6" gives testimony at a Board of Directors
meeting in Seattle.
, who co-wrote the script with Nathan Parker. The film was specifically written as a vehicle for actor Sam Rockwell
. The film pays homage to the films of Jones' youth, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968), Silent Running
(1972), Solaris
(1972), Alien
(1979), Outland
(1981), and THX 1138
(1971). Jones described the intent, "[We] wanted to create something which felt comfortable within that canon of those science fiction films from the sort of late seventies to early eighties." The director spoke of his interest in the lunar setting: "for me, the Moon has this weird mythic nature to it... There is still a mystery to it. As a location, it bridges the gap between science-fiction and science fact. We (humankind) have been there. It is something so close and so plausible and yet at the same time, we really don't know that much about it." The director described the lack of romance in the Moon as a location, citing images from the Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE
, "It's the desolation and emptiness of it... it looks like some strange ball of clay in blackness... Look at photos and you'll think that they're monochrome. In fact, they're not. There simply are no primary colours." Jones made reference to the photography book Full Moon by Michael Light in designing the look of the film.
Moon' s budget was $
5 million. The director took steps to minimise production costs, such as keeping the cast small and filming in a studio. Moon was produced at Shepperton Studios
, in London
, where it was filmed in 33 days. Jones preferred using models instead of digital animation. Jones worked with Bill Pearson, the supervising model maker on Alien, to help design the lunar rover
s and helium-3 harvesters in the film. The moon base was created as a full 360-degree set, measuring 85–90 ft (25.9–27.4 m) long and approximately 70 feet (21.3 m) wide. The film's robot, GERTY, was designed to be bound to an overhead rail within the mining base since its mechanical tether was critical to the story's plot. The visual effects were provided by Cinesite
, which has sought cut-price deals with independent films. Since Jones had an effects background with TV advertisements, he drew on his past experiences in creating special effects within a small budget.
Clint Mansell
's theme tune for the movie makes a surprising appearance on a trailer for the film The Iron Lady
.
International sales for Moon are handled by the Independent sales company. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group
acquired distribution rights to the film for English-speaking territories. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group was considering making Moon a straight-to-video release: however, after Moon premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival
in January 2009, Sony Pictures Classics
decided to handle this film's theatrical release for Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. Sony Pictures Classics distributed the film in the United States in cinemas, beginning with screenings in selected cinemas in New York and Los Angeles on 12 June. The film's British premiere was held on 20 June 2009 at the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh as part of the 63rd Edinburgh International Film Festival. Jones was present at the screening along with other key crew members. The full UK release was on 17 July. The Australian release was on 8 October.
, based on 173 reviews, and holds an 8.0 rating on IMDb, ranking in the 'Top Rated "Sci-Fi" Titles'. Moon received positive reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. Damon Wise of The Times
praised Jones' "thoughtful" direction and Rockwell's "poignant" performance. Wise wrote of the film's approach to the science fiction genre, "Though it uses impressive sci-fi trappings to tell its story—the fabulous models and moonscapes are recognisably retro yet surprisingly real—this is a film about what it means, and takes, to be human." Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter
applauded screenwriter Nathan Parker's "sharp [and] individualistic" dialogue and the way in which Parker combined science fiction and Big Brother
themes. Byrge also believed that cinematographer Gary Shaw's work and composer Clint Mansell
's music intensified the drama. Byrge wrote, "Nonetheless, Moon is darkened by its own excellencies: the white, claustrophobic look is apt and moody, but a lack of physical action enervates the story thrust." The critic felt mixed about the star's performance, describing him as "adept at limning his character's dissolution" but finding that he did not have "the audacious, dominant edge" for the major confrontation at the end of the film.
Empire
magazine praised Rockwell's performance, including it in '10 Egregious Oscar Snubs - The worthy contenders that the Academy overlooked' feature and referred to his performance as "one... of the best performances of the year."
Roger Ebert
gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, saying, "Moon is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction
, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital. John W. Campbell Jr.
, the godfather of this genre, would have approved. The movie is really all about ideas. It only seems to be about emotions. How real are our emotions, anyway? How real are we? Someday I will die. This laptop I'm using is patient and can wait."
, at the request of a professor there. "He'd been reading online that we'd done this film about Helium-3
mining and that's something that people at NASA are working on," says Jones. "We did a Q&A afterward. They asked me why the base looked so sturdy, like a bunker, and not like the kind of stuff they are designing that they are going to transport with them. I said 'Well, in the future I assume you won't want to continue carrying everything with you, you'll want to use the resources on the moon to build things' and a woman in the audience raised her hand and said, 'I'm actually working on something called Mooncrete
, which is concrete that mixes lunar regolith
and ice water from the moon's polar caps.'"
British Independent Film Awards 2009
Chlotrudis Awards 2010
Fantastic'Arts
2010
Hugo Award
s 2010
to Moon. Should the project progress to a film, "Sam has agreed to do a little cameo in the next film," says Jones, who ultimately hopes to complete a trilogy of films set in the same fictional universe
.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3
Helium-3
Helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research...
on the far side of the Earth's moon. It is the feature debut of director Duncan Jones
Duncan Jones
Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones , also known as Zowie Bowie is an English film director, best known for directing the science fiction films Moon and Source Code .-Childhood and family life:...
. Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
stars as the employee Sam Bell, and Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
voices his robot companion, GERTY. Moon premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released in selected theatres in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on 12 June 2009. The release was expanded to additional theatres in the United States and Toronto on both 3 and 10 July and was released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 17 July.
This film was the British Independent Film Awards
British Independent Film Awards
The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...
(BIFA) winner of the 2009 award for the Best British Independent Film
British Independent Film Awards 2009
The 12th British Independent Film Awards, held on 6 December 2009 at The Brewery in West London, honoured the best British independent films of 2009.-Best British Independent Film:* Moon* An Education* Fish Tank* In The Loop...
. Director Duncan Jones was also awarded the BIFA Douglas Hickox Award.
The film was also nominated for two BAFTAs at the 2010 awards. It won the award for "Outstanding Debut by a British writer, director or producer".
Plot
Lunar Industries employee Sam Bell (Sam RockwellSam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
) is contracted to work for three years at the largely automated "Sarang" lunar base ("sarang" means "love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
" in Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
and is written in hangeul on the walls of the base), with only an artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
assistant named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
) for company. His job is to oversee the automated harvesters which extract helium-3
Helium-3
Helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research...
from the lunar regolith
Regolith
Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
. He periodically sends full canisters to Earth, where the helium-3 is used to generate much-needed clean fusion energy. Chronic communications satellite problems limit him to occasional recorded messages to and from his wife Tess (Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott is an Irish television and film actress, appearing primarily in independent films. She starred in Moon alongside Sam Rockwell as well as the RTÉ series Raw before leaving to film Leap Year...
), who was pregnant with their daughter Eve when he left.
Two weeks before he is to return to Earth, Sam begins to hallucinate, briefly seeing a teenage girl on the station. During a routine rover excursion to retrieve a full canister from one of the harvesting machines, he sees a figure standing on the lunar surface. Distracted, he crashes his rover into the harvester and starts losing air. Sam hurriedly puts on his helmet before losing consciousness.
Sam awakens in the base infirmary, with GERTY asking if he remembers the accident which put him there. Sam does not, but GERTY assures him that this is not uncommon. Sam's suspicions are aroused when he eavesdrops on a live communication between GERTY and Lunar Industries executives and learns that GERTY has been instructed not to allow him outside the base. A message informs him that rescue team "Eliza" is on the way to repair the damaged harvester.
Sam sabotages a gas pipe in the base to convince GERTY to allow him outside to check for "micro-meteoroid damage". He heads for the damaged harvester and finds someone barely alive in the crashed rover: himself. Sam brings the person back to the base, where GERTY identifies both him and the injured person as Sam Bell.
The two Sams struggle to come to grips with each other's existence, each believing the other to be a clone
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
. Eventually they are forced to realize they are both clones after GERTY confirms as much, and that the real Sam is back on Earth, after finishing his mission 12 years earlier, not realizing that clones of him are being put to work so as not to have to continually send up new workers. GERTY also revealing that the "accident" the second Sam recovered from is simply part of the standard clone awakening process, and that their memories of Tess and Eve are implants taken from the real Sam Bell.
Exploring outside, the Sams find a series of antennas jamming communication with Earth. The injured Sam becomes progressively weaker, forcing him to return to base after he vomits blood and, later, loses a tooth. With GERTY's assistance he discovers video logs of previous clones working and becoming increasingly ill, with symptoms including hair loss and spontaneous bleeding. Ultimately the clones are shown getting into what they are told is a "hibernation" pod for the journey home, which instead incinerates them once they are asleep. After some searching, the two Sams find a previously unsuspected lower level, which houses an extensive cache of unawakened clones.
The sick Sam then takes a rover beyond the range of the jamming and calls home. Obscuring his videophone
Videophone
A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
's camera, he is shocked when his daughter Eve, now 15 years old, answers. He learns that Tess died "some years ago". Before Eve can get her father to deal with her mysterious caller, Sam hangs up.
With the "rescue" team only hours away, the Sams know that they will be killed if they are both found at the base. The healthy Sam proposes sending the sick one back to Earth in a helium delivery vessel, reasoning that he is the more deserving since he "did the three years". He gets GERTY to start awakening another clone to put in the damaged rover to take the sick Sam's place. However, the sick Sam insists that the healthy Sam go instead while he returns to the rover to die, with the third clone left to man the station when the rescue team shows up.
GERTY points out that its records must be erased for the scheme to work; it gets the healthy Sam to wipe its memory by rebooting it. Before leaving, the second Sam also redirects a harvester to crash into a jammer antenna to ensure that all new clones can freely communicate with Earth. The helium-3 delivery vehicle containing Sam launches for Earth, and is seen by the sick Sam in his final moments, giving him the solace of knowing that his clone had made it off the Mining Base.
Newscast voice-overs in many languages detail the consequences of Sam's return to Earth: Lunar Industries' stock price crashes following accusations of criminal activities, and "Clone 6" gives testimony at a Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
meeting in Seattle.
Cast
- Sam RockwellSam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
as Sam Bell Clone #5 - Kevin SpaceyKevin SpaceyKevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
as the voice of GERTY - Dominique McElligottDominique McElligottDominique McElligott is an Irish television and film actress, appearing primarily in independent films. She starred in Moon alongside Sam Rockwell as well as the RTÉ series Raw before leaving to film Leap Year...
as Tess Bell - Kaya ScodelarioKaya ScodelarioKaya Rose Scodelario is a British actress and model. She is best known for her role as Effy Stonem in the E4 drama Skins.-Skins :...
as Eve Bell - Benedict WongBenedict WongBenedict Wong is an English actor and comedian.Wong was born in Manchester and attended school in Salford. His first role was in a 1993 BBC Radio play called Kai Mei Sauce, written by Kevin Wong. He appeared alongside Sean Lock in the situation comedy 15 Storeys High, and as Dr. Franklin Fu in the...
as Lunar Industries' Thompson - Matt BerryMatt BerryMatthew Charles "Matt" Berry is an English actor, writer, comedian and musician. Berry is perhaps best known for his appearances in The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and The Mighty Boosh; he also had his own series, Snuff Box...
as Lunar Industries' Overmeyers - Malcolm StewartMalcolm Stewart (actor)Malcolm Stewart is an Canadian film actor. Stewart graduated from the University of Vermont.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
as 'The Technician' - Robin ChalkRobin ChalkRobin Chalk is an English actor, best known for his role as Neil Kellerman in the West End production of Dirty Dancing and his work on British science-fiction film Moon directed by Duncan Jones.-Biography:...
as Sam Bell Clone #6
Production
Moon is the first feature film directed by commercial director Duncan JonesDuncan Jones
Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones , also known as Zowie Bowie is an English film director, best known for directing the science fiction films Moon and Source Code .-Childhood and family life:...
, who co-wrote the script with Nathan Parker. The film was specifically written as a vehicle for actor Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
. The film pays homage to the films of Jones' youth, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
(1968), Silent Running
Silent Running
Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...
(1972), Solaris
Solaris (1972 film)
Solaris is a 1972 film adaptation of the novel Solaris , directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. The film is a meditative psychological drama occurring mostly aboard a space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris. The scientific mission has stalled, because the scientist crew have fallen to...
(1972), Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
(1979), Outland
Outland (film)
Outland is a 1981 British science fiction thriller film written and directed by Peter Hyams.Set on Jupiter's moon Io, it has been described as a space Western, and bears thematic resemblances to High Noon....
(1981), and THX 1138
THX 1138
THX 1138 is a 1971 science fiction film directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. The film is based on a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch...
(1971). Jones described the intent, "[We] wanted to create something which felt comfortable within that canon of those science fiction films from the sort of late seventies to early eighties." The director spoke of his interest in the lunar setting: "for me, the Moon has this weird mythic nature to it... There is still a mystery to it. As a location, it bridges the gap between science-fiction and science fact. We (humankind) have been there. It is something so close and so plausible and yet at the same time, we really don't know that much about it." The director described the lack of romance in the Moon as a location, citing images from the Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE
SELENE
SELENE , better known in Japan by its nickname after the legendary Japanese moon princess, was the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft. Produced by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the National Space Development Agency , both now part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration...
, "It's the desolation and emptiness of it... it looks like some strange ball of clay in blackness... Look at photos and you'll think that they're monochrome. In fact, they're not. There simply are no primary colours." Jones made reference to the photography book Full Moon by Michael Light in designing the look of the film.
Moon
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
5 million. The director took steps to minimise production costs, such as keeping the cast small and filming in a studio. Moon was produced at Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where it was filmed in 33 days. Jones preferred using models instead of digital animation. Jones worked with Bill Pearson, the supervising model maker on Alien, to help design the lunar rover
Lunar rover
The Lunar Roving Vehicle or lunar rover was a battery-powered four-wheeled rover used on the Moon in the last three missions of the American Apollo program during 1971 and 1972...
s and helium-3 harvesters in the film. The moon base was created as a full 360-degree set, measuring 85–90 ft (25.9–27.4 m) long and approximately 70 feet (21.3 m) wide. The film's robot, GERTY, was designed to be bound to an overhead rail within the mining base since its mechanical tether was critical to the story's plot. The visual effects were provided by Cinesite
Cinesite
Cinesite Ltd is a digital visual effects and post-production facility in London and one of the largest such companies in Europe...
, which has sought cut-price deals with independent films. Since Jones had an effects background with TV advertisements, he drew on his past experiences in creating special effects within a small budget.
Clint Mansell
Clint Mansell
Clinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself....
's theme tune for the movie makes a surprising appearance on a trailer for the film The Iron Lady
The Iron Lady (film)
The Iron Lady is an upcoming biographical film about former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, portrayed by Meryl Streep. Thatcher's husband, Denis Thatcher, will be portrayed by Jim Broadbent, and Thatcher's longest-serving cabinet member and eventual deputy, Geoffrey Howe, will be...
.
Release
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The company specializes in acquiring and producing films for a wide variety of distribution platforms, but the group's main focus is non-theatrical markets .SPWA was formerly a division of Sony Pictures Home...
acquired distribution rights to the film for English-speaking territories. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group was considering making Moon a straight-to-video release: however, after Moon premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival
2009 Sundance Film Festival
The 2009 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 15, 2009 until January 25 in Park City, Utah. It was the 25th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival.-Award winners:*Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - We Live in Public...
in January 2009, Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
decided to handle this film's theatrical release for Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. Sony Pictures Classics distributed the film in the United States in cinemas, beginning with screenings in selected cinemas in New York and Los Angeles on 12 June. The film's British premiere was held on 20 June 2009 at the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh as part of the 63rd Edinburgh International Film Festival. Jones was present at the screening along with other key crew members. The full UK release was on 17 July. The Australian release was on 8 October.
Box office
Moon grossed £700,394 from its domestic release, $3,370,366 from its U.S. release and $9,760,104 worldwide.Critical reception
The film currently holds a 90% "Fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 173 reviews, and holds an 8.0 rating on IMDb, ranking in the 'Top Rated "Sci-Fi" Titles'. Moon received positive reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. Damon Wise of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
praised Jones' "thoughtful" direction and Rockwell's "poignant" performance. Wise wrote of the film's approach to the science fiction genre, "Though it uses impressive sci-fi trappings to tell its story—the fabulous models and moonscapes are recognisably retro yet surprisingly real—this is a film about what it means, and takes, to be human." Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
applauded screenwriter Nathan Parker's "sharp [and] individualistic" dialogue and the way in which Parker combined science fiction and Big Brother
Authoritarian personality
-Historical Origins:Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson and Sanford compiled a large body of research and theory , which attempted to characterize a personality type that described the “potentially fascistic individual”...
themes. Byrge also believed that cinematographer Gary Shaw's work and composer Clint Mansell
Clint Mansell
Clinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself....
's music intensified the drama. Byrge wrote, "Nonetheless, Moon is darkened by its own excellencies: the white, claustrophobic look is apt and moody, but a lack of physical action enervates the story thrust." The critic felt mixed about the star's performance, describing him as "adept at limning his character's dissolution" but finding that he did not have "the audacious, dominant edge" for the major confrontation at the end of the film.
Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine praised Rockwell's performance, including it in '10 Egregious Oscar Snubs - The worthy contenders that the Academy overlooked' feature and referred to his performance as "one... of the best performances of the year."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, saying, "Moon is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital. John W. Campbell Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
, the godfather of this genre, would have approved. The movie is really all about ideas. It only seems to be about emotions. How real are our emotions, anyway? How real are we? Someday I will die. This laptop I'm using is patient and can wait."
Reception from the scientific community
Moon was screened as part of a lecture series at NASA's Space Center HoustonSpace Center Houston
Space Center Houston is the official visitors' center of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight activities—located in Houston...
, at the request of a professor there. "He'd been reading online that we'd done this film about Helium-3
Helium-3
Helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It is rare on Earth, and is sought for use in nuclear fusion research...
mining and that's something that people at NASA are working on," says Jones. "We did a Q&A afterward. They asked me why the base looked so sturdy, like a bunker, and not like the kind of stuff they are designing that they are going to transport with them. I said 'Well, in the future I assume you won't want to continue carrying everything with you, you'll want to use the resources on the moon to build things' and a woman in the audience raised her hand and said, 'I'm actually working on something called Mooncrete
Lunarcrete
Lunarcrete, also known as "Mooncrete", an idea first proposed by Larry A. Beyer of the University of Pittsburgh in 1985, is a hypothetical aggregate building material, similar to concrete, formed from lunar regolith, that would cut the construction costs of building on the Moon.- Ingredients :Only...
, which is concrete that mixes lunar regolith
Regolith
Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons.-Etymology:...
and ice water from the moon's polar caps.'"
Awards and nominations
BAFTA Awards 201063rd British Academy Film Awards
The 63rd British Academy Film Awards, hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, took place on 21 February 2010 and honoured the best films of 2009. The Hurt Locker took home the most awards, receiving 6 BAFTAS...
- Alexander KordaAlexander KordaSir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
Award for Best British Film - nominated - Carl ForemanCarl ForemanCarl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:...
award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film
British Independent Film Awards 2009
British Independent Film Awards 2009
The 12th British Independent Film Awards, held on 6 December 2009 at The Brewery in West London, honoured the best British independent films of 2009.-Best British Independent Film:* Moon* An Education* Fish Tank* In The Loop...
- Best British Independent Film
- Douglas HickoxDouglas HickoxDouglas Hickox was an English film director. Hickox was born in London, where he was educated at Emanuel School. Hickox worked extensively as an assistant director and second unit director throughout the 50's and early 60's, making his first major picture in 1970...
Award for Duncan JonesDuncan JonesDuncan Zowie Haywood Jones , also known as Zowie Bowie is an English film director, best known for directing the science fiction films Moon and Source Code .-Childhood and family life:... - Best Actor nomination for Sam RockwellSam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
(nomination) - Best Director nomination for Duncan Jones (nomination)
- Best Screenplay nomination for Nathan Parker (nomination)
- Technical Achievement, Original Score nomination for Clint MansellClint MansellClinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself....
(nomination) - Technical Achievement, Production Design nomination for Tony Noble (nomination)
Chlotrudis Awards 2010
Chlotrudis Awards 2010
The 16th Annual Chlotrudis Awards were presented March 21, 2010 by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Honoring the best of the past year's independent, documentary and international film, the awards ceremony took place at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Special guest Beth...
- Best Actor nomination for Sam RockwellSam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
(nomination) - Best Production (nomination)
Fantastic'Arts
Fantastic'Arts
The Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer is an international festival of horror and science fiction films which has been held each year since 1994 in Gérardmer in the Vosges, France towards the end of January...
2010
- Special Prize
- Critics' Prize
Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
s 2010
- Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Sequels
Jones is planning a follow-up graphic novel, titled Mute, which will serve as an epilogueEpilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
to Moon. Should the project progress to a film, "Sam has agreed to do a little cameo in the next film," says Jones, who ultimately hopes to complete a trilogy of films set in the same fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
.