name	Moon
director	Duncan Jones
producer	Stuart FeneganTrudie Styler
writer	Nathan ParkerDuncan Jones
starring	Sam RockwellKevin SpaceyDominique McElligottRobin Chalk
music	Clint Mansell
cinematography	Gary Shaw
editing	Nicolas Gaster
studio	Stage 6 Films
distributor	Sony Pictures Classics
released
runtime	97 minutes
country
language	English
budget	$5 million
gross	$9,760,104 }}

''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".

Plot

Lunar Industries employee Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) 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, 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.

Cast

Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell

Kevin Spacey as the voice of GERTY

Dominique McElligott as Tess Bell

Kaya Scodelario as Eve Bell

Benedict Wong as Lunar Industries' Thompson

Matt Berry as Lunar Industries' Overmeyers

Malcolm Stewart as 'The Technician'

Robin Chalk as Sam Bell Clone (body double)

Production

''Moon'' is the first feature film directed by commercial director Duncan Jones, 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 referenced 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, London, England, 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 rovers and helium-3 harvesters in the film. The moon base was created as a full 360-degree set, measuring long and approximately 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 commercials, he drew on his past experiences in creating special effects within a small budget.

Reception

Release

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.

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 Tomatoes, 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."

Reception from the scientific community

''Moon'' was screened as part of a lecture series at NASA's Space Center Houston, 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.'"

Awards and nominations

; BAFTA Awards 2010

Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film - nominated

Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film

; British Independent Film Awards 2009

Best British Independent Film

Douglas Hickox Award for Duncan Jones

Best Actor nomination for Sam Rockwell (nomination)

Best Director nomination for Duncan Jones (nomination)

Best Screenplay nomination for Nathan Parker (nomination)

Technical Achievement, Original Score nomination for Clint Mansell (nomination)

Technical Achievement, Production Design nomination for Tony Noble (nomination)

; Chlotrudis Awards 2010

Best Actor nomination for Sam Rockwell (nomination)

Best Production (nomination)

; Fantastic'Arts 2010

Special Prize

Critics' Prize

; Hugo Awards 2010

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Sequels

Jones is planning a follow-up graphic novel, titled ''Mute'', which will serve as an epilogue 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.

References

External links

Category:2009 films Category:British films Category:English-language films Category:2000s science fiction films Category:British science fiction films Category:Cloning in fiction Category:Directorial debut films Category:Hugo Award Winners for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Category:Moon-related films Category:Solitude in fiction Category:Sony Pictures Classics films

bg:Луна (филм) ca:Moon da:Moon (film) de:Moon (Film) es:Moon (película) eo:Luno (filmo) fr:Moon (film) ko:더 문 id:Moon (film) it:Moon (film) hu:Hold (film) nl:Moon (film) ja:月に囚われた男 no:Moon pl:Moon (film) pt:Moon (filme) ru:Луна 2112 sv:Moon (film) zh:月球 (电影)

name	Clint Mansell
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	Clinton Darryl Mansell
birth date	January 07, 1963
origin	Coventry, England
genre	ClassicalContemporary classicalElectronicAlternative
occupation	Musician, Composer
years active	1981–present
associated acts	Pop Will Eat Itself
website	clintmansell.com
notable instruments	}}

Clinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, (born 7 January 1963) is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself.

After the disbanding of Pop Will Eat Itself in 1996, Mansell was introduced to film scoring when his friend, director Darren Aronofsky, hired him to score his debut film, ''π''. Mansell then wrote the score for the next Aronofsky film, ''Requiem for a Dream'', which has been well received. Its main composition "Lux Æterna" has become extremely popular, appearing in a wide variety of advertisements and film trailers.

Mansell's composition for ''The Fountain'' was nominated for Best Original Score at the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards. His other notable film scores include ''Moon'', ''Smokin' Aces'', ''The Wrestler'', and ''Black Swan''.

Career

Pop career

Mansell was the lead singer and guitarist of the British band Pop Will Eat Itself. When PWEI signed to Nothing Records, Mansell became friends with Trent Reznor, and he also performed back-up vocals on the 1999 album ''The Fragile'' by Nine Inch Nails.

Soundtrack composer

Mansell's score for Darren Aronofsky's ''π'' was followed up by his score for Aronofsky's next film, ''Requiem for a Dream'', which became a cult hit. Since their first collaboration in 1996, Mansell has composed the music to every Aronofsky film.

Other notable achievements include the theme for the film ''The Hole'', the music for the pilot episode of ''CSI: NY'', and the score for Aronofsky's later films ''The Fountain'', which was nominated for Best Original Score in the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards, and ''The Wrestler''. Mansell has also contributed the score to HBO's Voyeur. The song was also used as the base theme for the song "Throw It Up" by Lil Jon. His most recent work has been on the soundtrack for ''Black Swan'' in 2010.

Mansell has garnered a cult following for his soundtrack work, so much that ''Smokin' Aces'' director Joe Carnahan admits to receiving "blatant threats" when the soundtrack was released without much of Mansell's score for the film.

Film trailers

The trailer for ''The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' contained a rearranged version of the track "Lux Æterna", using a full orchestra and choir. The piece, named "Requiem for a Tower", was recorded especially for the trailer. The orchestration was arranged by Simone Benyacar, Dan Nielsen, and Veigar Margeirsson.

"Lux Æterna" has since become popular, with both the original and the "Requiem for a Tower" version having appeared in a wide variety of advertisements and trailers, including the trailer for the Red Sox–Yankees games in the 2007 Major League Baseball season, and trailers for the films ''Zathura'', ''The Da Vinci Code'', ''Sunshine'', ''Babylon A.D.'' and the TV series ''Lost'' and ''Top Gear''. It was also used on Sky Sports News and as the theme for ''Soccer Saturday'' from 2007-2009. In 2006, the theme was used in EuroSport LIVE trailers. The theme was also used by ''America's Got Talent'' as an introduction of the judges before being changed slightly. The new variant is now a regular piece on the show.

The piece "Death Is the Road to Awe" from the score for ''The Fountain'' was featured in a trailer for the 2007 film ''I Am Legend'', and the trailer for the film ''The Mist'', as well as the trailer for the film ''Frost/Nixon'', and toward the end of 2007 The Final Cut trailer for ''Blade Runner''.

Scoring credits

''Pi'', 1998

''Requiem for a Dream'', 2000

''World Traveler'', 2001

''The Hole'', 2001

''Knockaround Guys'', 2001

''Rain'', 2001

''Abandon'', 2002

''Murder by Numbers'', 2002

''Sonny'', 2002

''The Hire: Ticker'', 2002

''11:14'', 2003

''Suspect Zero'', 2004

''Sahara'', 2005

''Doom'', 2005

''The Fountain'', 2006

''Trust the Man'', 2006

''Smokin' Aces'', 2006

''Wind Chill'', 2007

''In The Wall'', 2007

''Definitely, Maybe'', 2008

''The Wrestler'', 2008

''Blood: The Last Vampire, 2009

''Moon'', 2009

''L'affaire Farewell'', 2009

''The Rebound'', 2010

''Black Swan'', 2010

''Last Night'', 2010

''Faster'', 2010

''United'', 2011

''Mass Effect 3'', 2012 (TBA)

References

External links

Mansell at Yahoo Movies

Mansell at Rotten Tomatoes

Interview focusing on Pop Will Eat Itself

The Wrestler Score review

Two and a Half Questions with Clint Mansell on Headphone Commute (2009)

Category:1963 births Category:British indie rock musicians Category:English film score composers Category:Living people Category:People from Coventry

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