Phasing the mind with lunacy.

Rating: 6/10 (3 September 2009)

A Robinson Crusoe in space? Well, apparently not, this is far deeper than the basic isolationist narrative. Set on the surface of the sleeping satellite, this is as far reaching from home as it could be. For all things indifferent, this plot could well have been set in a deep mine, the highest tower or the most offshore island, but the moon it is, it makes for a fitting and just location for paranoia, confusion and lunar lunacy.
At first, it seems that we have a Silent Running (1972) scenario here, minus the crews, but as we delve deeper into the life of Sam Bell, it is apparent that it is he alone who has the arduous task of keeping his strength and sanity at the forefront of his mind, body and soul. As this space flick progress, it becomes apparent that it has more in common with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), albeit similar internal settings, the singular space crew and the infamous independent thinking robot assistant, here called GERTY as opposed to 2001's HAL. It is all in a setting and scale that can be very quickly assessed that this parallel world to 2001 is only as strong as its own blend of involvement in this genre.
It's a fine visual environment that when seen on the big screen has its impressive moments that any half-decent sci-fi movie can throw at you, a moderate set-piece and the wide shots of the lunar surface and that of the far distant earth does not miss the mark. It may not be as deep and as rich as Sir Ridley Scott's mother-ship we see in Alien (1979) or complex as Daiana Win Jônzu's house with legs in Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle (2004) but Moon is centred not on aesthetics and wonderment but inner sanctum.
The wonderful tone here taps into the subject of isolation and a slow uncertain doubt that brings on the traits of a lifestyle of living alone for three years and the breakdown of the mind and impending madness. However, all is not what it seems, we know that Sam Bell works for the "Industry" and that his three year work schedule has just two weeks to finalise, but at the same time his mental state is, strangely, becoming more unstable, more degenerative as this two week wait is coming to its end.
To confuse matters still, there is the arrival of a doppelgänger, the walking, talking reflective self that has materialised from thin-air, a second body with identical features, both internally and physically exact. Who is this second Sam Bell? How did he arrive at this moon station? Why is he here? More importantly, why does he look, sound and behave exactly as the first Sam Bell? Probing questions for those who think themselves sane and in control. This, the underlined narrative, is what Moon sets out to achieve, are we truly in control of our destiny, our lives, and more to the point, our own demise? It is with solace that Moon has the answer, from turning away from self-pitying loneliness and turning outward to rejoin the human-race by relying on dedicated alliances of instincts of survival and comradeship. The moon is a dead, soulless satellite, and as metaphors go, it works well, the connection between lunar life and lunar (Luna, Latin for moon) thoughts is a fine line.
Reconnecting back to the human-race and denouncing the industrial age and its technologies, and all that it entails, is that binds us, and at worst, bleeds the soul dry of individuality and purpose. This too is the under current of Moon, a small claustrophobic setting set against the vastness of the human spirit. To survive. To live. To be human.
This blurring of the soul into a Fritz Lang Metropolis (1927) with man and machine, George Orwell's "Animal Farm" of man and pigs and Steven Spielberg's reworking of the Carlo Collodi's classic Pinocchio fable with Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), where puppet instinctively knows the difference between controlled actions and free will shows that the eroding self from conformity and complacency can, in time, do irreversible damage. Moon shows the positive aspects of life, even in the darkest, furthest regions of space, mind, body and soul.