I loved Moon, the glorious, gritty yet dream-like old school sci-fi thriller directed by Duncan ‘Son Of Ziggy Stardust’ Jones. It’s hard to describe the film in any detail without immediately giving too much away, but I will say that Sam Rockwell delivers a tremendous and, er, multi-dimensional lead performance. Now, admittedly the trailer makes Moon look very derivative – little more than an extended homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Silent Running 1972), Solaris (1972), Dark Star (1974), Blade Runner (1982) and more recent efforts like Event Horizon (1997), Solaris (2002) and Sunshine (2007). However, be assured that it DOES have its own thing going on as well. And where the Event Horizon-type films generally start well before veering off into tiresome gothic horror, Moon’s great strength is that everything in it happens for a reason. In that sense, it also reminds me a little of Gattaca (1997), in a good way.
An important component of the film’s success is the atmospheric original music by Clint Mansell. Once the hell-raising frontman with ‘80s Black Country ‘Grebo’ pioneers Pop Will Eat Itself, Mansell has this year reached the first rank of film composers. His work on The Wrestler (2008) was the culmination of a decade-long partnership with director Darren Aronofsky, but Mansell is probably best known for the epic Lux Aeterna from Requiem For a Dream (2000), which most people recognise as the Lord of the Rings trailer music.
Have a listen to ‘Welcome To Lunar Industries’ at www.myspace.com/clintmansell – Moon's thrilling main theme, it sounds like Michael Nyman jamming in space with Eno-era Roxy Music and, yes, David Bowie. It’s a ten-minute track that really kicks in around the 2 minute 45 seconds mark.
Moon is released in the UK on Friday 17 July 2009.
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