"Moon 2112" is an American low-budget science fiction film directed and written by Duncan Jones. It was released in 2009. The main roles were played by Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey. Received excellent reviews from viewers and critics.
Producer
Duncan Jones is the son of world famous musician David Bowie from his first marriage. In his youth, he studied philosophy at the university, but soon turned his attention to film production. He worked as a cameraman, video game scriptwriter and director of commercials. In 2006, he became famous for his provocative advertising campaign for the fashion brand FCUK. After the premiere of a video to promote a new clothing line in which two women are fighting, more than a hundred complaints were written by various committees and individuals to the Advertising Control Agency.
The idea and casting
The debut feature film of Duncan Jones was supposed to be the science-fiction thriller "Dumb", which premiered recently on the Netflix platform. When the director came to Sam Rockwell with a request to play one of the secondary roles, he asked to give him the central party. The Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard has already been appointed to this place. However, Jones wanted to work with the future Oscar winner so much that he co-authored with Nathan Parker the script for The Moon 2112. Sam Rockwell was the first choice for the role of Sam Bell, however, according to the director, if the actor refused, the Briton Paddy Considine would portray the main character on the screen.
The second main role, the voice of the robot Gerti, was offered to Kevin Spacey. He agreed on one condition: first, he will watch the finished film, and then, if he likes the final product, he will voice his remarks. However, dubbing the "Moon 2112" into Russian deprived the Russian audience of the opportunity to enjoy the acting game of the Oscar winner. Viewers who watched the picture in the original noted that Spacey, when playing the role of the robot, was guided by Hal from the legendary "Space Odyssey" Stanley Kubrick.
The other actors in the movie "Moon 2112" appear only in episodes. The role of Sam’s daughter was played by the model and actress Kaya Scodelario known in the future.
Filming
The movie "Moon 2112" was filmed in just thirty-three days with a record low budget of five million dollars. Filming in kind took only eight days. Thanks to the strike of scriptwriters in 2009, the movie "Moon 2112" was able to get the best masters for special effects for almost nothing, because most of the filming was stopped before the end of the strike.
During the filming process, Duncan Jones emphasized practical special effects without resorting to computer graphics and a green screen. Due to this, the reviews for the movie "Moon 2112" contain many comparisons with the science fiction of the seventies and eighties of the last century. But all of them are mostly good.
Plot plot
Description of "Moon 2112" is filled with spoilers. The plot of the picture is built on unexpected twists and revelations, so this can ruin the viewing experience. The movie "Moon 2112" takes place in 2035. The protagonist Sam Bell is completing his three-year contract to work on the extraction of helium isotopes on the lunar surface. This resource allows you to delay a terrible energy crisis on Earth. Sam works for the huge Lunar Corporation.
The only companion of the protagonist is a robot named Gerti. Communication with the home planet is broken as a result of the breakdown of the communication station, the only way to communicate with the family is through video messages that come with a long delay. Sam's house is waiting for his wife and little daughter.
Two weeks before heading home, Sam realizes that he is having mental health problems. Having gone for another portion of helium to one of the lunar craters, he sees a strange hallucination and gets into an accident on a lunar rover.
Development of events
Sam Bell wakes up in the medical compartment of the ship, but can not remember either the accident, or how he got here. By chance, the hero witnesses a session of Gerti's direct connection with the Earth. Sam begins to suspect something is wrong. He goes to the scene of the accident, where he discovers a broken moon rover and his identical twin.
The wounded man claims that he is the real Sam Bell. Men cannot find a common language, quarrel and even fight. But soon they begin to work together and with the help of Gerty, who, according to the basic laws of robotics, should primarily help people, find out the truth.
In fact, both of them are clones of the real Sam Bell, who lives on Earth. He donated his genetic material and memories to produce an infinite number of clones. The main characters discover suspended animation capsules with sleeping twins. In fact, returning home in a special capsule is the destruction of the old clone.
Also, both Sam find that communication with the Earth is suppressed by special installations. After a direct communication session with the house, they understand that the wife from their implanted memories is dead, and the daughter is not three years old, but as many as fifteen.
Lunar Corporation sends a special group to Sam's place of residence. The official reason is the repair of a broken isotope extraction plant. However, the heroes understand that the real goal of the villains is to kill both of them and avoid publicity.
Ending
The plot of "Moon 2112" begins to gain momentum. The second Sam comes up with a rescue plan. He asks Gertie to revive the third clone, then to kill him, put him in a broken lunar rover, send the first Sam to Earth with a working rocket, and stay at the station himself and pretend that everything is fine.
But the first Sam is against killing his own kind. His condition is rapidly deteriorating, apparently, the life of the clones is strictly limited to three years. He decides to sit in a broken moon rover and die, the second Sam goes to Earth, and the third clone remains at the station. To avoid the risk of being discovered, Gerti asks the clones to reboot themselves and erase all memories of what happened.
On the way home, Sam Bell intentionally destroys jammers and opens up the possibility of a direct connection with the Earth. The first Sam dies at the scene of the accident, while Lunar special forces are being selected for him.
Excerpts from news coverage of a lawsuit against the corporation are heard in the last frames of the film. In Duncan Jones’s film "Dumb" there is a small scene of the live broadcast of the court session, where Sam Bell's clones are suing their prototype.
Critic reviews
In 2009, the movie "Moon 2112" was presented at the Sundance Film Festival. The first reviews of critics were more than supportive. Journalists especially noted the acting work of Sam Rockwell and the thoughtful script of the picture. Most reviews of the movie Moon 2112 from professional critics are positive. The same is true with user reviews. Professional critics also noted the confident direction of debutant Duncan Jones and the work with special effects in the film.
Metacritic, which gives an average rating for all reviews, shows that the reviews for the movie “Moon 2112” have 67 points out of a hundred. The famous film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four.
At the end of the year, the film was prophesied with many nominations for prestigious awards. The film won the BAFTA Award for Best British Debut and was nominated for Best British Film. Also, the plot of "Moon 2112" was awarded screenwriting awards for specialized science fiction awards and the Screenwriters Guild Award in Britain.
However, the acting work of Sam Rockwell was deprived of nominations and awards. At the end of the year, the reputable Empire magazine included the absence of an actor among the contenders for the award in the list of ten major disappointments of the Oscars.
Viewers reaction
Spectator reviews for the movie "Moon 2112" were also positive. At the moment, the picture has a decent rating: 7.9 points out of ten on the IMDB website and 7.5 on Kinopoisk.
However, despite the positive reaction from dedicated fans of science fiction and genre films, the general public ignored the film. At the box office, the picture raised just $ 9.5 million, barely returning its production budget. Over the past nine years, the picture has become a cult of its kind and has gained wider fame among the average viewer.
Legacy and influence
The movie "Moon 2112" is on many lists of the best science fiction films of the 21st century. In addition, Empire magazine and the online movie portal They shoot pictures, don't they? included the picture in the lists of the best films of this century, regardless of genre.
Duncan Jones has established himself as an outstanding young director with this work. His next project, the thriller Source Code, also received excellent reviews from critics and performed well at the box office. In the wake of success, the director was seen as the director of a new film about Superman and the seventh episode of Star Wars. However, Jones decided to take up the film adaptation of the legendary Warcraft video game. The film did not return the money spent at the box office and received mostly negative criticism. After that, the director returned to low-budget genre films and shot the cyberpunk thriller “Dumb”, which takes place in the same universe with “Moon 2112”.