Moon
Short description
Sam Bell is nearing the end of a three-year contract at a lunar facility, where he works alone except for GERTY, a computer assistant. The station supports the extraction of helium-3, a resource that has eased Earth's energy problems. With his return home approaching, Sam's isolation and distance from his wife and daughter weigh on him, and strange occurrences around the base raise doubts about what his employer, Lunar, has told him. An accident disrupts his routine and leads him toward unsettling discoveries about the station and his own situation.
Duncan Jones directed Moon, his first feature, from a screenplay by Nathan Parker. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, with Kevin Spacey providing the voice of GERTY; Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario and Rosie Shaw appear as members of Sam's family. Released in 2009, the British-American production cost about 5 million dollars and took roughly 10 million dollars worldwide, a return that reflects its modest scale rather than wide mainstream reach.
On IMDb, Moon holds 7.8/10 from around 393,000 votes, and on TMDB it has 7.6/10 from about 6,522 votes. A critics' rating of 7.7/10 from 194 reviews places it close to the audience scores. Jones followed it with Source Code, Warcraft, Mute and Rogue Trooper.
What's left behind the scenes
- Four mining modules are named after the authors of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
- The film was shot in 33 days.
- The composition "Downfall" by the Canadian electro-industrial group Front Line Assembly uses a fragment from the film's soundtrack, as well as a scene of a decommissioned clone being destroyed in an incinerator.
- The name "SARANG" translates to "Love" from Korean.
- The film was shot during a screenwriters' strike, which halted many other projects. Director Duncan Jones says that thanks to the lull, he was able to assemble a team of first-rate special effects artists.
- Jones and his team didn't have enough money even for radio-controlled models; they literally pulled their moon buggies along with a string. The fishing line then had to be cleaned up on the computer.
- There is an episode in the film where the main character observes Earth from the rover's window, although the plot states that the station is located on the far side of the Moon. According to the director (in a commentary to the film), this is because Sam traveled so far from the station to establish direct communication with Earth that he ended up on the visible side of the Moon. At the station on the far side of the Moon, direct communication was jammed by equipment from the "Lunar" company.
- Scenes on the lunar surface were filmed using miniature models. Filming took more than three days.
- The yellow suit, which Sam-2 speaks so highly of ("Thank you for the suit! Great thing! Comfortable."), is actually a MusucBag sleeping bag.
- According to director Duncan Jones, the film was shown to some NASA specialists who inquired why the mining of H3 (helium-3) gas was conducted on the far side of the Moon when there is more of it on the near side. The choice of the far side of the Moon for gas extraction was explained by concerns about harming living organisms.
- The song that plays on Sam's alarm clock is the 1991 single by British performer Chesney Hawkes—"The One and Only".
- For entertainment, the main character watches the black and white comedy series "Bewitched" (1964-1972).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
