It must run in the family. Astrophilia that is. As most people who've bothered to google it have by now realised, 'Duncan Jones', although being the gentleman's legal name, is not in fact the one by which he is most well known*. That of course is Zowie Bowie**. His dear Papa went through his own star-gazing phase, a period in which he produced what is generally recognised as his strongest and most memorable music, so it's not necessarily any bad thing for the son to have launched himself*** by looking skywards.
Jones' directorial debut is the lo-fi sci-fi slow-burn zinger Moon. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is the sole inhabitant of a large lunar base established some years in the future after a powerful fuel is discovered in refined moon rock, thus 'solving' civilisation's addiction to cheap energy. Hurrah!
As the operation is almost completely mechanised, Bell leads a quiet life, finishing up his three year contract with Lunar Corp tending to his pot plants, whittling wood, watching recorded messages from his wife back on Earth or chatting to the base computer Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey), only occasionally being called upon when there's a hitch with the machinery. As he enters the final two weeks of his tenure however, poor old Sam begins to feel a bit peculiar and things start to go awry. Could he be going loony?****
Jones is quite happy to invoke the great cliches of space-bound sci-fi - creepy chicks that may or may not be hallucinations for example, or empty gung-ho rhetoric ('rock 'n roll and God Bless America!'), or an apparently benign omnipresent computer that possibly harbours nefarious directives - only for them to be subverted after the core event of the story occurs and the plot kicks into gear. For this he should be bought a nice bottle of wine and clapped heartily on the back.
Although the film is hampered by a number of niggling inconsistencies in its premise - that its lunar setting seems to have been chosen for its metaphorical and cultural resonances rather than for its believability for instance - these are minor when balanced against the extent of Jones' achievement.
Like the heavenly body for which it is named, Moon unfolds with unhurried poise, its myriad secrets calmly revealed one by one. Unlike so many movies that bear the tag 'sci-fi', the film follows its central problem through to its logical conclusion without resorting to fantasy or excessive action sequences to resolve or obscure the knotty questions raised. Sam Rockwell meanwhile gives a superb performance as the hapless Bell, anchoring the film in his complex emotional reality. Moon is a fantastic piece of cinema and because of its awesomeness should be seen by everyone.
Things of interest: Toy Story 3 - in JUNE NEXT YEAR! *sits on hands*; Reading Remembering Babylon for the first time; Baked Greek sausages. Yum.
* not that he's been particularly well-known up until this point by, well... anyone.
** check out the family resemblance - it's all in the teeth
*** ba dum ching
**** ba dum dum ching
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