We will end the Science Fiction unit with a look at the thoughtful, romantic sci-fi thriller, Moon. Premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim, Moon is the first full-length feature film directed by Duncan Jones.
For this post, I want you to reflect on two things: how does this film embody thematic and cinematic qualities from some (three) of the previous sci films we've seen and discussed. You can talk about Things to Come, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Oddessey, Brazil, Blade Runner, and Primer. What does Moon inherit from these films?
Second thing: how does Moon surprise us? What's new here? What's different?
Moon was obviously influenced by many of the classic sci-fi films that we have watched in class. Although the relationship between Sam and Gerty is fundamentally different it is clear how similar it is to the relationship between Hal and the astronauts. Also the music in Moon reminded me of the music which was iconic in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think that a theme that shows up in a lot of the movies and in Moon is what it means to be human and how being human affects the actions that we take. In The Day the Earth Stood Still, it is suggested that humans need to kept in line and that there are no should be no exceptions to the rules governing what is right and wrong. While in 2001 the robot Hal is juxtaposed with the cold and businesslike main character (Dave?), suggesting that Hal is more human than the actual humans. I think that this is something that comes up in Moon also. Similarly to Blade Runner, the question is posed whether or not a clone with human feelings and memories is actually human. I think that Moon is surprising because in comparison with the other films that we watch Sam is definitely more relatable. As a character he seems like someone that you could know in real life as opposed to the characters in most of the other films we have watched. I think this is because in most of the other films, we were supposed to believe that humans had evolved along with the technology, while in Moon the human (Sam) had stayed relatively the same despite the invention of new technology.
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