The Martyr on the Moon

                This week we watched the 2009 Sci-Fi movie Moon; a movie following Sam Bell, a Lunar Industries astronaut whose job for the past 3 years had been upkeep of their energy harvest site on the moon. His work on the moon is one of the keys to continued energy supply for Earth, which had become an issue that had begun to seriously plague society. Unaware to Sam, he is actually only a genetic clone of the original Sam Bell who had initially been given this task, but eventually experienced such personal suffering during his duration that the job was reassigned to a never ending stream of his clones.  The personal suffering Sam experienced was a result of the extreme isolation that his job required and the extreme length of time isolation occurred over.

                Beyond the plot, Sam’s isolation is highlighted through different cinematic techniques.  The way in which the movie was shot effectively illustrated this point by presenting Sam in a more lonely light through use of different types of shots. Throughout the film long shots tend to be used to show the emptiness that surrounds both Sams within the ship, which tend to pan around to further emphasize the point.

                The isolation Sam experiences is further alluded to during his video messaging exchanges with his wife. For Sam, these moments are the times he feels least isolated from the world, as displayed by the shorter shots used which blur the background and emphasize Sam, yet they still appear empty. For example, when the video glitches (~12:00) during the first video he receives from Tess the shot immediately changes to highlight the emptiness that surrounds him by showing him alone against the larger backdrop; by doing this, the director allows us to begin to feel as if there is a lack of authenticity in Sam’s exchanges with the outside world. Not only this, but the way Sam’s messages are continuously replayed on the ship by showing the viewer-less display of Sam alludes to the later realization that the messages never leave the ship.  Of course, we come to learn that everything Sam has been brought to believe is in fact false, and there is no authenticity in his exchanges with the outside world.

                With this in mind, idea of the movies setting becomes more intriguing. Moon opens with an ad from Lunar Industries chronicling the now obligatory need for lunar energy. This is the only scene in the movie where life is on screen. By juxtaposing the life on earth with the desolate dark side of the moon, right from the get go, the setting helps the audience further assume Sam’s isolation. The setting and use of different shots all aid the audience in understanding how barren a situation Sam is left in, but this in itself is not how they contribute to the films purpose. By allowing the viewer to come to these conclusions, the purpose of the film becomes more clear. Moon serves to ask the question of whether it is morally okay for a Sam Bell to be forced to exist. When his isolated existence is finally leaked from the far side of the moon (an allusion to the idea that the far side of the moon is where information can neither be transmitted or received) a frenzy erupts on Earth about what should be done. Up until this point, though, the Sam’s had been forced to serve as the Earth’s energy martyr by giving up his life so that the energy woes of earth could be relieved. His role as Earth’s unknown martyr is brought to life in the film as a result of the apparent isolation he lives in due to the use of long shots and lunar setting.