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Under discussion:

Outland  (1981)

Moon  (2009)

Duncan Jones‘ Moon divided critics at Sundance, which is maybe not much of a surprise. A slow, introspective homage to classic sci-fi with one actor (Sam Rockwell in a perfectly modulated dual role), two locations (inside a moon space station, and just outside it), and minimalist special effects, Moon challeneges the viewer to confront what they think they know about space movies and lonely-man-in-existential-crisis movies equally. Audiences that get it seem to really get it, and hopefully Sony Classics, who are scheduled to release the film in June, won’t push the genre elements over the intellectual elements –– or vice versa –– when the victory of the film is the merging of the two. As I put it in my review, Moon “feels more casual and accessible than any cinematic exploration of the Lacanian mirror stage has a right to be.”

Whilst at Sundance, I got a few minutes alone with Rockwell and Jones, and we chatted about their mutual love of early-80s sci-fi, the technology and technique behind the dual performance, and the real life potential of Moon’s alternative energy fantasy. Beware: there’s a possible spoiler immediately after the jump.

After I saw Moon, I was talking to other journalists about it, and people who are really into it weren’t sure exactly how to approach writing about it, because to talk about Sam’s dual performance, you almost have to go into the fact that his character discovers he’s been cloned. But is that a spoiler? Does putting that in print ruin the viewing experience?

Sam: Yeah, that’s a good question. I don’t know.

Gordon: You know, at end of the first act, we reveal that. So, I think it’s OK; I think it’s OK to talk about. Also, it’s a major part of the film. It’s a major part of what makes Sam’s performance so amazing. So, I certainly don’t have a problem talking about that.

Yes, obviously, the performance is the core of the film. So, two part question: Sam, how do you approach being the two different people, and how do you shoot that?

Gordon: It’s incredibly technical, obviously. And I think Sam had spent an awful lot of time working out the two separate characters. Essentially, it is the same guy, but with a three year displacement in their life experience…

Sam: We rehearsed a lot. We worked out some stuff ahead of time. I prepared quite a bit. Then the technical stuff was tough, the timing, being spontaneous and keeping it fresh and keeping the timing technically perfect.

Did you shoot one character first, or did you shoot scene-by-scene?

Duncan: We would always work out in the scene who is driving that scene. And then that would be the performance that we would do first. And Sam would have the flexibility to be a bit more improv-y with the first Sam. And then we would go back and shoot the other side of it.

I want to talk a little bit about the effects. One of the things that is really great about the film is that there seems to be only as many effects as you absolutely need. It’s not super showy. Can you break down a little bit how you approached creating different types of images, what is green screen and what is digital and what are practical props?

Duncan: There are basically two main locations, the interior of the base and then there is the exteriors on the surface of the moon. For the interior of the base, most of it is in camera. Occasionally, in particular shots where Gerty is kind of whizzing around the base, or moving around, we used CG for those shots.

But, other than that, Sam performs, and then when we have two Sams it’s still a live action performance with Sam. A lot of the time, we had a prop version of Gerty [the astronaut's robot helper/companion] and a prop version of Gerty’s arms. So, just depending on what the shot was, we would try to get away with it in camera as much as possible.

There is some CG in the interiors, but the exteriors were a totally different ballgame. We used a very traditional model, a miniatures technique for the lunar surface and the vehicles traveling across it. Then we would use digital set extensions to actually make the landscape go off into the distance and to create the sky itself.

And then we would add little elements like dirt being kicked up off the back of the car, sometimes some lens flares here and there. It’s a hybrid. The exteriors in particular were real hybrid of live action and CG. But, that’s what I used to do in commercials anyway. That’s what I’m known for.

Sam, can you breakdown the process of acting by yourself in this environment?

Sam: Sometimes we had an actor or a script supervisor reading the lines. Duncan would read stuff sometimes. Robin Shock, who’s a young British guy who was a body double –– from the back, he looked like me –– he was also an actor. So, he and I would run the lines and stuff and we would work out the blocking. But ultimately, I’m the one who would have to get in front of the camera, so I would have to work out the acting choices by myself, really, and with Duncan’s help. It’s a tough process, so I depended on Duncan to guide me through it.

Did you write it with Sam in mind?

Duncan: Absolutely, yeah. There was another project that I wanted Sam to do with me and unfortunately we weren’t able to do that one. But, we had a really good conversation and got on very well, and  I decided I have got to have Sam in my first feature film. I really wanted to work with Sam. Knowing what he was interested in and knowing what I wanted to do with the first feature, I left the meeting we were having about this other project and went off to write a project for Sam.

Sam: We geeked out on a lot of the movies that we grew up watching when Sci-Fi came along. Outland, Blade Runner and Alien…

In Moon there are things that seem like references to other movies, that you then take to a different place. It made me wonder if the world of Moon is a world in which science fiction exists. Had Sam the character seen 2001? What sci-fi popular culture would he have been exposed to?

Sam: That’s interesting.

Duncan: It’s a weird time that we set the film in, because it certainly doesn’t adhere to any of the science fiction that is coming out now, like the George Clooney Solaris, where it’s got kind of this iPod chic look to it.

It’s very different from that. It’s much more retro. It’s almost a late ’70s, ’80s version of what the future is. But it still feels relevant to me, because it’s kind of gritty and it’s blue collar and it’s a human story. The technology has a believable functional aesthetic to it. So, it’s almost like time went off in a slightly different direction.

Do you see it as the future in front of us right now, or is it more of an alternate universe?

Duncan: No, no, no. I still see it as the future for us. I just think it’s a very different design aesthetic than where we are right now. But then again, things come into fashion. Right now this [points to an iPhone] is the cool look. In ten years time, we might be going back to quite chunky, clunky-looking Richard Kit, because we just like the aesthetic of it.

So harvesting solar energy from the surface of the moon, this is actual technology that could be used.

Duncan: Absolutely. Fusion power is a real technology which is being developed right now. It hasn’t quite reached its potential, but helium three is a natural resource which would be used theoretically once fusion technology is available.

The situation depicted, that there is not enough helium on the earth, is a fact. And it is also a fact that there is plentiful supply of helium three on the moon. So, starting from there it makes sense. Mining the moon for helium three is a real possibility.

If the film predicts that this could happen, are you in favor of it? Do you think it’s a good idea?

Gordon: Absolutely. I think human beings by their nature use the resources which are available to them. We do need to find an alternative for the energy sources that are limited. And this might give us the time we need to create truly renewable energy sources.

Under discussion:

Brother's Keeper  (1992)

The Great White Hope  (1970)

Grey Gardens  (1975)

Memphis Belle  (1990)

The Times of Harvey Milk  (1983)

The Memphis Belle  (1944)

American Heart  (1993)

Jack Johnson  (1971)

Sherman's March  (1986)

Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker  (1992)

Little Dieter Needs to Fly  (1997)

Streetwise  (1998)

Kinsey  (2004)

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson  (2004)

Murderball  (2005)

Capote  (2005)

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days  (2006)

Street Fight  (2006)

Zodiac  (2007)

Rescue Dawn  (2007)

Golden Venture  (2006)

Beyond the Call  (2006)

Deliver Us From Evil  (2006)

Grey Gardens  (2008)

Crazy Love  (2007)

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters  (2007)

Bra Boys  (2008)

Doubt  (2008)

Defiance  (2008)

Milk  (2008)

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father  (2008)

Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh  (2009)

It was shut out of the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature, but Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, now playing in New York City, could easily inspire a Hollywood film about the life of its heroic subject. And that dramatic version could potentially garner multiple Academy Award nominations. It wouldn’t be the first time a figure documented in a nonfiction film was later portrayed in an Oscar-nominated movie. In fact, one of this year’s Best Picture contenders, Milk, is almost like a remake of the 1984 Oscar-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk.

Actual dramatic remakes of documentaries include Werner Herzogs’ Rescue Dawn, which revisits the subject of his earlier nonfiction film Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Michael Caton-Jones’ Memphis Belle, which fictionalizes the story of William Wyler’s doc The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and Martin Bell’s American Heart, which is loosely based on one of the subjects of his Oscar-nominated doc Streetwise. Also, the upcoming HBO dramatic film Grey Gardens was inspired by the Maysles brothers’ doc of the same name, and Hollywood has toyed with or announced remakes of the films The King of Kong, Murderball, Bra Boys and Sherman’s March.

To carry on the tradition, we’ve selected nine nonfiction films in addition to Blessed is the Match that would make great dramatic features.

Beyond the Call (2006)

This little-seen documentary has played at a number of film festivals (I reviewed it at Tribeca) and seems to have been quite popular at each, yet it isn’t likely that it’ll ever come to a theater near you. It may never even be available for your Netflix queue. But you’ve just got to see the work of the three old men who call themselves Knightsbridge, even if it has to be in a fictionalized form. So pray that someone in Hollywood grabs onto their story, which is filled with dangerous humanitarian aid missions and lots of humor. According to the doc’s official synopsis, the film is “an Indiana Jones meets Mother Theresa adventure,” and that’s just the kind of tagline that would suit a summer blockbuster based on this true story.

Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (2008)

One of the few Holocaust-related docs to not garner an Academy Award nomination, Roberta Grossman’s film is about Hannah Senesh, a Jewish poet who became part of a dangerous rescue mission to save Hungarian Jews and was eventually caught, tortured and executed by the Nazis. A dramatic film, which would be far more Hollywoodized than the doc’s re-enactment scenes, might be like a cross between Oscar-nominated films Defiance and Sophie Scholl – The Final Days.

Brother’s Keeper (1992)

Fratricide has made for great stories, from The Bible onward, but mainstream audiences may not run out to see a movie based on Brother’s Keeper, even if it does hold onto the Biblically influenced title. However, while homosexual incest and illiterate old country folk are difficult subjects to sell to moviegoers, murder mysteries will always fascinate people, and anyway the story of the Ward brothers could be more like a male Grey Gardens meets Capote than a dark, depressing drama that would only appeal to Sundance crowds.

Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker (1992)

Now that the life of Harvey Milk has been turned into an Oscar-nominated dramatic feature, Hollywood should take on a biopic about Dr. Evelyn Hooker, whose life and work are depicted in this Oscar-nominated documentary from Richard Schmiechen (who also won an Oscar for producing The Times of Harvey Milk). Hooker’s research in the 1950s led to the discovery that homosexuality is not a disease. And subsequent study and activism resulted in the eventual removal, in 1974, of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental disorders. A remake of Changing Our Minds would be like a cross between Milk and Kinsey. (note: the video above is not from Changing Our Minds, but is the best available alternative I have to present a clip of Hooker).

Crazy Love (2007)

In the typical Hollywood romance, female audiences see the same old reinforced fantasy about finding a man: while most guys lie, cheat, etc., there are Prince Charmings out there. Well, a dramatized version of Crazy Love might be the perfect romantic comedy for men to drag their girlfriends to. No, not to show them that they’d better not leave or they’ll get acid in the face. Rather, to say, “Look, no matter what I do, at least I’m not the kinda guy who blinds and disfigures the love of his life.” (Or, in other words, a lie to your face is not as bad as lye in your face.) Besides the appeal to boys who will be boys, however, a romantic comedy in which the couple meet, fall in love, are separated when the guy goes to prison for having the girl crippled, are reunited many years later, and eventually marry, is just crazy enough to hit a chord with moviegoers tired of the usual Renee Zellweger/Reese Witherspoon/Drew Barrymore crap.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

In her review of this documentary, Karina writes that it “sets up a foundation which it knows it’s going to pull out from under us, and that makes it every bit as emotionally manipulative as a studio film.” Perfect, the film already offers Hollywood a structure for the dramatic version. Other than that, though, the remake would potentially focus on Shirley Turner, who murdered her boyfriend and then gave birth to his child, rather than on the character of Kurt Kuenne, who documents the story in the original. Then again, it could stick with Kuenne, and, though not be as personal as the nonfiction film, might be along the lines of an investigative drama, such as Zodiac. Either way, due to his name appearing in Karina’s review, M. Night Shyamalan has to direct it.

Deliver Us from Evil (2006)

With Doubt a big success as far as Oscar nominations go (if not as far as box office is concerned), it might be an okay time for Hollywood to make a film that’s more directly focused on the subject of pedophilic priests. It could hardly make less money than Doubt, and if a great actor were to portray Father O’Grady, it could be as popular with the Academy, which already nominated the original film for Best Documentary Feature.

Golden Venture (2006)

Another little-seen documentary that played Tribeca a few years ago (I reviewed the film then), Golden Venture depicts a failed attempt at an illegal alien smuggling operation and its aftermath. In its first ten minutes, the film offers enough action involving a sea voyage from China to New York City, during which there was mutiny, gang violence and ultimately a Coast Guard rescue, that a dramatic version might not even have time to get to the aftermath part. But as much as turning the doc into an action movie could work, the more interesting stuff relating to immigration and population control should be integrated, too. Like the original film, the dramatized version could separately follow the paths of four characters, each of whom has a different outcome. Tim Robbins, who narrated the doc, could direct it.

Street Fight (2005)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s name has been tossed about on news channels over the past few months due to his similarities with newly elected President Barack Obama. So, considering entertainment magazines predict the new administration will have an effect on pop culture, why not honor that idea by making a dramatic film about Booker’s battle with incumbent Sharpe James for City Hall. It would be a little like Milk, only without the gay rights angle or the tragic ending. And to make it more crowd-pleasing than Marshall Curry’s doc, the new movie wouldn’t end with Booker’s loss in 2002 but would see him all the way to the Mayor’s office in 2006.

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)

Hollywood has never tired of boxing movies and it always loves a good civil rights struggle, so it’s amazing that no studio has tackled an official biopic about Jack Johnson, the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sure, there’s The Great White Hope, which is somewhat based on Johnson’s life. And sure, if people want the truth they can check out this doc from Ken Burns (or, if it’s ever released on video, the earlier Oscar-nominated film Jack Johnson). But again, Hollywood never tires of boxing movies, and it always loves a good civil rights struggle, so perhaps it’s just a matter of time before we see this story dramatized for real.

• Fox may frustrate fanboys once again. Though not as sharp a jab as the studio’s Watchmen lawsuit, an option Fox holds on Emily Blunt could potentially keep her from playing Black Widow in Marvel/Paramount’s Iron Man 2 (a role she’s perfect for). Instead, she’ll have to settle on starring opposite Jack Black in Fox’s reimagined adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels.
• And speaking of disappointing fanboys: as if Scott Derrickson hasn’t already done enough damage to science fiction with his recent remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, he has just been tapped to direct a single movie combining two of Dan Simmons’ Hyperion novels.
• 2009 Oscar nominee John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) will direct the new He-Man movie, Masters of the Universe. Worse than that, however, is Variety’s reminder that another 2009 nominee, Frank Langella, costarred as Skeletor in the godawful 1987 Masters of the Universe.
• 2009 Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (who is also slated for Iron Man 2) will star in a kind of anti-Slumdog Millionaire, an American gangster flick titled Broken Horses, that will be scripted, directed and co-produced by Indian filmmakers. It will be the first Hollywood film from Reliance Entertainment since the company funded the DreamWorks exit from Paramount.
• “Breaking a longstanding taboo, Fox is releasing male-driven pic Taken on Super Bowl weekend.” While I may believe that Taken could indeed be a guy movie, it certainly hasn’t been marketed as such. Anyway, I never understood the concept of a Sunday event keeping men from going to the movies on the Friday and Saturday before. So, if the film does take the top spot this weekend, I for one won’t be too shocked.