Feeling slighted by the international community, Korea attempts to dominate in space by becoming the second nation to send a man to the moon but does so apparently with egalitarian principles in Kim Yong-hwa’s futuristic science drama, The Moon (더 문). The conceit is that that pretty much everyone, having learnt nothing, is intent on colonising the moon because it is a rich source of a particular mineral that could become a valuable means of sustainable energy for Earth. Of course, Korea wants in but crucially wants to share what it finds with the world unlike the Americans who just want to keep everything for themselves.
A running current of Anti-Americanism is deeply felt early on as NASA and the US initially refuse to help when a Korean spaceship gets into trouble in a solar flare, while the International Space Committee from which Korea is expelled because of “conflicts between nations” also seems to be led by Americans. Moon-Young (Kim Hee-ae), the ex-wife of former flight director Jae-gook (Sol Kyung-gu), also works at NASA and has taken an American name after marrying an American, yet is treated with chauvinistic contempt by her bosses who question her loyalty and qualifications. The implication is that America wants to conquer the moon to secure its bounty for themselves in an ironic act of futuristic colonialism, but that the Koreans are going to the moon in the interests of science hoping to discover something that will benefit all mankind.
Having been expelled by the committee seems to fuel an exceptionalist drive among the Korean scientists who feel that they aren’t being afforded the respect they deserve internationally. This sense of internalised shame stems from the failure of their first rocket, the Norae-ho, which exploded shortly after taking off killing the three astronauts on board. Introduced to the three members of the Woori-ho, we can immediately sense that their chances of survival can’t be good seeing as the two older members mostly talk about their children, one of them planning to decide on a name for his as yet unborn daughter on the way. The third, Sun-woo (Doh Kyung-soo), has some complicated baggage with the mission and former flight director Jae-gook who was on duty at the time the Norae-ho exploded.
Sun-woo isn’t the only one with baggage as the scientists strive to overcome the traumatic failure of their first attempt. The Science and Technology Minster (Jo Han-chul) has his eyes mostly on his own reputation not wanting to oversee another catastrophic failure in Korea’s space programme. One of the two men in charge of the Norae-ho mission took his own life in atonement, while Jae-gook split up with his wife and retreated to the mountains working in a rural observatory. Perhaps precisely because of this, the quest to save Sun-woo, a former Navy Seal hired for his agility and athleticism who lacks experience and is unable to pilot the spacecraft alone, quickly goes viral pushing the Americans, who had been reluctant to help, to finally pitch in on a joint operation.
It’s this kind of panglobalism that the film eventually advocates as Moon-young sheds her American name of Jennifer and is fired from NASA for trying to help Sun-woo leading her to make a direct appeal to the international crew of the space station who hail from Canada, Australia, and the UK to save him out of astronaut solidarity. A voiceover reminds us that the Moon belongs to everyone, not any one entity, while praising those who were able to transcend nationality and ideology to work for a better world for all. It’s obviously an anti-colonialist sentiment though one that is eagerly pointed at American imperialism and its continuing effects in Korea even if it’s also true that the nation is smarting from being kicked out of the International Space Committee and desperately wants to be readmitted to secure its status on the world stage. Kim throws just about everything he can at Sun-woo and his little lander from solar storms to meteor showers and increasing despair shifting from one set piece to another as Sun-woo tries to overcome yet another disaster and fulfil his mission of returning home with ice samples in an act of redemption not only for the space programme but for himself as its orphaned son.
The Moon is released in the US on DVD, blu-ray, and Digital on 27th February courtesy of Well Go USA.
US trailer (English subtitles)
Windows on Worlds 