Caffeinated Clint
”Sunshine” is intellectual but not incomprehensible, a distinction that too many films in this genre – such as ”Solaris” and ”Event Horizon” – fail to make. Director Danny Boyle’s ”28 Days Later” was lauded for its smart script and allegory, but ”Sunshine” has that and something his horror vehicle could not boast – elegant filmmaking. While this is not a masterpiece, it’s not far from the mark.
Cillian Murphy, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne
It’s the future (2057 according to the commentary, although this is never stated in the film itself). Humanity has mastered interplanetary travel, which is just as well as the sun has started to die out, plunging the earth into a solar winter. If our life-giving star cannot be revived, it will mean humanity’s eventual extinction.
Scientists have decided the best way to bring the sun back to life is to deliver a nuclear payload the size of Manhattan into its heart. One spaceship, the Icarus, has already tried, but it was never heard from again. A second ship, the Icarus II, is following in the original’s ill-fated footsteps. It is humanity’s “last best hope” and things appear to be going well until it receives a distress signal from the original Icarus. Could anyone have survived seven years only a few million miles from the sun?
The Icarus II crew decide to change their trajectory – not out of compassion, but because it will give them two chances to deliver the payload. Despite this rational, logical approach, it only takes one human error for things to go wrong and for emotions to enter the equation. The situation gets worse when the Icarus II docks with its forerunner and another unknown quantity is added. Ultimately, humanity’s survival will depend on the courage and persistence of a single physicist, Capa (Cilian Murphy).
It’s easy to degrade ”Sunshine” if you judge it by its sci-fi conventions. Its costuming and claustrophobic atmosphere come courtesy of ”Alien”, while the sets and omniscient computer might as well have ©”2001: A Space Odyssey” stamped on them. But to dwell on these elements is to feign ignorance of its gorgeous imagery, smart colour usage, convincing special effects and polished performances. Also, ”Sunshine” is part science fiction tale, part psychological thriller, and yet works brilliantly no matter which hat it wears … a rare achievement. (Hard sci-fi fanatics will nitpick, but that’s another discussion altogether.) Underpinning this is ”Sunshine”’s philosophical musing on religion versus science, emotion versus logic, and the consequences of this juxtaposition for the human race.
”Sunshine” is intellectual but not incomprehensible, a distinction that too many films in this genre – such as ”Solaris” and ”Event Horizon” – fail to make. Director Danny Boyle’s ”28 Days Later” was lauded for its smart script and allegory, but ”Sunshine” has that and something his horror vehicle could not boast – elegant filmmaking. While this is not a masterpiece, it’s not far from the mark.
There are two commentaries – one from director Danny Boyle and a second from Dr Brian Cox, who acted as a scientific consultant on the project. In what can only be deemed a statistical oddity, both commentaries are worth listening to. Boyle provides background on the filmmaking elements, while Cox interweaves scientific information (where liberties were taken and why) with movie-related remarks (Cillian Murphy used some of Cox’s mannerisms to create his physicist character, for instance).
Deleted scenes come with optional commentary from Boyle. The additional oxygen garden shots should have been left in as they would have helped legitimise Corazon’s grief when it catches fire. The alternate ending is far weaker than the one they went with.
There’s also production diaries (Not so much diaries as behind-the-scenes vignettes which I suspect might have first appeared on the internet as promotional shorts. The best quote goes to Aussie actress Rose Byrne: “I’m not talking too much shit am I?”) and some short films (Perhaps because his own struggling moviemaker days are not so long gone, Boyle says in an intro here that he believes more short films should be presented as DVD special features. The two pieces shown are entertaining in their own right – and one of them was made by a ”Sunshine” crew member.)
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Reviewer : Kris Ashton
