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Sunshine
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Danny Boyle, one of the UK’s most interesting directors. Set himself on the map with ‘Shallow Grave’ in 1995. A very inventive little thriller –the movie combined pitch-black comedy with very Hitchcockian suspense. A year later he would really grow internationally with ‘Trainspotting’, which broke all records at the box-office, not only in his homeland, but also in the States. The story about drugs and drug-abuse connected with people the world over. Then came the black crime comedy ‘A Life Less Ordinary’ in 1997, the dark adventures of ‘The Beach’ in 2000, the apocalyptic zombie-horror of ’28 Days Later’ in 2002, and the family film ‘Millions’ in 2004. So you see, Boyle isn’t interested in one particular genre, he tries to make the best movies in every genre, and most of the time works miracles. Still, one important genre is missing, science fiction.
Enter now ‘Sunshine’. It’s written by the writer of ‘The Beach’, Alex Garland. ‘Sunshine’ is part sci-fi, part horror, part thriller, part new age mysticism, with rich influences from and references to genre classics like Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, Tarkovsky’s ‘Solyaris’, Scott’s ‘Alien’ and even Anderson’s ‘Event Horizon’.
Although it uses a lot of elements from above mentioned movies, it has a totally unique style of its own, with its own ideas and has lots of it to offer. We move from more cerebral scenes to some action-packed set-pieces.
The story is about a crew of eight people, astronauts and scientists, who have the assignment to travel to the sun, which is starting to die, thus means the end of mankind, and drop a stellar bomb (made by one of the scientists, played by Cillian Murphy). This bomb generates lights within lights, so mankind can have a fruitful future again. The crew find themselves on the Icarus II, since the Icarus I is long-time missing, which had the same mission planned. When nearing Mercury, they receive a transmission of the Icarus I. Those familiar with the horror genre know this will not turn out very good. Upon entering Icarus I they don’t find any crewmembers. Except for the viewer, who gets to see some photographs of the crewmembers of Icarus I subliminally, to deeply unsettling effect. Of course, everything goes wrong and the viewer is thrown from action to suspense, and all over again. There are lots of great set-pieces here and work really well. Then there’s the ending, which is actually a kind of deus ex machina, and will surely divide the audience. It is kind of daring from Boyle to go this way, leaving behind the ideas of the build-up to go a totally different route. Although it is an ending that a lot of people don’t expect and want, it is good material too debate about after the movie.
Also, the visuals are amazing! I know this isn’t a very big-budget movie, but it sure does look like it. It’s especially great if you could see it on a very big screen, with the images of the sun and the universe are stunning to look at. What is also very interesting is that Boyle chooses for an international cast, with Kiwi actor Cliff Curtis and Japanese actors Michelle Yeoh and Hiroyuki Sanada. They work really well together. One of the highlights of the movie for me however is the soundtrack, which has been created by John Murphy and Underworld. One of the musical themes in the movie is also on the ‘Oblivion with Bells’ album, titled there as ‘To Heal’. Also with further sounddesign included it’s one of the best soundtracks in years for a sci-fi movie. Much of the film scores in this genre aren’t very good, or do not really give this vast and mystical sense of space. The music in this film really does create a sense total vastness and unknowingness. It is one whole with the movie and doesn’t turn into substandard techno sounds. It’s really a brilliantly conceived soundtrack and do hope they will release it as an album someday.
In the end this is a superior movie trip, for the eyes and for the mind. Great ideas and well conceived by all involved. You may not like the ending, but at least it is something to think about, as counts for the whole movie. So highly recommended!
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