FILM CHALLENGE: 119) Sunshine

119) Sunshine

Director: Danny Boyle

Year: 2007

Plot Summary: It is the year 2057. The sun is dying and mankind is facing extinction. Earths hope rests with a courageous crew of eight men and women on a mission to ignite the fading start with a massive nuclear bomb. Deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission begins to unravel and they find themselves fighting for the future of us all.

Sunshine begins as an expertly made science-fiction drama. Set entirely on board a spaceship, Icarus II, Danny Boyle's movie tells the story of a crew of scientists and astronauts who are to deliver a powerful bomb into the dying sun in order to kick-start it back to life.

On one hand, the film is a fantastic character study of 8 men and women who are put in an extraordinary position where, as the spaceship starts to lose oxygen, they are forced to face their own mortality and how much their own existence means in comparison to the whole of humanity. In one disturbing scene, for example, we witness the crew take a vote as to whether they should kill a certain member in order to prolong their own lives, while in another, we see members debate who should sacrifice themselves to save the rest of the crew depending on how important they are to the overall objective. Thanks to Garlands writing, you remain sympathetic to these characters throughout and they are all well-drawn and have their own distinct personalities.

Moreover, while the character's dilemmas provide the heart of Sunshine, the movie is also an exciting and action packed ride. This is because the threat of failure hangs over every moment of the film. We realise that, as the ship gets closer to the sun, even the slightest mistake could result in the entire crew failing their mission. Furthermore, as it's explained that there are not enough resources on Earth to make another bomb, it's impossible not to be gripped by their quest hoping that they will be able to deliver the bomb and save the sun.

The fact that Boyle maintains this suspense and excitement alongside providing a claustrophobic character study is a testament to how good he is behind the camera lens. Particularly great is his use of colour and exposure in the cinematography. In the scenes in the ship, the colour is washed out and monochrome while, in the establishing shots involving the sun, the orange glow is almost overpowering. This allows the viewer to understand just how fatal the sun is should the crew be exposed to it, and equally how important it is to the warmth and light on Earth.

Unfortunately, the final 30 minutes throw all of their great work away and Sunshine goes spiralling into orbit as the movie turns into your conventional slasher flick. Clearly, no-one quite knew an effective way to end it and, as a result, threw together a convoluted and highly far-fetched conclusion.

Nevertheless, it's another hit from Boyle who, again, proves that he can take on any genre that you throw at him.

4/5

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments