Chris Beaumont

beaumont@ifa.hawaii.edu
2680 Woodlawn Drive
Honolulu, HI 96822

Sunshine Review

Written January 20, 2008

The director/writer collaboration Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, whose previous works include “The Beach” and “28 Days Later,” has a talent for capturing the collapse of order and the search for meaning that groups face in catastrophic situations. In “Sunshine,” their most recent collaboration released to video on January 8, this theme is on display in stunning visual detail.

“Sunshine” centers on a group of astronauts and scientists who, fifty years from now, are on a mission to re-ignite a dying sun to save the earth. Aboard their spaceship, ominously named Icarus, is an atomic bomb which they are to drop into sun.

The film has been compared to Kubrick’s “2001” and, visually speaking, the comparison is valid. Boyle has a flair for detail, and “Sunshine” is his most visually meticulous and beautiful work to date. The eye and the sun are prominent visual motifs, and their juxtaposition helps develop the film’s contemplation on how humanity interacts with nature. Equally impressive is the set design for the Icarus, which serves alternately as an edenic sanctuary and a reminder of humanity’s hubris.

Thematically, however, “Sunshine” is more similar to Boyle and Garland’s zombie film “28 Days Later.” Both of these films focus on a group of people who leave society in an attempt to save it. Once detached from the outside world, these groups become microcosms of society itself, and play out some of humanity’s most fundamental struggles. In both films, Cillian Murphy plays the character searching most earnestly for his world’s redemption. Here he plays a physicist in charge of delivering and detonating the bomb and, to do so, he must confront a variety of characters whose less noble ambitions threaten to compromise his mission.

Unfortunately, the film stumbles in its final act when a clichéd religious zealot tries to sabotage the ship. While this conflict is far less developed and compelling than the rest of the film, it is partially salvaged by some clever cinematography that frames these scenes in a chaotic blur. Ultimately, this subplot becomes a regrettable but forgettable distraction in an otherwise fascinating movie.

Fans of visually dense cinema and post-apocalyptic themes will find a great deal to admire in this film. Furthermore, with a portfolio that now includes this film, “Millions,” and “Trainspotting” among others, Danny Boyle is establishing himself as one of today’s most versatile directors.