Sunshine

The sun is a fascinating thing. It exists, suspended in space and is essentially continually burning, emitting heat and light. All the more amazing is that there are planets like Earth orbiting around from a safe distance like a family gathered around a fireplace. The thing we don’t think about too often however is that eventually like every other natural resource the well will eventually dry up. Years from now the sun will stop emitting that needed light, heat, and energy and die. This is the central plot point of today’s subject. A film in which a group of astronauts must journey to the sun and restart it’s dimming life against impossible odds.

So if you’re like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions they convey then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me, that’s a nice warm mug of Gingerbread Chai from our friends at Octavia Tea. So sit back, relax and let’s talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.

Sunshine is a film about a group of astronauts sent on a mission to save Earth and its inhabitants. Aboard a ship aptly named Icarus II. Now if you caught that, yes I did say Icarus II, but we'll talk about that more later. Their mission is to reach the sun and deliver a nuclear payload into the center of it to restart the dying star. The group consists of seven members, each specializing in different things. It’s a group that consists of scientists that include an engineer, a biologist, a physicist, a psychologist, a doctor, and of course the captain.

We don’t know much about the state of the Earth at this point except from bits of dialogue. The most glaring hint is when the physicist played by Cillian Murphy states “We’ve mined all of Earth‘s fissile materials for this bomb. There’s not gonna be another payload. The one we carry is our last shot. Our last, best hope.“ From that statement we can get a pretty good picture that Earth is in a desperate state of being. Just for some clarity fissile means a material capable of nuclear fission. Examples would be specific types of Uranium and Plutonium. Even more glaring is the fact that Earth has already built one of these payloads that wasn’t delivered and are now on their second attempt. You can imagine the state the planet must be in. Earth, if you will is throwing a Hail Mary pass to try and survive.

The most interesting thing about this film is it’s subject…the sun. Almost every space science fiction film usually deals with space travel, alien beings, or exploration of planets. This is the first film that I can recall ever making its subject the Sun itself. Now obviously like any other film there are tangents, but at the heart of the film the plot revolves around the sun…pun very much intended.

That is partly why Danny Boyle took on the project is because it was so different. That and he was familiar with the screenwriter Alex Garland. The two had just got done making the fantastically intense 28 Days Later, so they had a working relationship. To pause for a minute…The thing I love about Danny Boyle is that each film he makes is a completely different venture. He’s a highly skilled and disciplined director that can go from genre to genre like a chameleon changing its colors. Sunshine was no exception to this as Boyle would enter the realm of space science fiction for the first time.

If you’ve never seen a film from Danny Boyle, I think you’d be safe to close your eyes and point and you’re almost guaranteed to be entertained. When my friends and I were dipping our toes into film more seriously Boyle was among our favorites.

The cast of Sunshine is equally as impressive, as one can expect from any acclaimed director. After all, a great director is like a great athlete; they attract skilled assets who want to experience what it’s like to work with them and succeed. A mysterious voice in a cornfield said it best once, by stating, “if you build it, they will come” and it rings true here. Among this cast of great performers are Chris Evans and Cillian Murphy.

The film itself has two clear phases. Phase one is phenomenal filmmaking that deals with the astronauts and their travel to the surface of the Sun. Phase two goes off on a different tangent that some feel is unnecessary, however I don’t mind it. You’ll have to watch to decide how you feel about it.

Now in terms of the film itself there are a lot of sequences that stick out in my mind, but I'd be remised if I didn't talk about docking with their predecessor. The scene takes place after they link up with Icarus I, the ship I alluded to in the beginning, which was Earth’s initial attempt at restarting it’s nearest star. The scene takes place with a group getting ready to venture over to the linked ship. Since the two ships are able to meet and hook up this means the astronauts can walk into the ship without going through space. The door open and we can see dust all over the place. The walls are coated in it to the point where it looks like grey fur. As they continue to explore the ship crew members still on Icarus II watch their camera feeds on monitors. This reminds me a lot of the movie Aliens. At one point something falls down a hole leading down into the ship. As it crashes and clanks we hear the echo of its descent, like the ship is waking the from its slumber. Each crew member explores a different section of the ship and when Sale, played by Cliff Curtis wipes away the thick layer of dust an image of the crew is revealed, whish is accompanied by a haunting flash of footage of the alive and celebrating. Each explorer finds some interesting things on the ship, including running water, an intact flight system, and most interesting of all, a message from the commander of Icarus I, Pinbacker.

I really love this sequence as it creates a lot of different emotions. It's overall somewhat creepy because of the mystery around the ship. There are instances of beauty, hope, and sadness that make for a really well rounded sequence overall. I also really like the preamble leading up to it, like when the ships are docking together. Each ship has two massive payloads that are covered in shields that are shaped like satellite dishes. As the Icarus II dock to Icarus I there's a great shot of the two circles intertwining and blocking out the sun. It's just overall a really good sequence...at least in my opinion.

Another scene I love is one of my favorites and presented a major challenge for Boyle. At one point in the film the ship's shields become damaged and it becomes a necessity to fix the damaged units. To do so they must traverse through space in shiny gold space suits that only have a small rectangular glass window. All of this to protect from the harsh environments so close to the sun. If this is not completed the damaged units could cause irreparable damage to the ship given how close to the sun they are.

It becomes a job for two people to exit the craft and repair the panels, aligning them with the rest of the ship’s exoskeleton. The captain, played by Hiroyuki Sanada and the physicist, played by Cillian Murphy are chosen to depart from the crew and complete the dangerous task. They suit up in their heavy and shiny gold suits and open the airlock, particles breaking away from the doors as they exit into the wonder of space. Protected by the shadow of the ship they must complete the tasks. A fire breaks out in the ship and Icarus takes control, moving the vessel into normal position. This means the two have mere minutes to fix the damaged panels before the sun vaporizes them. Slowly they inch themselves onward, panel by panel in a high stakes race to protect the ship and secure its mission.

This scene is wonderful in so many ways between the acting and the camerawork, but the scene is made complete by the music used. While they race to the finish during the nail biting sequence the song “Adagio in D Minor” by John Murphy plays in the background. The drama amps up and each movement becomes ever heightened, scooching us to the edge of our seats. It’s utterly fantastic and a must see.

The thing I like about Sunshine is that the movements in space look really good. In doing research to find out how they were able to pull this off I found myself increasingly impressed that the end result looks as flawless as it does.

Deciding how the actors would move in space was one of, if not the biggest challenge Boyle faced during filming Sunshine. His first thought was to use an actual anti-gravity chamber. This proved extremely difficult to shoot in seeing as though the camera crew and Danny himself were also suspended in mid air. During an interview Boyle stated:

“It was almost impossible to control. I would almost need to be hugging the actors in order to keep the camera steady while they moved. Given all the challenges we had to pull out of that plan and move on”. Find actual quote for this

As neat of an idea it was to film in a simulated environment, it just wasn't meant to be, but as they say; if at first you don’t succeed try again. Moving onto other ideas Boyle knew that he had to rethink his approach to something that may work in emulating space. His next idea was to use a crane. The crane would lift the actors, equipped in space suits into the air and filming would be done in that way.

This method felt like a no brainer to the accomplished director. The actors would be safely suspended and the crane could move them in whatever way necessary. Job done right? Wrong. Boyle quickly found that the crane, like the anti-gravity chamber was great in theory and less so in execution. The crane was not smooth by any means. Each time the crane shifted positions for a scene the movement was jolty and sudden. This was far from what was imagined as a smooth and seamless mimicking weightlessness. They tried numerous things to improve the movements, but nothing seemed to work.

Boyle, running out of options with the crane had to yet again switch tactics, something he did not take lightly. This ended ip delaying the project while other means for shooting space scenes were planned out. Now when I say delays I don’t mean for a few months. No, the logistics, planning, and budget shifting involved would lead to a full two year delay. That also goes to show that the crane idea truly was beyond hope. Knowing full well what delays would follow the decision to abandon the tactic was a real last resort.

Find out if actors could act in other roles during delays or if they were under contract for Sunshine alone.

Find out what they ended up using for the space scenes that solved the problems before.

Another great scene is when they are on the Insert name of other ship. You may be wondering, what ship I’m referring to. Well you see the crew we follow in the film is the second group sent out as the first one was unsuccessful. It’s mentioned early on in the film that the circumstances around the failure were unknown. So while approaching the sun they encounter the first vessel and decide to board. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s a very logical and great question. It’s less about curiosity and more necessity as they calculate that the payload they carry isn’t enough to complete their mission. In order to make sure they do it right they decide to take the first vessel’s payload with them to ensure a successful outcome.

This bit in the film is chalk full of greatness. From seeing the ships dock to the time on the other ship, but my favorite parts are the journeys to and from the other vessel. Now Neil de Grasse Tyson I’m sure can relay any inaccuracies in this film, but the thing I love about space the most is the silence. It’s reported that you can’t hear anything in space outside of mics and vibrational noises. I find that exceptionally cool for some reason, but then again there’s plenty to be fascinated about referring to the universe.

This silence is on full display as they push out into the vacuum dressed in shiny, reflective suits to board the other vessel. As the airlock releases all noise dissipates and the group is left with silence and their in unit comms systems. The shots here are awesome as they traverse the emptiness, protected by the shadows of the connected ships. The scenery of these scenes is absolutely fantastic and the inside of the empty and dark ship are pretty creepy. While on board the group learns why the first mission failed and at some while doing what they need to do the two ships break apart from each other. This leads to a mad scramble to make sure the astronauts get back into their suits and back into the insert ship name before the parting ships reveal the deadly sun rays in their route. The film after this point is quite awesome and suspense filled as danger looms and the finish line approaches.

I love this film for a variety of reasons, but most of all because of the against all odds element. It’s a true underdog tale where, despite a high liklihood of failure and peril around every corner a group of individuals embark to try and accomplish the impossible. I also love how well rounded of a film it is. Through the fantastic acting, camera work, and score I experienced a variety of emotions from suspense, joy, awe, and fright. I highly recommend Sunshine for anyone looking for something a little different, particularly if you like science fiction.

By the time the film was finished, the project had been delayed twice for a total of three years and was five million dollars over budget. Unfortunately it was met with a lackluster release and seems to be an overlooked film within Boyle’s impressive catalog. Despite the box office response I really enjoy this film. It has tremendous quality from start to finish and does not show its warts during filming at all. The experience is smooth and a truly great watch for any film or sci-fi enthusiast.

If you’d like to watch Sunshine for yourself you can find it on a variety of streaming networks. At the time of this recording you can find Sunshine on Hulu. Hulu is a service with great value and flexible pricing structures ranging from $4.99 for single or $10.99 for family plans.

Apart from Hulu you can also find Sunshine on Prime Video, Vudu, Google Play, and Apple TV for $2.99 to rent if you subscribe to those services.

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