Sunshine - Gold Star (no pun intended)

Had my boyfriend not won tickets to the Edinburgh premiere of Sunshine, I would never have gone to see this film. I would have missed out. The title didn’t grab me, and the trailers made me think of American rah-rah movies like Independence Day and Armageddon. Sunshine is nothing like either of those films, which could be because the screenwriter, director, and producer are British. More likely, it’s because the talents of these three insist on and dictate something much better.

The premiere held at Cineworld Fountainpark in Edinburgh, hosted by xfm Scotland’s Dominik Diamond, included a question and answer period with Danny Boyle, the film’s director and Andrew MacDonald, the producer. Diamond prepared us for a stunningly visual film with “moments of genuine horror.” That last word made me look desperately at my partner and then for the exit. I do not do horror. Not if I want to sleep with the lights off. There was no way to make a graceful exit, so I stayed put in my seat and sat on my hands, telling myself if it came down to it, I could shut my eyes, cover my ears, and hum softly.


During the Q and A, Boyle said he likes to create a physical response in the viewer. If he gets a kick out of this and would enjoy his films more to observe it, all he has to do is sit next to me. My repertoire of film watching behaviour includes loudly taking the Lord’s name in vain, jerking my knees up to my chin, clawing my seatmate’s arm (even if it is a stranger), and hitting myself in the face. The last has convinced me to wear contacts to the cinema.

Anyone else with shot nerves should definitely go see Sunshine, but don’t hold a large cola, anyone’s hand, or sharp objects. The tension culminates once or twice into the inevitable “something jumping out at you” scene. Usually, I hate this, and I can’t say I loved it about Sunshine, but it made sense in respect to the film, so I give these scenes my timid approval. I didn’t have to resort to the humming technique, but that is not to say I was never genuinely horrified.

Visually, Sunshine is not only terrifying, it’s epic. Creating the sun itself was a feat of mammoth proportions made possible by CGI. Sometimes I find this can look contrived in a film, but in Sunshine, it’s entirely believable. Boyle warned the viewers that sitting in the front may be uncomfortable, and he did not lie. Even from the rear of the cinema, I felt myself pulling away from the intensity of the sun on screen. The contrasts between the fire of the sun and the black void in which it, and we, exist highlight the contrasts in the story itself. Life versus death, individuals versus the collective, man versus nature, light versus dark, hope versus futility, it’s all there. Yes, Sunshine is an action film, but it is also a great deal more.

The cast of Sunshine are superb. Many times in the story line, the opportunity for grossly over-acted, schmaltzy performances presents itself. The fact that no cast member took it must be the result of a symbiosis of great directing and quality acting. Boyle said in the Q and A that sometimes an actor grabs the film; the director has to sit back and let the actor take it away. He pointed to two incidents in Sunshine where an actor does seize the film, but there are more. See the picture, and these moments will be obvious.

Scientifically, Sunshine is sound. Dr. Brian Cox, renowned physicist, consulted on the production. (Apparently, the young doctor is also cool and good-looking. My question, is why isn’t he on the screen? Perhaps there is already enough eye-candy for viewers of all gender and orientation.) However, while producer MacDonald points out that the premise is plausible, the dying out of the sun before its four billion year expiration date is highly unlikely, just in case you were getting worried.

To be honest, I’m not a film buff. Usually, I get fidgety in the cinema (unless I am physically assaulting myself), as my backside becomes numb and my attention wanders. However, Sunshine grabbed me, and my attention, and held onto both for one hour and forty minutes. Now that is a cinematic feat. Go see it. I’ve not spoiled one second of it for you.