I must return to Sunshine, which is now finally in cinemas.
First off, a bit of background. Back in May 2005, I accompanied a colleague at work on set-visit to 3 Mills Studios over in the East End to see the filming of this Danny Boyle science fiction epic. Now I’ve never been on a film set before, and it was a bit lucky that I went this time, but I wasn’t about to say no.
Sunshine had just about taken over the 3 Mills studio complex. The only other production taking place at the time was the Sky TV series Dream Team. Danny Boyle’s team had taken over most of the sound stages, and we were to be given a guided tour. First of all we assembled in the art department where there were incredibly detailed scale models of the various sets as well as the main spaceship, Icarus. Around the walls were various pictures and designs pinned up along with detailed posters of the solar system.
We met the films shy producer Andrew MacDonald. He’s worked on all Danny Boyle’s films to date as well as plenty of others including recent Oscar nominated films like The Last King of Scotland and Notes on a Scandal. Sadly the day we were there, there was a closed set where they were actually filming. But we were able to tramp all over the other sets. So we got to see the main crew area, the cockpit and area, the oxygen garden, and a massive green-screen where two airlocks were separated by a large gap. I won’t say much more because it’ll spoil the film, but suffice to say that there are reasons for all of these. I also won’t say what condition the sets were in when we saw them.
Now as I say, I’ve never been around a film or TV set before. I’ve seen TV shows recorded, but they’re very different. What was really unusual here is that the sets were 360 degrees. That is to say that there were four walls and a ceiling everywhere. Ordinarily sets are built to remove walls so that the camera crew can point into the set. Then for a different set-up the wall might be replaced, and another removed for a different angle. In this instance, to keep a fairly claustrophobic atmosphere on set, no walls were going to be removed; the camera operators et al were going to have to fit inside the set.
And the sets were so detailed. Everywhere you looked, the attention to detail was extraordinary. Nobody was ever going to see much of the detail, yet it was there. For example, each of the crew members had their own cabins fully decked out with things like family photos and books that they might be reading. In the final film, you simply don’t see all this detail – but it’s there. I guess that a real-feeling set gives you more from your actors.
The other really fascinating thing was that everything seemed to work. All the video screens were lit-up and had graphics displayed. Not only that, but a flip of the switch turned all these lights on at once. It was explained to us that although many films would have added this later in special effects, it was far easier and cheaper to do it at the time.
Anyway, after a couple of hours of trampling around the set, sitting in the captain’s seat (yup – I got to fly Icarus II), and getting a good idea of the plot, it was time to go. And wait. For nearly two years.
Fast-forward to the film itself.
Everyone else has already explained that this film is not your run-of-the-mill SF shoot-em-up film. Some critics have taken issue with George Lucas and his original Star Wars trilogy for ruining what had been a very intelligent sequence of SF films with titles like 2001, Solaris and Silent Running having some really interesting ideas to impart. I think that’s a bit unfair on Lucas since it’s hardly his fault that after the stunning success of his SF-Westerns, nobody wanted to make anything else. But this film is certainly a much more grown up film than we’ve come to expect in recent years.
The crew are sent on an unlikely, and obviously doomed, mission to send a missile into the sun. We won’t worry about why an unmanned spacecraft wouldn’t be much more able to carry out the mission. Like the science in the film, it’s not really relevant. Instead, we have a study in what happens when a group of people, is cooped up in small area. And there’s the appeal of the sun – that single entity that literally ensures that we have life in our solar system.
It’s ironic that the mission’s shrink is the first to go mad, but things change some more when the crew finally come across a signal from the first Icarus – a ship that disappeared years before and hadn’t been heard from.
Psychology takes quite an important role in the film as each of the oppression of the circumstances seem to drive each of the characters to some kind of logical conclusion.
The ending of the film is at once satisfactory and not-so. Yet it’s the perfect ending.
The sun has quite simply never looked so beautiful, and the special effects are exemplary. Given that live-action filming finished so long ago, it’s clear that the SFX have been slowly and carefully crafted. Sound too is important – see this film in a good cinema. I’m already on the look out for a nice sub-woofer to plug in for the film’s DVD release.
But don’t wait for the DVD – this is a film that demands to be seen on the screen. Go and see it on the biggest screen you can find. It’d look great on an IMAX screen because seeing this film is really immersive.
The film cost around $40m and it’s wonderful that Fox Searchlight let Boyle, MacDonald and their team do whatever they wanted. So they haven’t turned in some kind of all-action nonsense. That’s probably why they don’t know when or how to release it in the States. It doesn’t fit into one of three or four different film genres. It’s effects-laden, yet isn’t a tentpole May/June film when every weekend sees one big blockbuster open after another (with the inevitable failure of many of the titles). But on the other-hand, it’s not a breakout small indie film like Little Miss Sunshine or Sideways. Still – that’s their problem, but if they give it a marketing push like the one it’s had here, it should do just fine.
So am I biased when I write about this film? Undoubtedly. I was conditioned to like this film. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s still a wonderful film. One that demands to be seen in cinemas.
And let me end with a plea. I’ve heard Danny Boyle in interviews claim that he won’t be returning to science fiction. Please do Danny! Ridley Scott made Bladerunner and Alien, the latter certainly informing this title. I’m sure you could manage another in a couple of years!