my retinas still burn

I saw sunshine today. In more ways than one. It was an unusually sunny and warm day. And I also saw Sunshine (2007), a new sci-fi epic penned by Alex Garland and directed by The Great Danny Boyle. It doesn't come out in the U.S. until September. (What are they waiting for?) This time, it was just four of us. I arrived late because of the bus; the commercials had already started, and I was the first one in the theatre. But that is neither here nor there.

Out of respect, out of courtesy, I will not go on and on about this one because I highly recommend it. Sunshine is an experience, it's not a film. In much the same way that The Fountain (2006) was for me.

After the first half hour, once something truly upsetting had happened, I think I cried the rest of the way through. I had such a visceral reaction to the visuals, the sound, the story, that at some points it was hard for me to breathe (and to see because of the tears in my eyes). On the way out, the usher asked if I was alright.

I really hate that I cannot divulge much more because you can't see it yet. I will say I only had a few problems with it, such as the ending which should have ended just thirty seconds before. And I don't understand why they played the whole movie back during the end credits in a sort of cliff notes version.

When I first learned of the film's premise, I thought it was a bit stupid. But for two hours, I believed in their mission to basically bomb the sun's core so that its rays of light and warmth and energy would reach Earth. Suddenly it became very realistic, so realistic that you're amazed this hasn't actually happened before. It's set in 2057, following the effects of global warming and climate change, I'm sure, to some degree, but they never explicitly say. Oh, the technical jargon required some getting used to, but once things were set in motion, everything became clearer.

I had read an article in The Guardian by Mark Kermode, and I think it gives a good background to the film and where it comes from in relation to other sci-fi movies (for instance, it's very cineliterate). There is some discussion of spirituality, and it is definitely in the movie, but not in the way I was expecting and not in the way this article would lead you to believe. If I were to say more than this, I might ruin it for you.