Sunshine by Danny Boyle

[Hubot]

 Black old sun and so forth... namely the visually stunning film “Sunshine” by Danny Boyle from 2007. As in almost all SciFi -films the plot is basically just rubbish (spoiler alert): The sun is losing power and to restart it again a team of scientist with fissile material is sent to orbit our star in a giant space ship, Icarus II (lol). Icarus I was lost a few years before. Our protagonist, physicist Capa, is accompanied by other scientists in different fields. Due to a small error in calculations the spaceship gets progressively more damaged and Capa's fellow crew members start to die in the process. Then by a miracle the crew finds Icarus I intact nearby. They board the ship hoping to get more resources but unfortunately they also get a new crew member hiding in the ship... the captain of the former Icarus I -mission, who has become completely mad in years of isolation. He goes on a killing spree eliminating the crew members one by one. At this point it has already become clear that no one aboard will return to Earth and even the mission to rescue the Sun is in danger. In the end the crazy old captain tries to attack Capa but fails. Capa succeeds to manually start the fission bomb which then also restarts the Sun.

 

  So here's what I think the film is about: It's simply about a journey in our “core self” through therapy, journaling, etc. All of Capa's fellow scientists are a “mecosystem” of himself. In other words, they are different simulations of other very influential (for him) persons in his life (especially in his early life). As he get's closer to his core self (=the Sun) he can let go of them. The most difficult one to confront is his abusive father (the crazy captain). After all, it was he who had sabotaged the former approach (Icarus II) to reach the truth about himself and his family. Once Capa reaches his core self his false self dies in 10^10 Kelvin flaming explosion. The process also sets free an enormous amount of “life force” as material (inner potential) becomes energy (real life actions).

 

 What do you think, am I just rambling here and trying to fit everything in one theory that I like? Or am I perhaps just talking about myself and about my narcissistic “Sun King”- fantasies? Anyway, it would be nice to hear if any of you have seen the film and your thoughts of it.

[Tony]

Great analysis friend, short and sweet; what do you think the captain of Icarus II represented?

[Hubot]

  Well thank you! I thought the new captain might be the therapist, counselor or maybe even some inspirational radio host. Someone or something that makes clear for him which thoughts and preferences are truly his and which aren't. I haven't actually gone through every character and tried to figure out who he/she might represent in Capa's life except for Pinbacker (that being said maybe Cassie could be his mother figure or even girl friend). I found it interesting how the crew (especially the new captain Kaneda) tries to make sense of the old video messages from Pinbacker. In other words the therapist is trying to make sense of Capa's past life. Then it would make sense that Icarus I is Capa's childhood experiences; the character(s) a more primal and there exists an overwhelming fear and anxiety around the old ship. Once they board the ship everything gets less controllable when strong concealed feelings/emotions come to light.

 

  This is not the only explanation of the film that I came up with. The more pessimistic one would be translate the film into collectivist propaganda: The dying Sun represents the coming “ecological doomsday” and therefore every human being must sacrifice all they can to rescue our planet. Only socialism can save us from the “judgement day”.