Sunshine

Dans la science-fiction grand public, c'est trop bon marché, bavard et centré sur les intérieurs, tandis que dans le drame de chambre intelligent, c'est trop discret et cliché. Nous ne savons pratiquement rien sur les personnages, nous avons déjà vu chaque retournement dans l'intrigue ailleurs, visuellement c'est austère, de qualité inférieure à Horizont udalosti. Je le constate à contrecœur, mais même avec un mauvais Jadre, je me suis plus amusé. Danny, arrête de raconter des conneries et finalement tourne ce PORNO (la suite annoncée de Trainspotting, note pour les non-initiés). (14/03/2007)

Vu dans le cadre du « Challenge Tour – La chasse aux films », défi numéro 23 : un film qui se déroule dans l'espace. Voici un film qui semble taillé pour le cinéma et qui se veut un festin pour les yeux. J’ai du mal à croire que j’aie pu être aussi bête que pour ne pas aller voir ce film visuellement et auditivement impressionnant et captivant dans les salles il y a huit ans ! Il ne me reste plus aujourd’hui que les regrets. Mais même depuis mes quatre murs, j’ai pu correctement apprécier l’orgie visuelle offerte par Danny Boyle. C'est la deuxième fois que je regarde un film fait par Boyle ces jours-ci, et contrairement à la dérive psychédélique de Trance, Sunshine m’a plu et je trouve que c’est une œuvre de science-fiction soignée et de qualité. La dernière demi-heure est discutable, mais je respecte le parti-pris des créateurs. (08/06/2015)

Never mind that according to the scholarly press, Sunshine is science fiction with the most scientific and technical nonsense in years, because Danny Boyle's extremely evocative direction trumps every plot misstep. Whether it's the scene of adjusting the solar filter, repairing the protective panels, or the impressive flyover of Mercury silhouetted against the backdrop of a hot solar disc, Boyle has managed to awaken in me what I last experienced with Zemeckis' Contact: a fascination with space. And surprisingly, even the killer "zombie" at the end, whose existence in the film is so criticized, didn't bother me at all. On the contrary, with his "role" as a self-proclaimed god, he gave the film a tantalizing mysterious dimension. A must see if possible in the cinema, this is an audiovisual juggernaut designed for the big screen. (05/09/2007)

What exactly is Boyle's Sunshine? A visual space essay? A realistic drama from space? A disaster film? A survival horror? Maybe all of the above mashed together. The first part of the film skillfully depicts the atmosphere of a spaceship rushing towards a task of fatal importance, relationships between the crew, a thickening atmosphere, moral dilemmas and exciting episodes from the life of an astronaut. In some respects, Boyle seems to be trying to achieve a hi-tech version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, whilst maintaining his classic directorial attributes. Awkward editing. Expressive acting in detail. Distinctive soundtrack. Surprisingly, this part not bound to the plot works very nicely, the artistic aspect is perfect, the atmosphere is absorbing and some of the sequences (repair of damaged panels) have well-escalated tension. The combination of raw drama, spectacular visuals and a bit of thought creates a captivating whole... but unfortunately, in about the middle of the runtime, the film finds itself asking the cardinal question... what's next? They are far from the Sun, layering problems on the storyline... and so Sunshine turns into a very cheap pseudo-horror-action murder film, in which annoying overacting, confused editing (which absolutely loses order from the beginning of the film) and Emmental logic play a role. Therefore, instead of gaining in attractiveness, Sunshine loses it considerably and becomes an unbearably excessive collage of disparate images and self-serving scenes. The ending, which would have been significant in other circumstances, fizzles out. For me, when I left the movie theatre, I felt that the film was technically excellent, but the sci-fi storyline was completely shrunken. It is intelligent in the first part, but alarmingly idiotic in the second. It's like stardust. You touch it and the shape shatters into small particles. It’s too bad. Three points for the great atmosphere of the introduction, the artistic design and a very nice soundtrack. Yes, the comparison with Event Horizon is on point. Including the way in which the film can turn from a lively to a silly one, unfortunately. (12/04/2007)

Out comes the sun and dries up all the rain... If it weren’t for the needless screenwriter excess toward the end, Sunshine would have been a very good and intelligent catastrophe sci-fi picture. This way it remains “just" in the very good picture category. That excess is all the more disappointing because due to it the movie undergoes a pointless and demeaning complete change of genre for about ten minutes; such a good screenplay deserved a better idea. Boyle played around a lot with the visuals and it is really surprising to see just how many shades of yellow exist. The soundtrack is rather unusual, but the ambient harmonies of Underworld complements the overall atmosphere curiously well. Sunshine could have easily slipped into a deluge of pathos, heroic speeches and lots of clichés... But it didn’t and, thanks to it focusing on the excellently played characters, it remained teetering on the edge of intelligent popcorn movie cut with a picture with greater reach i the style of A Space Odyssey. And that’s really good. ♫ OST score: 4/5 (20/04/2007)