Watched Sunshine again last night. Next time someone asks me when a film last brought a tear to my eye, I'll tell them about this beautiful scene from Sunshine (slight spoilers - happens about 45 minutes in) in which captain Kaneda of the Icarus sacrifices himself to save the ship:
The story of the film is of a group of scientists who are sent to the sun with a payload designed to restart it and save all humanity. Their ship is equipped with a huge screen that shields them all from the deadly rays and heat emitted by the sun at such close range. The film is on the surface a simple science fiction story, but after watching it you realise that it's more about sacrifice, psychology and human spirituality. The sun is a metaphor for a kind of atheistic god, and the shield that protects the crew from its deadly light also prevents them from seeing and experiencing this entity that created and sustains all life on Earth.
In this clip Kaneda understands that he must sacrifice himself for the good of the mission, but with his last act turns and looks god defiantly in the face, humanity's final desperate challenge to a creator who has condemned us to die. Kaneda's crew mate Searle calls out to him - "What do you see?!", desperate to look into the face of his god even though he knows that to do so would bring madness and death. That burning need to understand, to see meaning in the stars, is universal - and for the crew of the Icarus the pressure of being so close to the creator yet unable to see or understand it is crushing. It's not just the spirituality of this scene that gets me; the effects, stylisation of the solar heat, music - everything's just perfect.
The final 20 minutes of Sunshine are a bit mad, and I admit that they could have a bit more structure, but they're classic Boyle as they tell a story of psychological breakdown through bonkers camera work. It's a fantastic film that I commend to science fiction fans and normal people alike.
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