There are a number of ambitious films that fascinate me despite their level of failure. “Syriana” and “Hancock” are recent examples, but the quintessential exhibit has to be Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine,” which I caught once more today in the middle of career retrospective for the filmmaker.
I still stand by every word I wrote about the film nearly two years ago. It flakes apart swiftly in a final act that may have been doomed on the page, but damn if it isn’t a magnificent, near-masterpiece for about an hour and 15 minutes. We’re talking true magisterial work from Boyle that has me chomping at the bit, anxious to see him tackle a deep space saga once more. When I interviewed the director back in November, he said the process of making “Sunshine” made him understand why filmmakers only ever seem to make one space film. “It’s merciless, the demands on you,” he said at the time. “The precision you have to bring is migraine-inducing.”
But this thing came close to top-of-the-genre material, and I hope and pray he has another one in him. Something less boiled in genre like this one eventually is, perhaps. Something ethereal, reaching for philosophical heights he and screenwriter Alex Garland clearly had in mind. I’d be front row center.
Anyway, Boyle was in town this evening to talk about his career once more, an eight-film stretch that seems, by all accounts, to be headed for an Oscar next month for his work on “Slumdog Millionaire.” He sat down with festival director Roger Durling after the film screened at the Lobero Theatre tonight to discuss the fairytale story of the film, both on screen and off, and he was met with a massive standing ovation from the packed theater.
Mostly it was the same rhetoric from Boyle on the film, which at this point, I can’t fault him for. This has been a never-ending publicity tour and, eventually, you just start repeating yourself. But he’s never lost that sense of astonishment that all of this is happening, or that childlike look of wonder and, to be sure, his endless kindness. And as always, he remains in awe of Mumbai and the culture clash he met when he traveled there with a small western crew.
“For them it’s a much more profound acceptance that sometimes things align, and sometimes they don’t,” he said. “And to truly benefit, you have to embrace both of those things. It’s very difficult to explain. You sense it. You can never fully understand it as a rationalist. You want to rationally explain everything and you can’t, and they embrace that. That’s the joy. You live with it and accept it. It introduced to me that, partly, the hippies were right. And as an old punk, I never thought I would take my hat off to the old hippies.”
I can’t wait to see this guy holding an Oscar.
Comments
10 responses to “SANTA BARBARA: Danny Boyle reflects on his career”
Sunshine is indeed one of my favorite films in recent years. First, I love sci-fi, nobody really does sc-fi anymore. Especially not in such a grand and visionary way. Second, it’s a true film with a personal vision without compromises. Everything in it is magnificent.
Finally, someone who truly appreciates Sunshine!!! Yes, it does go off the rails in the third act, but it is a majestic movie with incredible visuals and a story that may was farfetched but seemed grounded in reality (I actually believed the mission was plausible). Even the third act, with the stupid slasher, has redeeming qualities, such as the music by underworld and the last shot of Cilian Murphy.
Kris,
Good piece in Boyle. I’ve been a fan of his work since Shallow Grave and am glad that he is finally getting recognized (awards wise) for his talent.
With that said, why is nobody talking about Slumdog Millionaire having a co-director? IMDB lists Loveleen Tandan as co-director: India. How much exactly did she do? She had to have been more than a mere translator for Boyle. Slugdog is officially “A Danny Boyle Film,†yet Tandan is a co-director. Not just an Assitant Director, or a First or Second Unit Director, but a co-director. As I’ve already stated, I’m a big Danny Boyle fan, but I’d just like clarification on how much the film is his, and how much the film is Tandan’s.
I heard from different interviews that she would help with the children and translated what they said and coached them to make sure it was similar to what was in the script… I think giving her the co-direct title was more about the amount of help with the kids not really adding a vision to the film (but i could be wrong).
I think one of the places I heard was in a Creative Screenwriting podcast with Simon who mentioned this, but my memory seems a bit rusty right now.
Thanks mike. The Creative Screenwriting podcasts are great. I’ll check for the one with Simon Beaufoy.
Sunshine is the film that made me realize what a Danny Boyle fan I was. I had never gushed over his films but had always found them to be solid and he was doing that across a variety of genres. Then Slumdog comes along and of course, it wins him Oscars and it’s the first one I don’t like. That first hour of Sunshine has infinitely more ideas behind it than anything in Slumdog Millionaire.
I loved this film. I saw it 3 times when it was shown in my city. I’ve always been a truly fan of Boyle work and this sci-fi movie just shows us how great he is no matter what the movie genre is.
i think people over-exaggerate the failure of the third act. when i saw sunshine i felt that the “slasher” aspect was more of an afterthought and just something tagged on to create more suspense. the true focus of that climax is capa’s attempt to continue the mission and save the world. that sequence, coupled with an incredible score (or music, not sure if it was original), made up for the silliness of that killer burn victim running around.
and another thing, i cant believe how badly the studio dumped Sunshine. IMO it could have made some money.
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