a review on “Sunshine”
Sunshine stands on the gymnastics mat, her competition suit bearing the Philippine national flag. All around her, everything goes quiet. She closes her eyes, fully concentrated. Music starts, people cheer, Sunshine opens her eyes, smiles and starts her performance.
Making it to the Philippine national team and competing for her country in rhythmic gymnastics at the Olympics is Sunshine’s (Maris Racal) greatest wish. She has been training for this every day for over 10 years, everything revolves around the sport and her goal is within her sights – when she suddenly faints during training and finds out that she is pregnant after taking a secret pregnancy test. Completely overwhelmed by the situation, Sunshine has to find a way to deal with it, because abortions are illegal in the Philippines and there is no support system in place. And Sunshine’s boyfriend Miggy (Elijah Canlas) is not much help either, as he puts the responsibility solely on Sunshine and wants nothing to do with the pregnancy. Left to her own devices, Sunshine tries to somehow get rid of the pregnancy and at the same time not let it show during training so that she doesn’t get kicked out of the squad.
What at first sounds like a topic that is revisited from time to time in the generational program turns out to be a gripping, socially critical drama told in 91 minutes. Director and screenwriter Antoinette Jadaone creates a film that captures the precarious situation of the protagonist, openly criticizes the system and at the same time does not lose its humour, so that the audience is thrilled and carried away. Jadaone cleverly addresses and criticizes several topics at once: on the one hand, of course, the abortion law in the Philippines, but also the toxicity of competitive sports (through Sunshine’s trainer’s reprimanding words – “you’ve gained 2 pounds” – “forget everything else, only the sport is important”) and social inequality.
Long, very uncomfortable and hard to watch scenes show the harsh reality of a society in which abortions cannot be done safely, such as the effects of an abortion drug obtained on the black market or a trip to the hospital. In contrast, we also see humorous scenes and a very creative visualization of Sunshine’s insecurity and remorse towards abortion, and very expressive, emotional scenes, such as the one between Sunshine and her older sister, who is completely supportive of her after she finds out about the pregnancy.
The widescreen format captures a lot of the surroundings, through which Sunshine’s emotions are often expressed. Overwhelmed with emotion and by her situation, Sunshine wanders through the noisy crowds at the market, then back to complete silence and a calm background before Sunshine practices a performance in training. This, and of course the excellent performance of the lead actress, ensures that the feelings and worries of a young woman dealing with an unwanted pregnancy are conveyed authentically.
The plot is unpredictable, which keeps the suspense high. In between, a subplot develops when Sunshine meets another pregnant girl from a poorer background, whose place in the storytelling is not entirely clear to me at first. Later, however, I realize that this different point of view from a perspective without financial resources or a supportive family only enriches the film even more. And this is only reinforced when I learn in the audience discussion that director Jadaone wanted to tell true stories of young women in her film.
“Sunshine” is a movie that brings everything to the table. Good storytelling and a gripping story, a lot of sympathy for the protagonists and plenty of criticism of the system. For me, it’s definitely a movie with the potential to win in the 14plus section.
You can still watch “Sunshine” at the Berlinale:
Fr. 21.2., 12:45h
Filmtheater am Friedrichshain
Sa. 22.2., 19:15h
Cubix 6
