Last Sunrise
released 2019
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“Last Sunrise” is a Chinese, sci-fi, drama, apocalyptic film produced by Elly Li, Mingqian Li, Xinran Cindy Li and Lang Yu. It was directed by Wen Ren, who cowrite it with Elly Li (Yiqing Elly Li), Yankang Mei and Min Yu. It stars a small cast which includes Zhang Jue, Zhang Yue (Zhang Ran), Yang Sen, Wang Dahong, Chen Gangchen, Gao Xing, Shao Shenfgjie, Mei Aodong, Zhu Zhongchun, Wang Huaguo, Duan Yuting, Wen Feng, Han Wenfei, Li Yuetong, Zhang Song, Shan Yongli and western extra Gregory Stone.

Last Sunrise IMDb webpage

“Last Sunrise” is the apocalyptic tale set in a possible, not too distant future that has exchanged oil technologies for solar ones. So you have solar panels everywhere and batteries seem to power everything else that the panels don´t. At the start of the film, recluse freelance astronomer Sun Yang, played by Zhang Jue, makes a terrifying discover but is ignored. He also notices that the extinction level event that is about to hit is following a pattern. It happened to another star he was watching. When he finds out (from the wealthy academic known as the The Sun Good) that the cataclysm is soon to happen he knocks on the door of his neighbor Chen Mu, played by Zhang Yue, and they witness the disappearance of the Sun together. The two are an odd couple who must navigate this new world together.

It´s a plausible look at our not too distant future where paper money has nearly all but vanished from the economy. For example, we see how convenient shopping is in this digital age. Another part of this film that will really resonate with today´s audiences was Sun Yang´s personal A.I. named ISLA. He relied so much on it and up until the catastrophe was his main life companion. He interacted with ISLA more than flesh and blood people. Throughout the film you see how terrible his social skills are because of it. ISLA was his mother, keeper, secretary and probably friend. I do see the possibility of an unhealthy dependence, for some of us at least, on A.I in the near future, especially as A.I. becomes more and more charming.

This is a Chinese film but I especially liked the reference to the western mythological character of Icarus. There is a scene when the Sun God, as he is known, tells the story of Icarus when describing the problem of survival humanity faces. He has essentially given up and implies that humanity has reached too far, for too much. Sun Yang then counters by telling the story of the Chinese mythological god Hou Yi The Archer who shot down 9 of the 10 suns Earth once had. This is very revealing of Sun Yang´s state of mind. While the Sun God is ready to give up, Sun Yang just sees humanity´s predicament as a natural cosmic event, even though it was probably the result of a more advanced intelligent life form (I won´t give away any spoilers but it is a fascinating theory about what was going on with stars in our sector of space). He doesn´t see it as bad decision making on the part of humanity like the Sun God does. It´s this state of mind that keeps him in the struggle for survival and it´s Chen Mu´s optimism that gives the couple that needed extra drive to find solutions to their problems.

“Last Sunrise” is a really good film. Sure, it´s not action packed with explosions every few minutes or full of gore, and it is a little sombre but it´s a good film nonetheless. I enjoyed the ideas and characters of this film. So go check it out and be amazed at how well done it is.

John

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