Outside Event: 'Sunshine'

Sunshine (2009) – dir. Karen Skloss
Sunshine, a film about two generations of single mothers in the same family, is full of likable characters. Ironically, the overwhelming pleasantness of everyone involved is an obstacle the documentary must overcome. Sunshine’s biggest weakness is the lack of contemporary conflict. Skloss makes some token gestures towards creating tension, but it never develops – either due to the nature of the characters and the situation, or because it is not given adequate attention to evolve into a real issue. By the time the documentary starts, the family seems to have resolved its issues and settled into a comfortable situation. Even Skloss’ very conservative biological grandfather is ready to introduce her to his friends and take her to his beach house.
There is mention of the social stigma of single parenthood, but, in the modern day, none of the characters encounter any problems. Even Skloss’ Catholic, church-going adoptive parents have never experienced any negative reactions to Skloss’ pregnancy. There are other single mothers in the film, but we do not hear much from them – the only concern we hear about is dating. Other than that, the only things they seem to have to worry about are their avant-garde theater pieces. Skloss hints at internal conflict and self-judgment in her voice over; however, the voice over is delivered in such a soothing tone that it is impossible to give the concerns much credence.
In a way, the lack of tension is the point. It highlights the tragedy of the past stigma that separated Skloss and her mother, but a lack of conflict is a difficult foundation on which to build a compelling story. However, Skloss gives the story appropriate pathos and injects the contemporary with a very winning charm and humor.
Skloss creates a wonderful sense of the characters in the film. The camera was clearly kept rolling long before and after the actual interviews. Skloss does a great job of pulling casual moments, which do not advance the story, but that give a rich sense of who these people are. The film is, as a whole, very cleverly constructed and edited. Skloss does a great job of combining a wide variety of footage in a very neat, seamless way. She pulls in archival material, home movies, staged recreations, interviews, and in-the-moment shoots – shot either by herself or others. Skloss does a brilliant job of constructing the film, but also deconstructing it – leading to some of the most interesting and rewarding moments in the film.
There is a scene when Skloss is interviewing her biological mother while they are walking together in an isolated area. The mother notes that, by virtue of the camera being there, this seemingly private moment is going to be seen by many strangers. At one point, she takes the camera from Skloss and turns it on her, asking, “How do you like it?” It feels very natural, but it offers such an interesting commentary on the nature of documentaries.
My favorite bit of deconstruction, and one of the cleverest I have seen in a long time, involves the film’s reenactments of Skloss’ biological mother and father on the fateful night of her conception. They are shown periodically throughout the film in silhouette, canoodling by a lake. Towards the end, the camera pulls back to reveal the crew filming. Then we see the actors: Skloss and her ex-boyfriend, her daughter’s father. It is a great moment that comments so neatly and nicely on the parallels between Skloss and her biological mother’s story. It is in moments like this, when Skloss plays with the form in such interesting ways, that the film really shines.