"Sunshine" is a rare piece of art. Based on a true story, it contains a ton of emotion. Produced in 1973, I caught it one night on TV and left it in the back of my mind. In 1988 I began to live this story right down to Christina Raines similarity to my wife and the taffy colored cat. The only difference was that our love held us together ...she, and the cat, passed on in 1994. Recently I saw an old battered copy of "Sunshine" and how close this "movie" is to the truth. I highly recommend this film as one of the greatest attempts at understanding the love and sadness in life, what it is like to die, and the legacy it leaves in the heart. It is unfortunate that it is not available on VHS (Hello, Amazon.com) or shown more on TV. This is the compassionate type of media our society and civilization needs so badly to survive.
Sunshine
1973
Action / Biography / Drama
Plot summary
When a young woman who is living in the woods with her struggling-musician husband and her very young daughter discovers that she has terminal cancer, she begins to tape-record a journal of the time she has left, hoping to leave something precious for her daughter.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Life's mysteries
From the heart, of the heart, in the heart !
I saw this movie as a young "hippie" woman and just loved it. It captured the times of 1973 perfectly. The subject matter, young love, family, illness, free spirits were right on. The photography was beautiful as well as the John Denver music, which was at the height of his popularity. I felt the lead character to be very brave. I now have a stepdaughter the same age I was when I first saw this movie and I only wish she could view it too. Who says great movies are not written for television?
Hello Fellow "Sunshine" Lovers!
My name is Jo-Jo (Ernie is my husband but I can't seem to be able to erase his name from this site - just thought I would clarify that!). I first saw this movie in 1982 on TV in Scotland, which is where I grew up, and I immediately recognised it as the story of Lyn Helton, which I had read in a magazine at the library. I was totally moved all over again; I thought the movie was beautifully made, and the songs complimented it perfectly. I have only seen it repeated once since then,and that was several years ago while living here (in New York). I would love to have a DVD or video of it to share with the four children I now have. I cannot begin to imagine what Lyn/Kate went through as a mother of such a young child, having to face her own demise. I totally admire her for standing up to the doctors and not letting them bully her into doing something she felt was the wrong decision for her. After seeing the movie I was inspired to try to find out about the real Lyn and her family (we didn't have the internet then): I found out from the library that there was a trust established for her daughter Jennifer, and I sent them a donation but never heard back from them. Anyone out there know anything? Her daughter must be about 36 now, and I'm sure she is really proud of her mom. One final thought - I noticed how many people on the board mentioned having read the book by Norma Klein: did anyone else read the two sequels "Sunshine Christmas" and "The Sunshine Years" and realise that they were totally inconsistent?! It's like two different people picked up from where the first book/movie left off! It was a little bit disappointing. Maybe its time to do a remake of this film? It was nice to discover that there are all these other people out there who were so inspired by this film.