Saturday, December 10, 2005

Our Mr. Sun, the movie revisited

It's quite the film and a part of my formative childhood years. I saw it in grade school several times back in the mid 1960s. It was a 1956 classic with Bell Telephone Company backing.

On Youtube. 56 minutes.

Such a film would not likely be shown in public schools today as it mentions religion, but only in some gentle ways. Such as saying, Science is one way of reaching for the light beyond.

Not being much into movies, I surprised myself by ordering the DVD after discovering it's available at Amazon. Haven't seen this for almost 40 years, but still remember it well.

A great story about two film makers trying to put together a documentary about the sun. They want some splash to make it interesting. The fiction writer conjures up a magic screen and invents some characters; "Father Time" and "Mr. Sun." These imaginary characters just about take over the studio as they argue with the film makers about how to proceed.

Mr. Sun does not want his story told as nothing but a bunch of facts, figures, charts and numbers. He's a romantic, says Father Time. The Sun's ego tells a story of being worshiped as a god. From the ancient Egyptians to the Greeks, worshiping the Sun God.

There seems to be even a hint of gay script writing. Remember this was 1956, but Mr. Sun liked the Greek perceptions of him best.

Apollo the handsome sun god.

It even showed a frontal nude statue of that god. Mr. Sun proclaimed, "Oh, that was for me, I loved it." Going across the sky playing beautiful music, but then along came someone to spoil it all. Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher who felt that the sun was not a god, but a hot stone. He was imprisoned for that belief, and Mr. Sun was not at all sorry for him. However man (remember this is before modern feminism) was starting to fall for his mind. Thinking began spreading like the measles. To the Arabs with their numbers and so forth.

As the story goes on, much of the interesting science is described, as much as they knew in 1956.

Hydrogen fusion, the mystery of chlorophyll.

Animation shows this fussy cook mysteriously using sunlight, to make sugar from carbon dioxide and water molecules. Proclaiming, "and the Russians didn't invent me either, I invented myself" Mr. Chlorophyll seems to not like being filmed.

Quite far sighted, for 1956, there is a discussion of world population growth. Also a segment about how we are depleting our storehouse of fossil fuels. Stored wealth that Mr. Sun has showered down on us over billions of years.

Like depleting a giant bank account there wasn't that much worry when the average withdrawal was modest, in the 1500's, but by 1975, look how large the withdrawal bags will be. We'll have to learn how to use Mr. Sun's energy more directly. Quite a few early solar energy projects are shown, including a solar heated home in Massachusetts.

History, science, religion and our constant sense of wonder are stirred into a great mix.

I feel very blessed to have had this in my childhood. Now it is a treat to see again after all these years.

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