“A slightly less successful attempt than some of Nolan’s previous work, but don’t be deceived! ‘Interstellar’ is still ambitious, beautifully shot and elegantly written.”
SPOILER FREE ‘A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.’ Don’t worry I had difficulty understanding that too.
Christopher Nolan is now a household name. People know him as the guy who reinvented Batman and had us believe that it was possible to go layers and layers into dream worlds. He is a master of storytelling, special effects without green screen, thrills and strong character development. In a way, it is difficult to come back after you’ve had such a high. Particularly when you make ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) and ‘Inception’ (2010) with only two years between each other. As much as I love ‘Memento’ and ‘Batman Begins’ I think his strongest time was making the other films – however has he reinvented himself with ‘Interstellar’? Has he come back and beaten what is arguably the greatest Superhero film of all time?
I will often find myself immersed in a story with the only reason being that the director has been critically acclaimed. The start of ‘Interstellar’ was strong and inviting but was it all because I knew of Nolan’s reputation and what he had directed previously? Matthew McConaughey’s portrayal of ‘Cooper’ is strong and convincing but rather uninviting. I felt in myself a desire to want to get to know the family of Cooper, his father-in-law, his son and his daughter, but not as well as I had done so quickly in Nolan’s other movies.
The premise of the story seems believable but there was this great sense throughout the start of the film that everything was in a rush. The relationship between Cooper and his daughter is gorgeous and really takes you back to your own childhood and the relationship you had with your own father – and in that way, it’s very inviting and almost cathartic in its approach. The moment everything changes is when Cooper discovers NASA and then its mission to find a world that would sustain human life on Planet Earth. All of this is well explained but I would say rushed through too quickly. Of course I understand that the film is almost 3 hours long and the most important parts need to be kept (i.e. space exploration) but I felt like there wasn’t a huge backbone to lean back on when the characters set off on their mission for what was left back home. HOWEVER!!! The genius kicks in when we see the characters seeing the video messages from the people back home and we really feel the impact of what these people are going through, it’s heartbreaking. Not to mention that the scene involving Cooper leaving his daughter was well disciplined and beautifully conducted.
The film definitely has huge influence from Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in it’s grand cinematography and stunning scenery. It’s most certainly an eye-popper and if it’s visual’s don’t keep you awake then the characters will. The chemistry between Amelia (Anne Hathaway) and Cooper is rather tense but interesting; it bizarrely makes you want to see more of them together, just because everything that the characters say all seems to be interesting. The dialogue in the film should be highly praised for its originality and realism. The dialogue is really what drives the story forward and the film pays huge attention to mainly what the characters are saying and not always what they’re doing; it is sharp and painfully honest nonetheless.
The film is wonderful in the way that it feels like a long story that you would have been read at bedtime by one of your parents. I’m not meaning that in a way for the film to sound at all childish or uneducated at all, but in the way that it is so well scripted and the characters are well defined, it would make a strong novel. I would have loved as a kid to be read stories of space exploration and mankind’s last hope of survival.
One of the issues that I was disappointed with the film, was it’s attention to sentimentality rather than reason and logic. There is this whole battle throughout the entire film from one character to the next between science and sentiment and ultimately the audience is definitely going to divide on that issue. I would definitely say that I am a person who enjoys sentimentality when it’s portrayed in a real and positive manner, but not when it’s done for reasons that only connect with the heart, instead of the brain. I feel like the film wrestles with saving humanity and Cooper’s relationship with his daughter and it had to try and go for both as much as it could, but in reality we all know that sometimes we have to make those hard decisions. I loved Danny Boyle’s ‘Sunshine’ so much because it stuck with science and logic within the film’s own fantastical reality and for that reason we did actually feel rather sentimental for the characters and for what they were trying to accomplish. Is ‘Interstellar’ about family or human survival? I definitely feel like at some points in the film, we were exposed to rather silly sentimentality rather than basic human nature and logic. I think it’s very important in films to be attached to the characters, even at an emotional level; but it lessens the effect when the story goes a certain way that is too silly for it’s own good.
Having said that, I like the film very much. The story overall is very strong as are it’s characters. Matthew McConaughey plays Cooper very well, and every performance is believable within its own fantastical context. Anne Hathaway is also wonderful and her character of Amelia was my favourite throughout the entire film. There are moments where the film is so intense where you are gripping the seat. It’s a visual spectacle from beginning to end and the cinematography is nothing short of stunning.
The film is one of the treats that cinema has offered in 2014 and you’ll leave feeling stunned and wanting more. However you’ll also reflect on where the story went from a logical point of view and you might leave confused as well as thrilled. Directed by Christopher Nolan; it’s visual gold and thankfully there is a reason why it has been one of the most anticipated films of the year.
★★★★
Hudson-Cook 