Christopher Nolan is a name that many cinema-goers associate with realism:
His approach to filmmaking, while complex, always seems grounded in a sense of self awareness that doesn't allow the fantastical to outweigh the believable. Don't get me wrong though, Nolan loves the fantastical; from his acclaimed Dark Knight Trilogy to the magic and mind-bending of The Prestige and Inception respectively, Nolan loves to expand our imaginations with the underlying question of possibility thrown in. With that being said, how does Nolan's latest outing, the highly anticipated Interstellar, follow up and deliver on this well-tested approach?
Well firstly, going into the cinema I had an absolute tonne of hype built up for this film. I am definitely a Nolan fan and since the very first trailer for Interstellar came out over a year ago, I have eagerly awaited this release.
The film follows Cooper, a former engineer/pilot (possibly for NASA), father of two and a farmer living as part of a dying Earth; a world running out of oxygen and churning up horrific dust storms. He is asked to lead a crew of NASA scientist/astronauts to find a new habitable world for Humans to colonise. Think of it as a massive super-budget prequel to the Firefly TV series.
The film starts in a surprisingly grounded way, giving us a brief glimpse at how Cooper and his family have survived in this barren land. From the start it is made apparent that Matthew McConaughey's Cooper is a very traditional leading man. Handsome, rough round the edges, dutiful to his family, believes in being more than what life has given him. These are by no means original character traits, but McConaughey carries these aspects and puts them together to deliver one of the best acting performances of the year. He takes the hollywood prototype leading role and adds an incredible layer of emotional depth and diversity to Cooper's character. Would not be at all surprised if he gets nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars again this year. As the main plot of space travel comes into play and Cooper finds himself reluctantly dragged back into the world of NASA and piloting, alongside a crew of three others and two drones called Case and Tars. The fact that I can remember the drones names over the crew members is an apt demonstration of how forgettable they are. Anne Hathaway's Brand (barely recalled the name) is a more well-explored character than the other two. However this is a detriment to the viewers, as the crew go through a lot emotionally in their travels and all would definitely have benefitted from a bit more than just having Brand briefly addressing their backstories for them. Considering the running time of the film, this could definitely have been achieved more convincingly.
With that in mind, the main criticism I have for this film is actually the use of exposition. The action and progression throughout the film can be stifled by the continuous scientific mumbo-jumbo used throughout the scenes. A lot of unexplained terminologies slide in through the sometimes unrealistic dialogue and can feel a little pretentious without giving the audience something simpler to digest, though I do understand that for realism four NASA crew members would not explain the definitions of words they likely use with each other on a daily basis. The highlight of the unrealistic and corny dialogue comes when Anne Hathaway's Brand gives a monologue about love 'transcending time and space'. This moment of dialogue takes you out of the film and lands you in the all-too-familiar land of Hollywood. Thankfully, dialogue like this is limited and seems for the most part to avoid Cooper, who has the main task of guiding the viewer.
While the negatives can be irritating, the main positives I will give this film are the conceptual ideas, the incredible lead performance of McConaughey, the strong performances of Hathaway and both Jessica Chastain and Mackenzie Foy in the role of Murph, along with both the incredible special effects and the stunning environments. The worlds that are brought to life in this film are truly spectacular. From 100 foot waves to frozen clouds, the terrains and landscapes are breathtaking to look at. Christopher Nolan does not like needless CGI in movies; he has made this apparent in many an interview but not only is it required for Interstellar, it is embraced wholeheartedly. Nolan goes full throttle with the visuals to produce a dazzlingly realised depiction of planets and space, without sacrificing his ingeniously detailed physical models. The ships are beautifully designed and the models provide that extra layer of realism that overly perfect CGI just can't duplicate. The worlds are engrossing and completely drag you in. The space feels truly immense and it becomes very easy to forget that you are in a cinema watching a film. A lot of people will likely want to compare this film to Alphonso Cuaron's Gravity, but Interstellar provides us with a much more original and 'cinematic' presentation of space, whilst still conveying that out there, it truly is epic, deadly and undeniably infinite.
There are A LOT of areas in this film I can't mention because of spoilers, such as unexpected cameos and certain developments regarding the 'sciency mumbo-jumbo', but the third act of this film is where, if ever Nolan was to be used as a verb, the plot gets totally Nolan'd!
From inter-dimentional space and time theorems, to character motivations appearing unclear for various reasons, to my personal favourite Nolanism; taking something insignificant from the start of the film and making it completely vital for the delivery at the end, the final half-hour of Interstellar brings in every concept addressed in this feature and turns them all on their proverbial heads in a way we have come to expect from the master of cinematic mind-buggery. However this also has the potential to leave you with a slight feeling of 'what was I supposed to take away from this?'...
The film doesn't seem to find a 100% solid footing with where its focus lies; it splits quite unevenly between plot strands and the end does rush through so many different ideas that your brain is not given enough time to register how you're supposed to feel. With that being said, Nolan does not like to leave his films feeling finished if he can help it. He'll give us an ending but it is always an ending that comes in the form of more questions. Nolan relishes in giving viewers the opportunity to come up with their own theories on time and space and how it all works, and questioning whether or not the film's attempts are actually accurate. However the final act of this film does seem to be overpopulated with ideas and none of them are given nearly enough time to breathe. As a result the end does feel like a strange cross between being too rushed and being too long, depending on your opinions of complex finales. In my opinion, the film could have been a bit longer to give the ending a more justified and well rounded conclusion but considering the 166 minute running time as is, I could also agree with a few ideas being dropped to give room for others. Otherwise the inter-dimensional, mind boggling, fantasmagorically mental nature of the finale demonstrates Nolan at his most... well... Nolany, and to be honest that is one of the many reasons why fans love his films.
The overall theme of the film underlines the value and appreciation of time, as well as how we should use it best in our lifetime. This is captured beautifully in some very moving moments scattered throughout the film. The direction Interstellar takes us on is a surprisingly grounded and 'Human' path, focusing more on the characters and emotional motivations than the spectacular cosmic themes that surround them. Nolan has combined the epic scope of science fiction cinema with a very intimate, relatable centre and has done so very elegantly in spite of the sensory and mental onslaught that comes in the final act. Nolan's direction of the film is of course to a very high standard; while there is nothing game changing in terms of the cinematography, the camera angles are chosen best to convey the imagery effectively and capture the performances/story/special effects in the best possible way.
With a strong beginning, an outstanding middle and a must-see lead performance from McConaughey, casual viewers can likely forgive or forget the seismic confusion that will likely overcome them at the end, along with the sometimes overly corny dialogue. However, to the more loyal Nolan fans that have come to expect thought-provoking (sometimes hard to follow) theories about space and time, complex plot threads that only get answered right at the end (if ever) and ridiculously in-depth conversations for years to come about the underlying thematic and conceptual approaches, Interstellar as a whole is just that... stellar.
His approach to filmmaking, while complex, always seems grounded in a sense of self awareness that doesn't allow the fantastical to outweigh the believable. Don't get me wrong though, Nolan loves the fantastical; from his acclaimed Dark Knight Trilogy to the magic and mind-bending of The Prestige and Inception respectively, Nolan loves to expand our imaginations with the underlying question of possibility thrown in. With that being said, how does Nolan's latest outing, the highly anticipated Interstellar, follow up and deliver on this well-tested approach?
Well firstly, going into the cinema I had an absolute tonne of hype built up for this film. I am definitely a Nolan fan and since the very first trailer for Interstellar came out over a year ago, I have eagerly awaited this release.
The film follows Cooper, a former engineer/pilot (possibly for NASA), father of two and a farmer living as part of a dying Earth; a world running out of oxygen and churning up horrific dust storms. He is asked to lead a crew of NASA scientist/astronauts to find a new habitable world for Humans to colonise. Think of it as a massive super-budget prequel to the Firefly TV series.
The film starts in a surprisingly grounded way, giving us a brief glimpse at how Cooper and his family have survived in this barren land. From the start it is made apparent that Matthew McConaughey's Cooper is a very traditional leading man. Handsome, rough round the edges, dutiful to his family, believes in being more than what life has given him. These are by no means original character traits, but McConaughey carries these aspects and puts them together to deliver one of the best acting performances of the year. He takes the hollywood prototype leading role and adds an incredible layer of emotional depth and diversity to Cooper's character. Would not be at all surprised if he gets nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars again this year. As the main plot of space travel comes into play and Cooper finds himself reluctantly dragged back into the world of NASA and piloting, alongside a crew of three others and two drones called Case and Tars. The fact that I can remember the drones names over the crew members is an apt demonstration of how forgettable they are. Anne Hathaway's Brand (barely recalled the name) is a more well-explored character than the other two. However this is a detriment to the viewers, as the crew go through a lot emotionally in their travels and all would definitely have benefitted from a bit more than just having Brand briefly addressing their backstories for them. Considering the running time of the film, this could definitely have been achieved more convincingly.
With that in mind, the main criticism I have for this film is actually the use of exposition. The action and progression throughout the film can be stifled by the continuous scientific mumbo-jumbo used throughout the scenes. A lot of unexplained terminologies slide in through the sometimes unrealistic dialogue and can feel a little pretentious without giving the audience something simpler to digest, though I do understand that for realism four NASA crew members would not explain the definitions of words they likely use with each other on a daily basis. The highlight of the unrealistic and corny dialogue comes when Anne Hathaway's Brand gives a monologue about love 'transcending time and space'. This moment of dialogue takes you out of the film and lands you in the all-too-familiar land of Hollywood. Thankfully, dialogue like this is limited and seems for the most part to avoid Cooper, who has the main task of guiding the viewer.
While the negatives can be irritating, the main positives I will give this film are the conceptual ideas, the incredible lead performance of McConaughey, the strong performances of Hathaway and both Jessica Chastain and Mackenzie Foy in the role of Murph, along with both the incredible special effects and the stunning environments. The worlds that are brought to life in this film are truly spectacular. From 100 foot waves to frozen clouds, the terrains and landscapes are breathtaking to look at. Christopher Nolan does not like needless CGI in movies; he has made this apparent in many an interview but not only is it required for Interstellar, it is embraced wholeheartedly. Nolan goes full throttle with the visuals to produce a dazzlingly realised depiction of planets and space, without sacrificing his ingeniously detailed physical models. The ships are beautifully designed and the models provide that extra layer of realism that overly perfect CGI just can't duplicate. The worlds are engrossing and completely drag you in. The space feels truly immense and it becomes very easy to forget that you are in a cinema watching a film. A lot of people will likely want to compare this film to Alphonso Cuaron's Gravity, but Interstellar provides us with a much more original and 'cinematic' presentation of space, whilst still conveying that out there, it truly is epic, deadly and undeniably infinite.
There are A LOT of areas in this film I can't mention because of spoilers, such as unexpected cameos and certain developments regarding the 'sciency mumbo-jumbo', but the third act of this film is where, if ever Nolan was to be used as a verb, the plot gets totally Nolan'd!
From inter-dimentional space and time theorems, to character motivations appearing unclear for various reasons, to my personal favourite Nolanism; taking something insignificant from the start of the film and making it completely vital for the delivery at the end, the final half-hour of Interstellar brings in every concept addressed in this feature and turns them all on their proverbial heads in a way we have come to expect from the master of cinematic mind-buggery. However this also has the potential to leave you with a slight feeling of 'what was I supposed to take away from this?'...
The film doesn't seem to find a 100% solid footing with where its focus lies; it splits quite unevenly between plot strands and the end does rush through so many different ideas that your brain is not given enough time to register how you're supposed to feel. With that being said, Nolan does not like to leave his films feeling finished if he can help it. He'll give us an ending but it is always an ending that comes in the form of more questions. Nolan relishes in giving viewers the opportunity to come up with their own theories on time and space and how it all works, and questioning whether or not the film's attempts are actually accurate. However the final act of this film does seem to be overpopulated with ideas and none of them are given nearly enough time to breathe. As a result the end does feel like a strange cross between being too rushed and being too long, depending on your opinions of complex finales. In my opinion, the film could have been a bit longer to give the ending a more justified and well rounded conclusion but considering the 166 minute running time as is, I could also agree with a few ideas being dropped to give room for others. Otherwise the inter-dimensional, mind boggling, fantasmagorically mental nature of the finale demonstrates Nolan at his most... well... Nolany, and to be honest that is one of the many reasons why fans love his films.
The overall theme of the film underlines the value and appreciation of time, as well as how we should use it best in our lifetime. This is captured beautifully in some very moving moments scattered throughout the film. The direction Interstellar takes us on is a surprisingly grounded and 'Human' path, focusing more on the characters and emotional motivations than the spectacular cosmic themes that surround them. Nolan has combined the epic scope of science fiction cinema with a very intimate, relatable centre and has done so very elegantly in spite of the sensory and mental onslaught that comes in the final act. Nolan's direction of the film is of course to a very high standard; while there is nothing game changing in terms of the cinematography, the camera angles are chosen best to convey the imagery effectively and capture the performances/story/special effects in the best possible way.
With a strong beginning, an outstanding middle and a must-see lead performance from McConaughey, casual viewers can likely forgive or forget the seismic confusion that will likely overcome them at the end, along with the sometimes overly corny dialogue. However, to the more loyal Nolan fans that have come to expect thought-provoking (sometimes hard to follow) theories about space and time, complex plot threads that only get answered right at the end (if ever) and ridiculously in-depth conversations for years to come about the underlying thematic and conceptual approaches, Interstellar as a whole is just that... stellar.