Interstellar

Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain
Length: 169 minutes
Country: USA

Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster, Interstellar, is (to speak poetically) perhaps as complex as the universe itself. If you were to try and make sense of it by comparing it to Gravity, you’d be going nowhere, as tempting as it may seem. The amount of times the word ‘gravity’ is actually said in the film almost makes it seem like the audience is being smacked in the face with the potential to compare the two major blockbusters. It is important to remember that just because the two films are set in outer space, it does not mean that the themes they confront will be identical.

The main themes of Interstellar attempt to destabilise the foundations upon which modern society rely. It does so by showing a regressed and failing U.S.: the dried out and failing arable setting is a blatant throwback to the Dust Bowl, which undermines the arrogant assumption that society learns from its mistakes. This kind of barren potential future certainly shows up young adult dystopias such as Divergent and The Hunger Games. The scenario presented to us in Interstellar is far more frighteningly possible than popular dystopias have been able to achieve.

What the audience is also introduced to is a new, revised ethos which rejects champions and heroes, and instead only promotes the type of mindset which is necessary for survival; practicality and co-operation. This is set at odds with the 20th Century need for the cult of the ego.

After seeing Interstellar, one may be left feeling dazed and disorientated, which is a consequence of the mind-bending plot and the grand scale of the cinematography.

Matthew McConaughey is by reputation, the perfect person to play the protagonist who challenges this rejection of egoists. As former NASA pilot, Cooper, McConaughey employs his all too familiar swagger and drawl to great effect, not only by injecting humour into the normally high-octane scenes set in the vessel Endurance, but by highlighting the way arrogant humour is so abnormal in this future.

Aside from McConaughey, other commendable performances were given by Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, and – for an oddly short amount of time – Matt Damon. Michael Caine, a favourite of Nolan’s, plays the tragically flawed Professor Brand, who initially appears as a benevolent old man who has dedicated his life’s work towards saving mankind, but is in fact far more troubled than meets the eye. Many of the most jarring lines in the film come from him, including his recital of Dylan Thomas’ Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, which is hauntingly repeated throughout the first half.

Now, as for the elephant in the room, the plot twist is what makes Interstellar so difficult to judge. The incredible task of depicting a black hole is an effort which undeniably deserves a fair amount of credit. The CGI black hole is not only beautiful, but also (thanks to the efforts of resident theoretical physicist, Kip Thorne) apparently accurate. Yet to expect viewers to be able to swallow and digest such a very complex twist in the last half an hour of a two hour forty-five minute film may be a too much of an ask. However, the cleverness of the twist (strangely reminiscent of the mind-boggling ending of Nolan’s Prestige) has to be admired.

With all this in mind, by and large it would be unfair to say that Interstellar is not, at the very least a work of art. It is not just the images of the cosmos and unfamiliar planets which are a marvel, but the more earthly scenes too. Though in all fairness, with Hans Zimmer’s brilliant soundtrack, it would be hard work to make anything seem mundane. After seeing Interstellar, one may be left feeling dazed and disorientated, which is a consequence of the mind-bending plot and the grand scale of the cinematography.

Image Source: Warner Bros. Pictures