Interstellar
Dir: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine,
John Lithgow, Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, and
Mackenzie Foy
There
are movies and then there are Christopher Nolan movies. Nolan, whose career
catalog has been nothing short of impressive, attempts to accomplish one of the
most ambitious visionary feats of recent years with “Interstellar”. This film
is an experience in the fullest terms; visually beautiful to watch,
awe-inspiringly composed, and bursting at the narrative seams with thematic
theoretical wonders. “Interstellar” is a film whose ambitiousness will ultimately become its Achilles heel, though in a film so passionately composed,
it’s a minor concern for the film enthusiast this film is intended
for.
Earth
is dying and the last of humanity lives as farmers to produce food for a dwindling existence. A former pilot named Cooper lives with his family in a small town.
With the help of his daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) Cooper discovers coordinates
that lead him to a group of explorers heading a mission into deep space,
beyond our galaxy, to find a habitable planet to save mankind.
Nolan
composes a distinct vision of the future. A bleak outlook and regretful
remembrances occupy an Earth that is searching for any glimmer of hope. This is
found through a wormhole near the rings of Saturn with coordinates received from an
unknown source that is guiding the explorers. The script is ingenious with
mounting theories that drive the film from plausible to implausible positions,
a rift at times that Nolan traverses with ease and other times tumbles messily
into. It’s the kind of obstacle that in lesser hands would derail a film,
however Nolan recovers and continues to charge forth towards further ambitious
expanses. Nolan builds events towards near epic
standards with such ease and simplicity of design. In one scene the sheen of a
spacecraft floating across a gorgeously rendered backdrop of Saturn’s atmosphere
is accommodated by Hans Zimmer’s equally moving score. This all escalates gradually, giving the journey into uncharted territory a grandiose quality without looking
overdone. It’s a brilliant design.
Just
as all the best science fiction, there is an underlying message being proposed.
Nolan discusses regret throughout. Difficult choices, necessary choices, and
selfish choices all compose a collection of people who understand that the
right decisions, both individual and communal, could have been made in the past to
prevent the current state. There is a constant connection with the elements as well, represented through layers of wind blown soil, pummeling water, and flashes of
fire, these elements seemingly betraying humanity by displaying their
dominating destructive force on life.
The
cast, as in most of Nolan’s films, is great. McConaughey is the consummate
heroic figure, self-sacrificing to a fault and emotionally motivated for the
greater good. The script spends time building his character as a devoted family
man with subtle emotional touches initially, but as the film charges into space
the relationship between his family is slightly stilted and relinquished to a
few, albeit touching, moments. One might defend this portrayal as another character
facet by Nolan to display the nature of a father willing to attempt impossible
feats to save his family, but the emotional influence is lost until the final
act. Mackenzie Foy, who portrays young Murph, is quite excellent. As is Jessica
Chastain, who portrays older Murph with a maturity that is strong willed though
bruised by the abandonment felt by her father. There are also nice
turns by Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway accommodating another reflective
father and daughter story.
“Interstellar” has minor difficulties living
up to its lofty ambitions, however it is still an exceptional vision unmatched
by other films in recent memory. Christopher Nolan confidently crafts an intricately
beautiful and seemingly uncompromised work of science fiction.
Monte’s Rating
4.00 out of 5.00
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