Review 316: Interstellar
In the mid-21st Century, crop blights and dust storms threaten humanity’s survival.
When a wormhole (which hypothetically can connect widely-separated regions of spacetime) is newly discovered, a team of explorers and scientists, including Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), Doyle (Wes Bentley), Romilly (David Gyasi) and an A.I. named TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin) embark on a voyage through it to transcend previous limitations on human space travel.
The plot is a beautiful poem about the human race. At it's core it's a wonderful story about the human race: an examination of human nature. With this film we presented with an Earth that is set in a future that's telling us that our time is done here and we now have to leave the nest and venture out into the rest of the universe.
It also makes us question the truths about the universe and makes us wonder who we are, where we're going and why we matter.
Not only is it a meditative and reflective piece, it also tackles themes of survival, human beings and the relationships between human beings, space travel, who we are as a species, exploration and love.
Space Travel & Exploration: One extremely prevalent thing in Interstellar is Christopher Nolan's desire to encourage human spaceflight. What Nolan expertly showcases through the astronauts search for a new world is that Space Travel has always been that ultimate challenge. Right from the beginning we've explorers and adventurers and human kinds imputus to break bounderies and look beyond where they sit right now is a really exciting thing that distinguishes us which the film utilizes to great effect.
Survival: Interstellar is primarily a film about a post-apocalyptic future civilization that has regressed and mankind is in danger of extinction. A crop blight has destroyed all food sources leading humanity on a path to extinction. Now society has resorted to an agrarian lifestyle which mostly consists of farmers in order to survive. It's an interesting concept since we hardly think about what the future holds in store for us.
Cooper heads the mission to find a new habitable planet for the human race to survive and start over again.
Who we are as a Species: Interstellar is about our flaws as a species. But also what makes us great.
When we're introduced to this world, the film asks us to think about fate. Coop brings up the concept of Murphy's Law which makes us ask "Do we have control over our own fate? If we do have free will, that doesn't necissarily mean that we can do anything. But it means that we can try to do anything.
The decisions the human race make in this film are what have doomed us in this beautifuly rendered post-apocalyptic future the film depicts. Why blights have destroyed all our crops and why we live in a post-truth society.
But at the same time it’s the perseverance and determination of us as a spieces as depicted through the actions of characters like Cooper & Brand that show us we can start over in times of a catastrophe.
Love: Possibly the core of Interstellar is the relationship between Cooper and Murph. Those two are very close individuals and she's almost like his traveling companion. There relationship spans lightyears, wormholes even. Which is ultimately leads us to what Copper's actually mission is: getting back to Murph. Love is a very powerful driving force behind, not just this film, but also real life, love for your friends, love for your family, all this connects us together and that's what I loved about Interstellar, it's about human beings and their relationships with each other. Interstellar shows that people are driven by love. They will do incredible things for the people that they care about because of love.
Writer/Director Christopher Nolan's direction is sublime and precise, the cinematography is excellent, the special effects are stellar, the score by Hans Zimmer is beautiful, the scenery is breathtaking, the production design is marvellous (Nolan wisely doesn't go for design that look too futuristic or flashy. Instead he looks to what is the costumes are terrific, the locations are wonderful, bringing to life the worlds that Coop and Brand visist with there are some wonderful scenes of tension, particularly the dust storms and the ending was mesmerising.
The acting is superb, Matthew McConaughey is excellent in this film playing Joseph “Coop” Cooper, delivering a performance filled with emotion, he crafts a great character you can latch onto, a character whom you just want to shout "yes go out there and save the human race" at.
Coop is a former engineer and NASA pilot whose also a widower. When he's faced with the chioce of leaving Earth, he knows that it isn't a guarantee that he will succeed because it may be impossible or it could be possible but due to human error, he still could fail. Right before he leaves on the mission, he's faced with a choice: To either stay on Earth with his family and live a normal life and try to be happy with the people who he loves and the people who love him or leave them behind and make the world a better place. The choice between being selfish or selfless; It's about choosing to put others in front of you or to put yourself first. Ultimately, Coop chooses others in front of him and throughout the film he and we as audience, must question if that was the right descision because it looks like he could fail.
Anne Hathaway is also very good in this film as Dr. Amelia Brand. She is easily the emotional core of the film, she is very maternal, very sensitive and completely dedicated to the mission equally as determined as Cooper to find a new Earth, but she also has some romantic/inner feelings which are most intriguing....
Jessica Chastain gets possibly the most interesting and touching role as Murph, Cooper's daughter. She was very close to him before he left on the mission, but now that he's gone, she's become estranged from him and is angry him for leaving her. She can play her dark side excllently as well as be heartbreakingly emotional.
Michael Caine is... well what can I say he's Michael Caine, he can play anything and here he's given a terrific meaty role, with plenty of wisdom, passion, powerful speeches and plenty of agendas of his own.
Even in bit parts, I always love Matt Damon and here he is given a nice juicy role with plenty of intrigue and mystery that makes brilliant usage of his talents. His role is small, but they're of central importance to the plot and showcases him playing superbly against type.
There are countless other memorable performances in the film by actors as Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, David Oyelowo, Wes Bentley, Timothee Chalamet, Topher Grace and Casey Affleck, the list goes on.
Interstellar adds another transcendent and thrilling chapter to Christopher Nolan's breahtaking filmography, 5/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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