Certification. 12A
Running Time. 2 hours 49 mins
Director. Christopher Nolan
Cast. Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, Timothée Chalamet, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, Mackenzie Foy, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, John Lithgow, Matthew McConaughey.
Bucket list. #23. To watch Interstellar in an IMAX cinema.
In the simplest terms, Interstellar tells the story of NASA's last-ditch attempt to find a habitable planet for the Earth's population, a decade on from an apocalyptic global famine. Matthew McConaughey stars as Joe Cooper, an engineer turned farmer, and widowed father to a teenage son, Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and a younger daughter, Murphy (Mackenzie Foy). Well-acted throughout, but young Mackenzie Foy delivers a beautifully authentic and natural performance as a character shaped by an insatiable scientific curiosity and the heartbreak of abandonment.
Interstellar is a visionary piece of cinema. As visually and conceptually audacious as anything the director has produced previously. By default, Christopher Nolan entrusts the audience to follow the storyline, even if the intricacies and finer detail are occasionally lost. Much of the science of Interstellar is real and is explained in a non-condescending way. I genuinely cannot think of another film that has so successfully translated complex mathematical and scientific theory to a mainstream audience. Perhaps, Ridley Scott's The Martian, but that film is more "a testament to human brilliance, ingenuity and intelligence. A celebration of one man's will to survive against seemingly insurmountable odds."
There is an almost euphoric, or celebratory tone to the first half of Interstellar. Christopher Nolan stages one spectacular set piece after another.
Much of the drama is muted, but Nolan unleashes an extraordinary mid-film emotional sledgehammer when astronauts return from a surface visit only to discover that 23 Earth years have passed in the blink of an eye. In a heartwrenching scene, Cooper watches two decades' worth of stockpiled messages from his children. It is a truly extraordinary piece of cinema, which Nolan shoots mostly in close on Matthew McConaughey. The experienced actor plays it beautifully, his face is a canvas for joy, pride, reticence, regret and grief. Nolan has routinely excelled at the slow reveal. Still, this scene, as Cooper watches his children grow up from his isolation in the depths of space, is amongst Interstellar's most affecting.
This extraordinary scene signals a shift in tone. Interstellar becomes much darker, and more ambiguous. The 170 minutes run time passes unnoticed as the storyline jumps between cerebral science fiction and a very personal family drama. These competing storylines perhaps dampen the dramatic climax of Interstellar.
Nonetheless, Interstellar remains a masterclass in filmmaking. The film is bold, daring and audacious, but remains grounded, introspective and deeply personal. It would be all too easy to label Interstellar as this generation's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film is likely to perplex and thrill audiences in equal measure, just as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey did on its release in 1968. More appropriately, Interstellar feels like Christopher Nolan's attempt to make what Arthur C. Clarke famously described, in correspondence with Stanley Kubrick, as, "the proverbial good science fiction movie." Interstellar is an intellectual and highly conceptual science fiction film, in the mould of Moon, Gravity and Arrival.
Interstellar is genuinely cinematic - the cinematography is, at times, breathtaking. Director of Photography, Hoyte Van Hoytema was apparently inspired by IMAX documentary films like Space Station and Hubble 3D. Shot entirely on a mix of 35mm and 70mm film stock, it is one reason Interstellar begs to be seen on the big screen, ideally on large-screen IMAX format where multiple aspect ratios can be experienced in the fullest effect.
But equally, Interstellar has a gritty, used patina of science fiction films of 1970s and 1980s, the likes of Alien, Outland and The Right Stuff. Christopher Nolan has long championed in-camera effects and more traditional filmmaking, so it's no great surprise that the visual effects look less like the product of a 21st century digital effects studio and more like the work of visual effects pioneer, Douglas Trumbull [2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Blade Runner]. And renowned composer Hans Zimmer offers up one of his most inventive scores, an integral component of the film's atmosphere and mood. Interstellar is a rare example of big-budget cinematic art. Only a director with a proven track record of success could get such a film made.
Whilst Interstellar celebrates the brave men and women who throughout history have dedicated themselves to space exploration for the greater good of mankind, the film's heart lies somewhere between the science and the intimate human connections. One of the more surprising elements of Interstellar is the film's sentimentality. The film examines the enduring themes of sacrifice, especially the sacrifice parents make for their children and legacy, in particular the world we leave for the next generation to inherit. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) says, "Love is the one thing that we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space." Which is proven to be true at the end of the film.
Simultaneously a story about space exploration and fighting for what you love, Interstellar is a film that speaks to the head and the heart in equal measure. The film's dual narrative, for me, makes Christopher Nolan one of the most impressive epic storytellers of his generation.
Update: Bucket list. #23. I have now watched Interstellar in an IMAX cinema. As I stated in my review, the film "begs to be seen on the big screen, ideally on large-screen IMAX format where multiple aspect ratios can be experienced in the fullest effect." The visuals are breaking and I'm sorely tempted to push up Interstellar's rating by one or two per cent.
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