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Interstellar: WhyWhy Nolan’s geniusgenius stillstill hitshits hardhard
In keeping with my apparent preference for stories that incorporate the themes of love and time, and intertwine them to create characters and relationships that stay with us long after we’ve finished watching, it is high time that I reviewed Interstellar (2014). This sci-fi masterpiece, directed by Christopher Nolan, is famous for its compelling plot lines. Moreover, Hans Zimmer’s ingenious soundtrack has resonated through the corridors of cinema for over a decade, setting the standard for Nolan’s visionary storytelling.
And so, without further ado, let’s travel across space and time.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead!
Characters discussed in order of first mention:
- Matthew McConaughey plays Cooper
- Casey Affleck plays Tom
- Timothée Chalamet plays young Tom
- Jessica Chastain plays Murph
- Ellen Burstyn plays elderly Murph
- Mackenzie Foy plays young Murph
- Anne Hathaway plays Brand
- Michael Caine plays Professor Brand
- Matt Damon plays Dr Mann
Interstellar: Saving Humanity
Firstly, the future is here, and humanity is doomed. In what I have always assumed to be the late 22nd century, humanity has abandoned scientific progress in favour of farming, as annual droughts caused crop failures and food shortages. Cooper, a retired pilot turned farmer, and his children, Tom and Murph, lead a normal life in this bleak future. That is, until Murph, intelligent beyond her years, tracks a strange signal that leads her and her father to a secret compound containing the remnants of NASA.
Forgotten and erased by society, this secretive version of the organisation we celebrate works to find a way to save humanity from its impending starvation, using interstellar travel (that is, bending space to reach distant galaxies and worlds). Cooper becomes involved, and along with a motley crew including a certain Dr Brand, sets off to explore new worlds.
Every Action
What follows is one of the most cinematically stunning stories to be put on screen in recent decades. Each moment the crew loses is magnified by the loss of time back home. As Cooper drifts farther into space, time moves slower for him than on Earth, while his children grow up and their lives move in sharply different directions. Murph, under Brand’s father, Professor Brand, works to ensure that the remaining humans on Earth can be rescued. Alas, he lied. Just as we feel devastated for this betrayal, the stranded Dr Mann threatens to save himself at the price of everything they’ve worked for.
The most visually and emotionally mesmerising action sequence is the moment Cooper and Brand decide to dock their shuttle. They want to dock it to the ship they’ve used to traverse space, after Mann’s catastrophic weakness nearly destroyed it. Every component of the scene, from the music to the acting, grips us, making us feel like we are facing the same impossible odds.
Interstellar: Conclusions
Ultimately, we learn that it is Cooper and Murphy’s love for one another that sets the film’s events in motion. Their desperation to be reunited across time and space allowed them to contact each other in the first place. They had saved humanity before he even shut the front door on his way out. I will always cry at the scene where they are finally reunited, with Murph as an old woman telling her father to find Brand, herself now stranded on a distant world, and be happy with her.
This film was a cinematic event the moment it was released. It ranks alongside Dark and Dune as my favourite sci-fi stories of all time, and the way it explores how long exists and connects us beyond physical reality remains as poignant now as it always did.
Lastly, Interstellar is available to stream for free (for now) on Amazon Prime.
Image credits: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures.
