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nInterstellar (2014)
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nDirector: Christopher Nolan
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nCast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Cain,nJessica Chastain, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn
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nI’ve always been interested in the far reaches of space,nbecause to me, it’s out there where the greatest mysteries lie. Where does thenuniverse end and what is out there in the vastness of space? And of course, thenbig one is: are we alone in the universe? I can go on and on formulatingnquestions about space, because that’s all it is, one big question, one giganticnmystery. Which is why I love movies like Interstellar; they play with the ideanthat the universe begs to be explored. Why the hell isn’t an effort being madento truly explore the universe? Why isn’t a huge spaceship being built for humansnto travel through space for long periods of time like in Star Trek or The BlacknHole (1979)? I mean, I don’t think that idea is that farfetched. Instead, as ofn2014, funding has been cut for NASA, so there’s less of an interest in spacenexploration, at least from the government’s point of view. Their logic is beingnthat we have more pressing problems to deal with down here on earth; spacenexploration isn’t really a priority for the United States right now. Sigh. Butnanyways, at least we can toy with the idea through films like Interstellar.
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nOn this film earth is being ravaged by dust, huge dustnstorms are engulfing the earth and its becoming mighty hard for humans to livenhere, everyone is getting sick, coughing, dying. But worry not! The scientistsnat NASA have discovered a black hole near Saturn. They’ve sent astronautsnthrough it and discovered that said black hole can lead us to another part ofnthe universe with 12 possibly habitable planets. But all connection with these astronauts hasnbeen lost, and so NASA has decided to send a second mission to see if they cannreconnect with these lost astronauts and at the same time explore the planets,nto see if it is at all possible to start life in them. Their ultimate goal isnto save the human race from extinction. Is this mission a one way ticket tonhell? Or will the astronauts get to come back home to their families? Isnhumanity destined to disappear?
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nI’m a huge science fiction buff, and while watchingnInterstellar, I couldn’t help and notice how much the filmmakers borrowed fromnArthur C. Clarke’s novels. You see, it just so happens that I’m a devout ArthurnC. Clarke reader, I’ve read a lot of his work and well, I just couldn’t helpnseeing how the guys responsible for Interstellar borrowed heavily from ArthurnC. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: Odyssey Two, 2061: Odyssey Three andn3001: The Final Odyssey. They even borrowed a bit from the ‘Rendezvous withnRama’ novels, especially when it comes to a cylindrical spaceship that has annartificial sun and an entire community living in it. Landing on a planet made upnof a gigantic ocean was seen in 2061: A Space Odyssey, the idea of a man fromnanother era waking up years later to encounter an evolved humanity was swipednfrom 3001: The Final Odyssey. The robots in the film, which look like walking,ntalking monoliths are a big wink to fans of 2001; but this was all donenpurposely, it is quite obvious that Nolan has a hard on for Arthur C. Clarkenand his works, so when you watch Interstellar, expect a film with Arthur C.nClarke’s DNA engraved deeply into it.
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nAnd it’s not just from Arthur C. Clarke’s books that Nolannborrowed heavily from, he also took a bit from nStanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969), both films are similarnin structure. We have super intelligent computers able to think for themselves,nwe have astronauts going up into space to explore a mystery, we have that wholenidea that we are going to be entering and exploring a place never before seennby humanity, “boldly going where no man has gone before”. We even get a scenenlike the scene in 2001 in which David Bowman goes inside The Monolith and thenfilm turns into this visual trip. So yeah, both of these films share manynsimilarities, there’s even some visual references to Kubrick’s film, but I’llnlet you guys spot those.
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nThe biggest mystery innInterstellar is of course, the black hole which the astronauts must traverse.nBlack holes have always been a mystery to me as well; at one point I started tonask myself, are these things real? I mean, sure we’ve all heard about blacknholes, and most of us believe they exist, but has anyone actually ever seen annactual black hole? No, we haven’t. We simply have an idea of what it could be. Muchnlike in 2001: A Space Odyssey, where we have this strange and mysteriousnmonolith floating up in space, we also have a strange space anomaly innInterstellar: the Black Hole. From what I hear, Nolan enlisted on the help of anphysicist in order to get the whole concept of black holes and worm holes asnaccurate and scientifically correct as possible. From a visual angle, the wholenblack hole/worm hole thing looks fantastic, it is obviously a highlight of thenfilm. On the other hand, when the film starts talking about fourth and fifthndimensions, relativity theory and multiverses, things might get a bitnconvoluted for some, but you won’t be able to deny that visually, it’snstunning. I did manage to hear an “I don’t get it” from the audience.
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nAs far as entertainment value goes, well, there’s lots ofnspectacle here, but let me tell it to you straight, this films emphasis is on teasingnyour brain, it’s more of a cerebral picture, it likes to explore ideas hardlynexplored, it likes to go places we haven’t been before. I mean, sure we’ve seennmovies that depict black holes before, for example The Black Hole (1979) andnEvent Horizon (1997), but none of these movies have shown us a scientificallynaccurate portrayal of one, and here we got Interstellar to do that. The movienis a love letter to Arthur C. Clarke, and really there’s no better sci-finauthor that Nolan could be ripping off from. What I would like for ChristophernNolan to do, because it seems to me after seeing Interstellar that he’s one ofnthe most qualified to do it, is direct a film based on Clarke’s Rama novels. Nownthose movies really do tackle the mysteries of the universe! A movie based on ‘Rendezvousnwith Rama’ has been planned for years now, but as I type this, it’s still inndevelopment hell. So anyhow, what we got here my friends is one of the bestnfilms of the year, if you enjoy films that dabble in philosophy and thenmysteries of the universe. Me? I’m a sucker for the mysteries of the universenbecause if you ask me, it’s those big mysteries we should always aim to knownmore about.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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