Christopher Nolan’s grandiose film Interstellar provides an outer space experience reminiscent of last year’s Gravity—only this time we are pushed much deeper and farther into the mysterious, breathtaking, and frighteningly unfathomable vastness of space.
The apocalyptic plot is simple and familiar: the Earth is dying and there is an urgency to search for a new planet to relocate the human species. Interstellar, however, is injected with Nolan’s trippy space-time intricacies, which are tethered on real-life physicist Kip Thorpe’s (executive producer) relativity theories, and with a father-daughter drama as the heart of the film.
In an undated near future, mankind is dying of starvation and suffocation due to the “global blight”—dust storms constantly enveloping the Earth. With only corn as the source of food left, the world needs farmers and not scientists, to the consternation of Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a former NASA scientist-turned-farmer, and his adventurous 10-year-old daughter, Murph (Mackenzie Foy). (Cooper laments,“We used to look up in the sky and wonder at our place in the stars, and now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt!”)
Cooper’s wish comes true. Soon he finds himself on a mission sponsored by the now-underground NASA headed by Professor Brand (Michael Caine): to go on an outer space expedition with his crew (Anne Hathaway, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley, and a Bill Irwin-voiced robot) and find us a new home planet. The tragedy here is leaving behind Murph (who grows up to be Jessica Chastain) for an indefinite period of time—and who is also compelled by a paranormal force to beg her daddy to stay.
Nolan’s almost three-hour sci-fi adventure is crammed with scientific babble, but the film is strongly hinged on emotions: loss, loneliness, isolation and separation anxiety, also poetically depicted (the mere detaching of the craft’s capsule in the deafening silence of space also elicit such feelings). And time. Time here is of great essence.
With the film's bleak, dystopian theme, the awesome visuals—from the emptiness of the space, to the glorious Saturn and the wormhole, to the harsh and barren planetary landscapes—evoke fear, despair and such surreal beauty.
While there are corny elements, like the overused theme of “love conquers all,” and some questionable conflicts, Interstellar is engrossing and compelling for its visceral experience. Dreamers of space travel like me will be rewarded with an awe-inspiring and thrilling journey through space, made all the more intense by Hoyte van Hoytema's cinematography and Hans Zimmer’s film score, fully transporting you into Nolan’s dramatic space opera.
Do not expect aliens and monsters here—because Interstellar is essentially a human drama, with Nolan’s brand of convoluted plot twists. A visually spectacular and emotional experience.
Seeing it in 70mm film IMAX is highly recommended if you desire a much more overwhelming experience and that authentic, grainy cinematic texture (compared to the artificial feel of the digital format).
4/5 stars
Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Philippines
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