I was quite excited for Interstellar. Its early trailers generated a healthy amount
of hype, promising progressive space-exploration spectacle balanced with human,
Matthew McConaughey-represented drama, which, to some extent, the film delivers
on. However, in spite of this, I would
still declare Christopher Nolan's project a failure, largely due to its surprising
moments of monotony and unconvincing script.
Interstellar begins with a hugely involving sequence set on
a dystopian earth, where food is running out and all promising talents have
been forced into farming to sustain the earth's population. One of these such talents is McConaughey's
Cooper, who once was a pilot but has been forced into a life of
restrictive farming. He's not without
his frustrations – in a conversation with a wise Jon Lithegow, he expresses how
disappointed he is that humanity has become 'caretakers', not explorers, and secretly
wishes to travel among the stars. Of
course, his wish is granted once he stumbles onto a secret NASA facility and is
asked to lead a mission into an interstellar wormhole, which will potentially
lead to a habitable planet.
It's these sequences on earth which are the most promising,
the most moving as McConaughey cannot admit to his daughter that he has no idea
when he will return. Indeed, it is
decades that pass until he sees another glimpse of his children (grown into
Casey Affleck and Jessica Chastain), thanks to the theory of relativity – when
McConaughey's team of explorers (including Anne Hathaway) land on a planet,
every hour counts as another seven years. He sees his children grow into adults in a matter of minutes and,
heartbreakingly, collapses into tears.
It is here that Christopher Nolan fully realises his
ambitions of the film, that is of a hugely ambitious space epic that manages to
find moments of real humanity in between its setpieces. Unfortunately, the rest of the picture is not
quite so consistent. Once the ragtag
team leaves earth, there is a surprisingly dull stretch where very little of
interest happens. The team encounters
difficulties, such as the aforementioned time problems and searching for a
habitable planet, but the execution of many of the more scientifically-based
ideas are disappointingly over-explained. Every character is at great pains to explain to the audience what,
exactly, is happening during a sequence in space, to the point where it is
patronizing, irritating, and largely removed from the sensibilities of human
speech. It's as if 2001: A Space Odyssey (which the film fails to take inspiration
from and represent well) were narrated by Keir Dullea's Dave, explaining the science
behind the gravitational pull of the wheel-like spacecraft mid-jog rather than leaving
it up to the audience to speculate and admire on their own.
Indeed, the tension between trying to create an art film à
la 2001 and trying to create an accessible
Hollywood blockbuster arguably tears apart the narrative. There are moments of real excitement, such as
the sequence where Cooper locks on to a rapidly-spinning space station - largely because the characters shut up and leave it to the astonishing visuals and the Hans Zimmer soundtrack to carry the scene. Most, however, are dulled by the verbosity and detail the dialogue develops with, eagerly to
explain the science behind its concepts to the point of
exasperation. It also succumbs to an
astonishing excess of clichés, particularly the climax which requires
Jessica Chastain's character to yell 'Eureka!' and throw a stack of papers into
the air. Honestly, this is more Armageddon than Solaris.
The performances are fine, particularly a sincere Matthew McConaughey
and a feisty Jessica Chastain, although I feel that Anne Hathaway is wasted on
an over-emotional and annoying character. There's also a memorable cameo from a Very Famous Star, which I won't
spoil, but does manage to inject a spurt of energy into the proceedings, albeit
for a very short period of time. The
ending is rather moving, and I suppose clever, but the exasperating
deliberation of reaching such a point is calamitous to the narrative. It saddens me to say so, but I really do
think this is Nolan's worst in years, even if the principles and ambition behind its
creation are noble (shooting on film in a digital age, the originality of the
concept and the refusal to enter into a franchise). Interstellar
is worth a viewing for its moments of brilliance, but I hesitate to recommend
it for its long stretches of boredom and conventionality.
★★★
