Interstellar (2014) ****/5: Captures the imagination of those that star gaze and wonder about their place in the universe but is overcooked in parts and underwhelming in others.

In Interstellar we finally have a film that takes as its premise our place in the universe and the inevitable fact  that we won’t survive forever on earth in this solar system. Even if the film itself is overcooked or lopsided, in parts, the topic of interstellar travel will become increasingly important in the next 20, 000 years or so if we’re still around. The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long and humans have burnt very brightly in our short stay on earth.  The solar system itself will eventually die when the vast energy of the sun is extinguished.  A lot of documentaries that discuss the vastness of the universe make it clear that human kind must search for a new home in the cosmos. The distance to be covered is vast, however,  hence why we must first look for signs of life in our own solar system such as on the planet Mars or on the Saturn moon, Titan. It will be difficult for us to consider travel beyond this solar system for now because our Milky Way Galaxy is so huge there is not much of a chance in our human form unless you can learn to cover great distances in quick time. In  Interstellar there is a wormhole located close to Saturn that opens the door for the exploration of other galaxies and planets. Wormholes have been used in sci-fi films before as a means to allow our great space heroes to travel great distances however Christopher Nolan &co. have applied a rigorous scientific basis for it.

Interstellar is a film about a group of explorers led by Cooper (Matthew MCconaughey) and Dr. Brand (Anne Hathaway) that take a trip to another galaxy, through a mysterious wormhole near Saturn,  in search of other planets that could support life so that they can rescue the humans  on a earth whose environment is growing increasingly hostile to life on earth. The trip takes place at a time when space exploration in the near future is considered a waste of time and the production of food more important since the planet strangely ran out. It is a dust bowl sort of future with advanced technology flourishing underground in a  Nasa base.  At the heart of the film is the relationship between Cooper and his daughter, Murph (Jessica Chastain,  with Mckenzie Foy playing the younger version) which addresses the issue of the power and endurance of  the love humans have for each other; a love that can cover all sort of space –time distances.

If Nolan was a bit more daring with the human story he would have made a towering piece of work from an emotional point of view. It still captures, magnificently, the scientific basis for space exploration apart from the mystic elements related to some 5^th dimension. The black hole was the high point of the film in terms of spectacle.

Positives

The primary positives were the visual and scientific bases for space exploration. The scene featuring the ship moving along the surface of a black hole (which is an accurate depiction of what scientists expect black holes to look like) is something to behold.  The look of the two planets explored look more artistic than realistic but are certainly eye candy particularly the planet covered mostly in ice. The tidal wave sequence was  interesting as well but it seemed too convenient as if Nolan intended those huge waves for an Imax presentation. Not everyone, like myself, will watch the film in IMAX and so the awe  of seeing  such a massive tidal wave in all its grandeur was never there for me. I know deep down that Nolan made that sequence explicitly for IMAX and so it’s a bit too manipulative.  The question I have though is:  How can there be a planet that is composed primarily of water or ice? Is there a scientific basis for this or was it just an artistic creation? This is what I could never come to terms with although the scenery was great to look at.

This film does well to capture the imagination that comes when we look up at the stars and that is commendable.

The explanation for what a wormhole is expected to look like was also well done. I liked how it represents this distortion in the space time continuum as it manipulates the environment around it. I was not so impressed by the actual journey through the wormhole because it seemed like a typical sci-fi episode to me although it is supposed to be scientifically based..

I also liked the human element related to love and conflict. This is seen primarily through the relationship between Cooper and Murph but there is a bit of surprise involving Dr. Brand and her own tale of love that truly challenges the scientific basis and has certain consequences for the mission when the characters decide to follow the scientific lead as opposed to the emotional one. This leads to all sorts of surprises particularly on the ice planet where the team find the lone survivor of a previous mission, Dr. Mann (Matt Damon). These were some of the best moments when it concerned the conflict scenarios in the film. It also demonstrates how easily misled the team was from a scientific basis.  The relationship between Murph and Cooper was a good one but it could have been more effective if Nolan took certain risks.  The relationship actually hinders the film in some way. The mystery surrounding Professor Brand (Michael Caine) is also interesting. It is made more interesting because he likes to repeat a particular quote by Dylan Thomas. Sometimes it's funny.

The presentation of the future earth was interesting but limited in my opinion. It’s interesting to see that technology takes a back seat to large scale farming which is not normally the case. NASA, as we know it, is home to some of the most advanced technology on earth and it is forced underground due to food priorities. According to Cooper humans have become a generation of caretakers instead of explorers and pioneers. According to his father in law (John Lithgow) there was a time when the latest technological gadget was always celebrated like christmas. Now humankind is compelled strictly by necessity. The fantasy of capitalism and its scientific and technological advances are a thing of past. That is a very interesting viewpoint of the future suggesting that capitalism is the beacon of light within us and that without it we will languish  in the realm of dire necessity. I never knew that Nolan was a spokesman for capitalism now. The farming  in this film does not seem capitalist at all because the farmers are not seen as accumulators of wealth with their large cornfields they are seen as uneducated, ignorant individuals, which is a perception normally associated with the past not the future.

Negatives

The primary negatives of this film  are associated with a narrow viewpoint and a overextended one.

The narrow viewpoints come with the presentation of a dying earth.  I was not convinced that earth was dying or that human kind was dying out. In this film dust storms and an increase of nitrogen in the atmosphere are the only indicators of disaster but that’s not enough particularly as the only part of the earth that’s featured is Cooper’s farm. What is going on in the other parts of the world? We can’t just take the viewpoint of NASA, seeking to justify the need for exploration, as the only acceptable explanation. It is too convenient because here in Jamaica I want to know what’s going on. Is it that we must see NASA, an American organization,  as our savior? There is no collaboration with the phenomenal scientific talents of other countries. Not even the Europeans are featured in the collaboration process which is very strange. It seems that America is dying out and needs to find a new home not all of human kind. The morale being that if America finds its feet then the world will be saved. So I never really understood how all of the earth is dying out or what changes lead to the increasingly hostile environment. The scientific basis of this aspect is wrong in my opinion and I say that without being an expert. I take the viewpoints of the geologists featured on many documentaries that make it clear that our time here is a mere  moment for  the  earth’s timeline. It is difficult to accept that in the 21^st century we will suddenly have a dying earth or an earth unable to support life when the prognostication is that the earth will be around for a long time in all its glory. If human beings stay around for the next 20, 000 years we will still find an earth able to support life; the real changes will come millions of years from now.  This bias of human centrism associated with sci-fi films such as this only obscures the issue without explaining it properly. Yes Nolan needed some basis to go off into space but it all comes crashing down when you realize that there was no real reason to leave in the first place apart from a situation concocted by the writers who claim that this film is scientifically based.  

Is this film a propaganda tool for capitalism? It seems so because the farmers are considered uneducated and ignorant in a future that focuses primarily on food production. Did capitalism disappear because of climate change? What happened to all the great centres of commerce and industry? Capitalism must have disappeared because it does not seem as if Cooper and his family are planting acres of corn for profit or they would be rich with all that acreage under cultivation. One would expect that the technological foundation laid by capitalism would still remain in the future instead of being forced underground.  Nolan really ignored a detailed presentation of earth for an excuse to leave it.

Are we also to believe that a wormhole was left there for us to explore other galaxies? I went into the film with the expectation that this wormhole would be a normal scientific anomaly only to hear that it was left there by divine beings from the 5^th dimension. Instead of encouraging space exploration this film can make it seem like a waste of time. Why haven’t we exhausted the possibilities of our own solar system?  Why do we have to rely on some empty equation to solve the issue of gravity? It is clear that covering large distances in space will not come with wormholes based on how the film  explains it but by advanced technology that can allow us to travel at very fast, sustainable speeds and with adequate fuel reserves. I would rather take my chances with developing ships that can travel at light speed than waiting for a wormhole to be left for us by divine elements.  Wait we’re back at the old Sci-fi premise of interstellar travel and Nolan with his realistic account has made those premises more believable.  Very interesting.

Nolan also overstretched the divine element in this film with too much explanation. ‘They’ , as the divine beings are normally referred to , left this wormhole for us and also left the answers  in the heart of a black hole. I agree with one particular critic, although I can’t remember his name, that Kubrick understood in 2001: A Space Odyssey that you have to keep things vague but be firm in your presentation. You have to leave some mystery. This is why the ending of Inception was more effective. It left open many possibilities.  Nolan tries to explain everything, even the divine origins of the universe. Not even he is that smart. In Kubrick’s case we left in search of a divine being that kept pushing us onward as a species. It was not deliberately pushing us to force a mass exodus from earth. It was  igniting that drive to go further and change what we thought of ourselves by having us go further into the unknown.  The divine being was something we could relate to in a strange fascinating way because the monolith remained mysterious. In  Nolan’s case  we are given strange explanations as a basis for Cooper to be reunited with his daughter.  The element of love becomes a hokey device but it also becomes a platform for interesting designs on Nolan’s part.  It is because Nolan tried to explain everything that people are now looking for all sort of plot holes. ‘How did this happen?’ etc.  it would have been more effective if the beings from another dimension did not exist just the dimension itself. A dimension we could use to manipulate space and time.

 Nolan  could have been more daring in his presentation of the father daughter relationship by not making them reunite in body but in spirit . Firstly, the film would have been stronger if he left to lay the foundations for colonization of new planets instead of finding the planets and then desperately trying to return home.  This is hinted at towards the end.  If he desperately tried to return home then he would be blocked by some form of conflict such as the disappearance of the wormhole etc.  Yes he would relay the information to the earth but he would have to come to terms with a new form of settlement.  He would let them know that he could not return and that he hoped they would eventually use the equation for the massive exodus from earth. He would know the risks he was taking.  The people of earth would join him later or maybe by then he and Brand would have been long gone leaving their footprints behind. The daughter would be proud and would have accepted his decision to leave her. Do they really expect us to believe that you can move 6 billion people by solving some equation about gravity? I wonder what an abandoned earth looks like?

I just made that suggestion to imply that Nolan could have gone all out and really make the emotional impact heartfelt. In the end Cooper and his team would be known as great explorers and pioneers without having to return to earth. 

In terms of explanation Nolan could have provided us with more visual illustrations. Not enough of the concept are translated visually hence why people get lost in the middle.

A lot of the characters are disposable in this film. My favourite character was Romily (David Gyasi) but he and the other astronaut are easily disposed of. This should not be the case if everything did not centre on Cooper reuniting with his daughter.

In the end Nolan overcooked this film in parts and under cooked in some with the result being that there are some moments to behold and those where you have to question whether this is just a propaganda tool.  All this mystery surrounding the plot was not worth it in the end.