Christopher Nolan has become a divisive filmmaker in the past couple of years. 2008’s The Dark Knight was the film of a generation, setting in stone the “gritty” format for blockbusters that has become Hollywood’s new standard. His stark visual style, slower pace and emotionally earnest dialogue earned a legion of followers. Inception bolstered those feelings among hardcore fans, as well as those more critical of his style. Love him or hate him, he’s reached a level of power in the modern studio system that permits the creation of passion projects with very little compromise. The result is Interstellar, a science fiction adventure that knocks on the door of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Interstellar opens to an Earth on the brink of extinction. A second dust bowl has ravaged the heartland, depleting the world’s food supply and forcing the world to reevaluate its priorities. Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) is a naturally gifted engineer and pilot, permanently grounded by a world forced to value farming over exploration. It’s in the opening act that Interstellar quickly reveals both its strengths and its flaws. The world building and establishment of tone is fantastic. Nolan has crafted the most heartfelt drama made about the dust bowl in decades, and it’s merely the backdrop to something even more spectacular. But while the concepts presented in Interstellar are inspiring, it’s not always presented in the best manner. Dialogue has never been Nolan’s strong suit (He co-wrote Interstellar, alongside his longtime writing partner and brother Jonathan Nolan), and this film’s opening is the clearest evidence of that deficiency. Some conversations feel like a screenwriting exercise in squeezing as much information as possible into a single scene. McConaughey makes the best of the material, but it’s telling that the film’s strongest emotional beat is less reliant on deep conversation, as it is on an emotionally stirring concept. It’s these big picture ideas that move Interstellar forward, towards excellence.
Interstellar is easily Christopher Nolan’s most ambitious film to date, if not the most conceptually ambitious studio picture released in a decade. While the opening drives home the character beats, the true meat of the film resides in the mission of the Endurance as it touches the far corners of space on a mission of survival. Like Inception, Interstellar touches ideas of nonlinear storytelling and layered metaphors. But it only uses those higher concepts to service the universally accessible adventure film underneath. The result is an experience that services both the intellectual side of the brain and the primal desire for adrenaline and spectacle.
Speaking of spectacle, Interstellar delivers it in spades. The shots of space rival everything present in last year’s Gravity, though with a much more restrained pace. It’s a film with a suprising level of practical effects work, a fascinating contrast to a year filled with computer-driven visuals. Humanity’s ship is but a mote of dust in the vast shots of wormholes, black holes and infinitely expanding cosmos. Alien landscapes stretch out into foreign skylines, commanding feelings of unnerving wonder. All of this is best experienced in the full wonder of an IMAX screen. While many pictures these days just run in IMAX as a cheap promotional gimmick, Interstellar is tellingly built for the format. A great number of shots take full advantage of the expanded aspect ratio, and the booming sound brings out the best in the score. It’s a bit more expensive, but for the nearly three-hour experience that you’ll get in return – it’s worth the money.
Interstellar is a film that will either delight or frustrate a viewer. The script is heavy with emotional weight, and clearly takes itself very seriously. It’s a storytelling method that will prove grating to some, but could stir another to their core. But no matter how the story takes you, the visuals must be respected. When every blockbuster seems intent on creating excitement by smashing through quick cuts of CGI landscapes, a movie like Interstellar must be cherished for breaking the mold, without any sense of compromise. People say originality in Hollywood is dead, but as long as Christopher Nolan is fighting the good fight – there’s something more meaty for film fans to chew on.