New Nolan favourite -'Interstellar'

Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’. Now this is a film I’ve dying to see for donkeys’ years, especially after I learnt who Mr Nolan was watching ‘Inception’ not knowing he was the same director of the ‘Dark Knight’ films which as a fan of superhero growing up was a favourite. My only excuse for not seeing ‘Interstellar’ was the quality of viewing experience I wanted; it is three hours long, set in space and infamously has a near perfect auditory experience. So when I was home at Christmas with my cousin who is only a fan of actually good films heard I hadn’t seen it, it was perfect timing to pop it on the quality TV at my parent’s house at 11:30 pm. 

‘Interstellar’ follows engineer, pilot, farmer Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper in a dystopian future where Earth is practically inhabitable with dust everywhere and food resources depleting rapidly. Classic space plot he along with a team of astronauts including Anne Hathaway’s Brand set off to find a new planet for humans, but add in black holes, relatively and morally questionable scientists for some extra fun along the ride. Unlike Nolan’s other films, I found ‘Interstellar’ relatively easy to follow, the general plot was simple with an ending that is mind bending but not one I am questioning- I am happen with the alternative form of reality it introduced. It was a walk in the park to try wrap my head around compared to ‘Inception’. 

 

Being a fan of watching good films is hand in hand with enjoying a good film score and when it comes to composing Hans Zimmer might be the greatest of all time, moreover many argue this to be Zimmer’s greatest composition- a suggestion I don’t disagree with. I had, like many, heard and could easily recognise the ‘Interstellar’ score with cinematic and iconic tracks like ‘Cornfield Chase’ recognised globally. I had listened to the score more times than I could count well before I sat down to watch the film, enjoying the uplifting, mysterious and spatial nature to it. Hearing it this time but as the background for the film were perfect. It made scenes that were meant to be dramatic and exciting feel dramatic and exciting and make scenes that were meant to be nostalgic but crushing feel exactly that, nostalgic but crushing. Zimmer’s score, plus Nolan’s writing, plus McConaughey’s performance created one of the rawest, emotional, profound scenes when Cooper watches years of messages sent from home. 

 

The sound of the film in general was so close to what I would have considered perfection, Zimmer’s score and the powerful use of silence prompting the immense feeling of isolation watching the characters float through space. Therefore, I was especially annoyed and overall disappointed at the sound mixing quality. I sat with the TV remote on my lap the whole time so I could adjust the volume constantly, struggling to hear the dialogue as it was drowned out by music or action scenes jumping in volume so drastically I was rushing to turn it down. Can’t be waking up the entire household! 

 

Nolan is known for creating block buster, head scrambling epics but this is often hard to inject with the human condition. Concepts of relativity, dystopian futures and potential self-genocide due to overexploiting the planet we inhabit is all a big complex to appeal to the heart. ‘Interstellar’ was packing with love, nostalgia and the depressing knowledge that we grow old. As someone who is a hostage “woman in stem” and with a huge soft side, this film was so up my alley. Upon finishing the film I was sat in my family home living rooms feeling dazed, thrilled and smiling weeping eyed. Will be watching, or should I say experiencing, again.

Evie 30 December 2022