'Interstellar' (12A)

****

In the not too distant future, humankind is facing disaster and death. Our past excesses have left the Earth a barren wasteland, with limited food stocks and unpredictable, extreme weather conditions. In an attempt to save humanity, NASA launches a select crew into space, to travel through a wormhole, to find a habitable planet in another solar system.

I had a headache for some hours after seeing Interstellar; not because it was too loud, or that I was too close to the screen, but because I had been forced to concentrate, think and question for almost three hours. Advertised as a space exploration film, Christopher Nolan’s latest is more a study into humanity and the lengths that man will go to in order to achieve a goal: it’s about our place in the universe, our ability to adapt, inevitable human error, the fragility of the body and the mind, and love. Love is at the very heart of this space-epic, with Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) leaving his children behind on Earth so that he can help mankind as a whole survive into the future. He loves and misses them, and longs to be home with them again, but he also feels duty bound. This is just one of the dilemmas that the characters of Interstellar have to face. I have seen some reviews which rather spoil the plot, so I won’t discuss the changes and traumas that the characters face, instead focusing on how visually spectacular the film is. Nolan, an advocate of shooting on film and building sets instead of relying on CGI, has out-done himself here, with massive, awe-inspiring set-pieces. Each shot, either a close-up or in wide frame, is perfectly created, with some especially wonderful images of the spaceship hanging in front of the wormhole. It really was rather impressive, so I advise you to see it on the biggest screen you can!

One of my major issues with the film is its length – at 169 minutes long, it is certainly a long film that requires excellent bladder control. Several audience members certainly regretted drinking litres of fizzy drink during the trailers, as many dashed out about midway through, no doubt only to return and not have the slightest idea of what was going on. I feel that some parts could certainly have been edited, or even omitted entirely: for example, did we really need to know about Murph’s school career? Similarly, although there are some very tense and gripping moments dotted throughout the film, there are ‘lull’ periods, during which the central characters sit down to discuss love, physics and other such soul-searching topics. I personally had no real issue with these changes in pace and tone, but going from a scene of adrenaline-fuelled terror to sitting down discussing the inner workings of a black hole felt a little odd. Also, I was wholly accepting of the science right up until the final ‘twist’ as it were, which features a fifth-dimensional realm. I won’t give anything away, but I thought this section was too fantastical and too unbelievable, and at that point I realised how numb my bottom had gone.

Interstellar isn’t really about space-travel or finding a place to live, it’s really a three-hour philosophy lesson that studies what it means to be human. It is by no means perfect, but the ambition and spectacle more than make up for what is lost in terms of plot. Nolan has proved once again that a blockbuster can be intelligent, entertaining and beautiful and it’s so refreshing to experience after so many superhero movies. Interstellar demands to be discussed; you’ll just have to get your breath back first.