Interstellar (2014) directed by Chris Nolan - Review Chris Nolans much anticipated, hyped Interstellar finally hit the streets of Hollywood and virtually everywhere in the world. It is Nolans biggest cinematic gamble, but thanks to his status as one of the most popular filmmakers Hollywood has ever produced, as everyone knows him as the producer/director of the beloved Batman trilogy, the movie thus far is selling extremely well worldwide. At the current pace, it may turn out to be the most commercially successful film in the recent years. As expected, Interstellar is big in ideas and ambitions, something only the likes of Nolan and Terrence Malick or Paul Thomas Anderson could have conceived and dreamed of materializing. Indeed, with the sole exception of Robert Wises Star Trek: the Motion Picture (1979) this is the first film since Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) that depicts mankinds space travel in such an epic scale and with grandeur (some may call it pompousness). There are ample scenes in this beautifully crafted space saga that will awe, startle, and amuse Sci-Fi fans; a spacecraft sailing across the vast universe with countless stars and planets shining in the background, planets orbiting around a deadly black hole mysteriously lit via Gravitational Lensing Effect, a gliding over the surface of an icy planet with a spectacular birds eyes view. All the breathtaking sequences lasting for nearly three hours at the price of one movie ticket for your entertainment! Alas, Nolans execution of the big ideas comes surprisingly short. First, the scenario has holes and a few bumps. Much owed to Kubricks 2001 Nolan and his brother worked very hard to come up with something newer, fresher, but their script still follows too closely the old masters storyline; the wormhole near Saturn is a replica of the monolith of 2001 orbiting Jupiter (did you know that the monolith was originally supposed to be around Saturn? Read Arthur C. Clarkes novel), the US astronaut returning home through the black hole is a substitution of Dr. David Bowman coming back home as the Star Child, etc. In a clumsy attempt to add new materials in the plot, they insert subplots (two astronauts wrestling each other on the remote planet!) and introduce figures (a doctor stranded behind played by the wooden and stiff Matt Damon), but they disrupt the flow and credibility of the storyline, rather than fortifying and enriching it. For a Sci-Fi movie of this depth and wealth of materials, we expected to see a hefty dose Physics lessons covered in the first one third of its running time. Regrettably, the director, shortly after establishing a character development of the main hero (wonderfully played by Matthew McConaughey), a retired former elite pilot and his brief encounter with NASA scientists, is content to jump to the space sequences without much exposition of what has been going on and what their plan is at NASA for the future of Earth. Worse still, Nolan, well known for his penchant for the stark visual style and creating unique atmospheres through the visual, sound, and directing, stumbles quite often; many of his scenes, no matter how well done with the exotic sets of the spacecraft and spectacular special effects, feel strangely anonymous. They might as well have been directed by someone else, not himself. Fortunately, in the final chapter of the film Nolan miraculously return to his normal mode as the visionary filmmaker. You may call it ‘When Inception meets with Quantum Entanglement.”! Here is a truly imaginative and creative cinematic idea that really works – how can we have the sympathetic and homesick astronaut return home across the galaxies, through the black hole, safely in one piece? Ah, it doesn’t sound all that easy, so he must pay a significant price for it, i.e. TIME! In sum, Chris Nolan’s hugely ambitious space saga pays a great tribute to the idea of space journey and exploration and for that we must give him a hearty congratulations and thanks. It may and should rekindle an interest in the subject among scientists and NASA management, much enough for them to reconsider and reexamine their space exploration plan in the future. But as a pure cinema the film is far from subtle, let alone accomplished, and displays little confidence in the execution department. It is for much of its time devoid of the sense of mystery, wonder, terror, and the elements of hallucination and schizophrenia, all of which made Kubricks masterpiece so powerfully efficient. Coming from one of the most commercially and artistically successful directors of our time, it does come across as a grave disappointment. I for one certainly felt that way while seating in the IMAX theater. That is, ‘Interstellar’ is not among Nolan’s finest films. Still, it is a massively entertaining saga of men on the brink of extinction and beginning a brave journey into the far side of galaxies and for that alone it must please many of the moviegoers. by John T. Kim
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 05:05:31 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015